ISWEC toward the sea - Development, Optimization and Testing of the Device Control Architecture

The work performed in this thesis is part of the ISWEC project. This is a floating device devoted to the conversion of the kinetic energy owned by the sea waves. The passage between a technology readiness level (TRL) of 4 up to a TRL of 6 is covered. The existing numerical model has been revised, validated and upgraded. The experimental data used come both from previous collected data and both from the one gathered during a MARINET founded project in Hydraulics and Maritime Research Center (HMRC) in Cork, Ireland (2014). During the last year also the data coming from the full scale experiments in Pantelleria, Italy, (2015) has been processed. The design and implementation of the device Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system has been a relevant part of the doctorate activities. Several power harvesting control strategies for the ISWEC have been investigated and their productivity for the Pantelleria installation site computed. A comparison is presented. Some preliminary results of the 2015 experimental campaign are presented and a first comparison with the data obtained with the numerical models has been carried on.