• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.393-401
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• 2018

This paper reports a novel mobile-type wave energy harvesting system. The proposed system adopts a wave glider's propulsion mechanism. A wave glider's blades were mounted on a circular layout and generated a rotational motion. Combining the wave converting system with the wave glider, a mobile floating-type robotic buoy system was developed. It enabled the relocation of the buoy position, as well as station-keeping for long term operation. It had a small size and could efficiently harvest wave energy. A feasibility study and modeling were carried out, and a prototype system was constructed. Various tank tests were performed to optimize the proposed wave energy harvesting system.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.255-260
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• 2016

In this paper, a full-wave rectifier (FWR) with a simple vibration detector suitable for use with vibrational energy harvesting systems is presented. Conventional active FWRs where active diodes are used to reduce the diode voltage drop and increase the system efficiency are usually powered from the output. Output-powered FWRs exhibit relatively high efficiencies because the comparators used in active diodes are powered from the stable output voltage. Nevertheless, a major drawback is that these FWRs consume power from the output storage capacitor even when the system is not harvesting any energy. To overcome the problem, a technique using a simple vibration detector consisting of a peak detector and a level converter is proposed. The vibration detector detects whether vibrational energy exists or not in the input terminal and disables the comparators when there is no vibrational energy. The proposed FWR with the vibration detector is designed using a $0.35-{\mu}m$ CMOS process. Simulation results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. By using the proposed vibration detector, a decrease in leakage current by approximately 67,000 times can be achieved after the vibration disappears.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.429-432
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• 2017

In this paper, a full - wave rectifying harvesting circuit with a high-performance comparator is designed. Designed circuits are divided into Negative Voltage Converter and Active Diode stages. The comparator included in the active diode stage is implemented as a 3-stage type and divided into pre-amplification, decision circuit, and output buffer stages. The main purpose of this comparator is to reduce the propagation delay and improve the voltage and power efficiency of the harvesting circuit. The proposed circuit is designed with magna $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process and its operation is verified by simulation. The chip area of the designed energy harvesting circuit is $900{\mu}m{\times}712{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.425-428
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• 2017

This paper describes a full-wave rectifiers for energy harvesting circuit using a vibrational energy. The designed circuit is applied to the negative voltage converter with the body-bias technique using the Beta-multiplier so that the power efficiency is excellent even at the low voltage, and the comparator is designed as the bulk-driven type. The proposed circuit is designed with $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and The designed chip occupies $931{\mu}m{\times}785{\mu}m$.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.589-597
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• 2015

Wave energy harvesting system using OWC(Oscillating Water Column) and MB (Movable Body) attached at the caisson breakwater was studied. This system was suggested to maximize wave energy extraction using resonant phenomena of oscillating water column and buoy in wave channel (Park et al., 2014). Not only incident waves but also reflected waves from the breakwater can be used as sources of exciting force for harvesting wave energy efficiently. Using Galerkin finite model based on the linear wave theory (Park, 1991), the performance of the system was evaluated for various damping ratios of power take off system. Numerical results show that the proposed system is excellent in efficiency compared with that of conventional system and the performance of the system is governed by the resonance of oscillating water column in the wave channel. In addition, the additional efforts to minimize viscous damping was found to be necessary because viscous damping occurring in the channel and around the moving buoy is significant in generation efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.421-424
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• 2017

This paper describes a full-wave rectifiers for energy harvesting circuit using vibration detector. The designed circuit operates only when the vibration is detected through the vibration detector and the active diode. When there is no vibration, the comparator is turned off to prevent leakage of energy stored in the $C_{STO}$. The energy stored in the capacitor is used to drive the level converter and the active diode. The energy stored in the capacitor is supplied to an active diode designed as an output power. The vibration detector is implemented with Schmitt Trigger and Peak Detector with Hysteresis function. The proposed circuit is designed in a CMOS 0.35um technology and its functionality has been verified through extensive simulations. The designed chip occupies $590{\mu}m{\times}583{\mu}m$.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.17-52
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• 2024

In this paper, the authors explore the modeling and control of a point absorber wave energy converter, which is connected to the electric grid via a power converter that is based on a linear permanent magnet synchronous generator (LPMSG). The device utilizes a buoyant mechanism to convert the energy of ocean waves into electrical power, and the LPMSG-based power converter is utilized to change the variable frequency and voltage output from the wave energy converter to a fixed frequency and voltage suitable for the electric grid. The article concentrates on the creation of a predictive control system that regulates the speed, voltage, and current of the LPMSG, and the modeling of the system to simulate its behavior and optimize its design. The predictive model control is created to guarantee maximum energy output and stable grid connection, using Matlab Simulink to validate the proposed strategy, including control side generator and predictive current grid-side converter loops.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2013

The aim of this study is to research maximum harvesting energy by the optimal input wave condition. The voltage characteristics of the PZT bimorph were investigated in terms of the sine wave, triangle wave and square wave according to frequency range 0~70Hz. It was found that the square wave compared with a triangular wave or square wave was showed the higher output energy. PZT bimorph was mechanically vibrated by solenoid coil experiments, which revealed two voltage peak mode according to frequency. Maximum voltage at second vibration frequency 28Hz demonstrated that the generated DC voltage was proportional to the tip displacement of the bimorph and the phase difference between the input frequency and bimorph vibration frequency was 90 degree. It was expected that optimized design to harvest a much higher energy level from lower frequency vibrations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.305-314
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• 2017

Ocean wave energy harvesting is still too expensive despite developing a variety of wave energy converter (WEC) devices. For the cost-effective wave energy harvesting, it can be an effective measure to use existing breakwaters or newly installed breakwaters for both wave control and energy harvesting purposes. In this study, we investigated the functionality of both breakwater and wave-power generator for the oscillating water column (OWC)-type wave energy converter (WEC) installed in a pneumatic floating breakwater, which was originally developed as a floating breakwater. In order to verify the performance of the breakwater as a WEC, the air flow velocity from air-chamber to WEC has to be evaluated properly. Therefore, air flow velocity, wave transformation and motion of floating structure was numerically implemented based on BEM from linear velocity potential theory without considering the compressibility of air within the chamber. Air pressure, meanwhile, was assumed to be fluctuated by the motions of structure and the water level change within air-chamber. The validity of the obtained values can be determined by comparing the previous results from the numerical analysis for different shapes. Based on numerical model results, wave transformation characteristics around OWC system mounted on the fixed and floating breakwaters, and motions of the structure with air flow velocities are investigated. In summary, all numerical results are almost identical to the previous research considering air compressibility. Therefore, it can be concluded that this analysis not considering air compressibility in the air chamber is more efficient and practical method.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.523-530
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• 2015

Electricity generation through fossil fuels has caused environmental pollution. To solve this problem, research on new renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal heat, etc.) to replace fossil fuels is in progress. These devices are able to consistently generate power. However, they have many drawbacks, such as high installation costs and limitations in possible set-up environments. Thus, piezoelectric harvesting technology, which is able to overcome the limitations of existing energy technologies, is actively being studied. Piezoelectric harvesting technology uses the piezoelectric effect which occurs in crystals that generate voltage when stress is applied. Therefore, it has advantages such as a wider installation base and lower technological cost. In this study, a piezoelectric energy harvesting device based on constant wave motion was investigated. This device can regenerate electricity in a constant turbulent flow in the middle of the sea. The components of the device are circuitry, a steel bar, an bimorph piezoelectric element and buoyancy elements. In addition, a multiphysical analysis coupled with the structure and piezoelectric elements was conducted to estimate the performance of the device. With this piezoelectric energy harvesting device, the displacement and electric power were analyzed.