RESEARCH PROFILE

RESEARCH PROFILE

Representación de un ensayo de decay test.

RESEARCH LINE 1: Floating wind energy: This is a fledgling line for the group having worked on a MICROSOFT project in the AI for Earth programme, which relied on the application of artificial intelligence. The movement of the platform under wave action greatly affects the performance of the turbine, causing it to operate at sub-optimal angles to the wind and ultimately reducing the power output of the system and increasing its levelised cost of energy (LCOE). In our research, we propose a new coupled model to investigate the behaviour of the offshore wind turbine, the floating platform and its mooring lines, in the time domain. In this sense, the power of Microsoft's AZURE, together with the application of artificial intelligence in our studies, allows us to take into account all the variables that affect the system, from direction, period and height of waves, real wind speed (taking into account all its components and variability), the 6 degrees of freedom of the effect of the mooring lines, etc. Due to the high computational cost of a study of this type, the use of artificial intelligence when optimising the coupling of all the forces, as well as their training to be able to foresee different operating states, is vital for both academic and industrial interest in a tool of this type.

PERFIL INVESTIGADOR

Representación de la cámara de Mutriku a escala.

RESEARCH LINE 2: Wave energy (waves and currents): This second line is supported by an active PIBAp roject (Applied Basic Research Project), in which work is being done on the performance of the Mutriku plant (Basque Country) as initial expectations have not been met due to the design of the chambers which provide moderately different pressures at the inlet of its turbines. This is because the breakwater that houses the turbines was designed for the protection of the port of Mutriku and not to optimise energy utilisation. The incoming air flow generated in each of the 16 turbines is different, and the total pressure at the inlet of each turbine also varies. As a result, despite sharing the same design, they do not generate the same power. For these reasons, the aim of this research is to analyse on the one hand the influence of the design of the chambers on the hydrodynamic behaviour of the plant, and on the other hand to study the joint behaviour with the implementation of the turbine itself. Resonance increases due to the presence of these structures and as a consequence, when the device experiences a wave frequency different from the OWC resonance frequency, standing waves are likely to form, leading to the absorption of more power over a wider range of frequencies. Finally, an evaluation of the wave power plant in terms of performance and LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy) will be performed.