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Reliability of Marine Energy Converters
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Reliability of Marine Energy Converters

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A3: Wind, Wave and Tidal Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 8586

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dimitri V. Val

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Institute for Infrastructure & Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Interests: structural safety and reliability; quantitative risk assessment; performance of structures in aggressive environments; reliability of marine energy converters; adaptation of infrastructure to changing climate; inter-infrastructure risks

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface and are an enormous source of renewable energy from waves, tides, ocean currents, salinity, and temperature differences. However, the current contribution of ocean (or marine) energy to global electricity production is very small compared to other renewable energy sources (e.g., wind, solar), and corresponding technologies are still mainly at a pre-commercial level. To unlock the huge potential of marine energy, large investments to further develop these technologies are required but for that to happen several barriers need to be overcome, especially uncertainty. A major source of this uncertainty is associated with the reliability of marine energy converters (MECs). This is due to the fact that these devices are mainly new and untested, so historical data on failures of MECs and their components are practically non-existent. This makes the assessment of their reliability a very challenging and complex problem.

This Special Issue aims to contribute to this problem resolution by presenting the latest developments in relevant areas. In particular, we invite papers on

  • The reliability assessment of MECs (e.g., tidal, wave and ocean thermal energy converters) and their components (e.g., structural, mechanical, electrical);
  • Failure modes/mechanisms of MECs and their components and the corresponding data on their frequency and criticality;
  • Reliability-based maintenance and inspection of MECs and their arrays;
  • Probabilistic modelling of environmental loads acting on MECs, including the effects of load uncertainties on MECs’ reliability.

Prof. Dr. Dimitri V. Val
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • tidal energy converters (TECs)
  • wave energy converters (WECs)
  • ocean thermal energy converters (OTECs)
  • marine energy converters (MECs), incl. TECs, WECs and OTECs
  • reliability/availability of MECs and their components
  • failure modes and mechanisms of MECs and their components
  • reliability-based maintenance and inspection of MECs and their arrays
  • probabilistic modelling of environmental loads (e.g., waves, tidal currents)
  • relevant uncertainties and their quantification

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
Reliability Updating of Offshore Structures Subjected to Marine Growth
by Franck Schoefs and Thanh-Binh Tran
Energies 2022, 15(2), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020414 - 6 Jan 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2163
Abstract
Marine growth is a known problem for oceanic infrastructure and has been shown to negatively impact the reliability of bottom-fixed or floating offshore structures submitted to fatigue or extreme loading. Among other effects, it has been shown to change drag forces by increasing [...] Read more.
Marine growth is a known problem for oceanic infrastructure and has been shown to negatively impact the reliability of bottom-fixed or floating offshore structures submitted to fatigue or extreme loading. Among other effects, it has been shown to change drag forces by increasing member diameters and modifying the roughness. Bio-colonization being highly random, the objective of this paper is to show how one-site inspection data increases reliability by decreasing uncertainties. This can be introduced in a reliability-based inspection framework for optimizing inspection and maintenance (here, cleaning). The modeling and computation are illustrated through the reliability analysis of a monopile in the European Atlantic area subjected to marine growth and according to the plastic collapse limit state. Based on surveys of structures in the North Sea, long-term stochastic modeling (space and time) of the marine growth thickness is first suggested. A Dynamic Bayesian Network is then developed for reliability updating from the inspection data. Finally, several realistic (10–20 measurements) inspection strategies are compared in terms of reliability improvement and the accuracy of reliability assessment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Marine Energy Converters)
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19 pages, 2478 KiB  
Article
Updatable Probabilistic Evaluation of Failure Rates of Mechanical Components in Power Take-Off Systems of Tidal Stream Turbines
by Dimitri V. Val, Leon Chernin and Daniil Yurchenko
Energies 2021, 14(20), 6586; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206586 - 13 Oct 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1240
Abstract
This paper presents a method for the probabilistic evaluation of the failure rates of mechanical components in a typical power take-off (PTO) system of a horizontal-axis tidal stream turbine (HATT). The method is based on a modification of the method of the influence [...] Read more.
This paper presents a method for the probabilistic evaluation of the failure rates of mechanical components in a typical power take-off (PTO) system of a horizontal-axis tidal stream turbine (HATT). The method is based on a modification of the method of the influence factors, when base failure rates, relevant influence factors and, subsequently, resulting failure rates are treated as random variables. The prior (i.e., initial) probabilistic distribution of the failure rates of a HATT component is generated using data for similar components from other industries, while taking into account actual characteristics of the component and site-specific operating and environmental conditions of the HATT. A posterior distribution of the failure rate is estimated numerically based on a Bayesian approach as new information about the component performance in an operating HATT becomes available. The posterior distribution is then employed to obtain the updated mean and lower and upper confidence limits of the failure rate. The proposed method is illustrated by applying it to the evaluation of the failure rates of two key components of the PTO system of a typical HATT—main seal and main bearing. In particular, it is shown that uncertainty associated with the method itself has a major influence on the failure rate evaluation. The proposed method is useful for the reliability assessment of both PTO designs of new HATTs and PTO systems of operating HATTs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Marine Energy Converters)
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27 pages, 3519 KiB  
Article
Probabilistic Availability Analysis for Marine Energy Transfer Subsystem Using Bayesian Network
by Yi Yang and John Dalsgaard Sørensen
Energies 2020, 13(19), 5108; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13195108 - 1 Oct 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1663
Abstract
This research work proposes a novel approach to estimate probabilities of availability states of the energy transfer network in marine energy conversion subsystems, using Bayesian Networks (BNs). The logical interrelationships between units at different level in this network can be understood through qualitative [...] Read more.
This research work proposes a novel approach to estimate probabilities of availability states of the energy transfer network in marine energy conversion subsystems, using Bayesian Networks (BNs). The logical interrelationships between units at different level in this network can be understood through qualitative system analysis, which then can be modeled by the fault tree (FT). The FT can be mapped to a corresponding BN, and the condition probabilities of nodes can be determined based on the logic structure. A case study was performed to demonstrate how the mapping is implemented, and the probabilities of availability states were estimated. The results give the probability of each availability state as a function of time, which serves as a basis for choosing the optimal design solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Marine Energy Converters)
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22 pages, 6472 KiB  
Article
Damage Monitoring of a Catenary Moored Spar Platform for Renewable Energy Devices
by Deirdre O’Donnell, Jimmy Murphy and Vikram Pakrashi
Energies 2020, 13(14), 3631; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13143631 - 14 Jul 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2894
Abstract
Structural performance of renewable energy device platforms is central to their power generation in a reliable and competitive manner. However, there is a gap in research in the conceptual and experimental stages of such devices at lower technological readiness levels in terms of [...] Read more.
Structural performance of renewable energy device platforms is central to their power generation in a reliable and competitive manner. However, there is a gap in research in the conceptual and experimental stages of such devices at lower technological readiness levels in terms of understanding of their structural responses. Uncertainties around knowledge related to damage conditions of such structures are under-researched and experimental investigations into the monitoring of performance of such structures are significantly needed. This research addresses this need and investigates various damage conditions in a scaled catenary moored spar platform in an ocean wave basin, exposed to typical wave conditions for the west coast of Ireland. A comparison of the monitored structural responses was carried out with respect to the undamaged experimental model. It was observed that while free decay tests were not useful to distinguish between various damage levels, a characterisation of the distribution of the responses can be relevant in identifying damages or significant structural changes. The work contributes to the much-needed experimental evidence base around structural health monitoring of renewable energy device platforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Marine Energy Converters)
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