Title :
Design of a multi-poppet on-off valve for wave energy converters
Author :
Hansen, Anders Hedegaard ; Pedersen, Henrik C. ; Andersen, Torben O.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Energy Technol., Aalborg Univ., Aalborg, Denmark
Abstract :
Fluid power systems are the leading technology for the power take off system in ocean wave energy converters. However, fluid power systems often suffer from poor efficiency, especially in part loads. This degrades the PTO system efficiency and therefore lower the energy production. To overcome the issues with poor system efficiency a discrete fluid power system is proposed as a main part of the PTO system. For the discrete system to be feasible large fluid power switching valves are needed. The current paper presents a two stage 1000 L/min@5bar multi-poppet on/off valve with a switching time less than 15 ms. The pilot stage is directly actuated and utilises internal valve pressure as supply and an external tank connection as drain. The current article presents the design process leading to the final valve design. This includes the geometric design of the main stage, the choice of pilot valve, structural mechanical issues and modelling and simulation of various valve configurations. Hence in the design process a wide variety of topics are combined to chose the best valve configuration.
Keywords :
design engineering; discrete systems; tanks (containers); valves; wave power generation; design process; discrete fluid power system; discrete system; drain; energy production; external tank; fluid power switching valves; fluid power systems; geometric design; internal valve pressure; multipoppet on off valve design; power take off system; valve configuration; wave energy converters; Equations; Force; Mathematical model; Springs; Switches; Topology; Valves; Discrete Force System; Multi-edge Valve; Multi-poppet Valve; On-Off Valve; Switching Valve; Wave Energy Converter;
Conference_Titel :
Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA), 2013 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Takamatsu
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-5557-5
DOI :
10.1109/ICMA.2013.6617993