Project > HYDRAULIC PTO
Wave energy is characterized by: high forces, low velocities and so high torques, this affects strongly the electromechanical transmission under the point of view of efficiency, due to it becomes expensive and unreliable when high transmission ratios are involved. For these reasons, hydraulic Power Take-Off (HPTO), the core of intensive research activity, configures itself how an effective solution, indeed the power transmission is in charge of a
fluid vector that does not require limits on reduction ratios. This solution, at the same time, guarantees the possibility both to waste power peaks, through hydraulic accumulators and the motion alignment. At last, all this allows obtaining small devices characterized by a high level of reliability and efficiency.
Power-Take Off (PTO) systems are the heart of a Wave Energy Converter (WEC) having a direct impact on its economic viability, efficiency, and complexity. MORELab pursues the development of a Hydraulic PTO to extend the operational domain of the ISWEC to oceanic environments where the potential of the wave resource is massive. The Hydraulic PTO aims to
convert the mechanical power captured by the gyroscopes in a unidirectional and smooth electrical power flow, optimal for small grid applications. The Hydraulic technology can handle the high-torque and low-speed requirements providing large power density solutions having reliable, standardized and scalable technology.