Wave Power Systems,

摘要

Ocean wave power is worth investigating as a useable,renewable,alternative energy source. This summary suggests that both Salter cams and Cockerell rafts can be designed to convert wave motion to relative mechanical motion and mechanical forces. Mooring problems and costs suggest Salter cams will be much more expensive than Cockerell rafts. A major problem is converting the available mechanical power to a more useful form, i.e.,hydraulic or electric power. Opportunities abound for companies that have the engineering ingenuity needed to convert the rotary motion of a cam or the angular displacement of two rafts into useable electrical or hydraulic power. Additional opportunities will be available to shipbuilders or manufacturers of offshore equipment who could build the cams or rafts. The primary intent of this Brief is to put more certain upper limits on the amount of power that can be extracted from waves and somewhat more certain lower bounds on some costs.