Design and test of a reluctance based magnetic lead screw PTO system for a wave energy converter

This paper deals with the design and test of a Reluctance based Magnetic Lead Screw Power Take Off (PTO) system for a Wave Energy Converter for powering a LED light buoy. In order to meet the power requirement for the LED marking light, measurements of the seastate at the specific location of the buoy is carried out using a special wave measurement buoy. The data is used to set up a simulation model of the possible harvested energy using a Magnetic Lead Screw (MLS) as the core component of the PTO system. Specifications of the MLS generator, in terms of stall force, lead, stroke etc. are found based on these simulations. Design of the MLS unit is carried out using FEM models of the MLS magnetic circuit, together with mechanical design consideration for minimizing the total cost of the device. Test of efficiency and stall force of the built prototype is carried out and presented.