Research on a Field-modulated Linear Permanent-magnet Generator for Wave Energy Conversion

To solve the low power density disadvantage of direct-drive wave energy converter, caused by low direct-drive speed. A novel linear tubular field modulated permanent magnet generator is proposed, which can effectively improve the performance of this kind of generators. The operation of the proposed generator is analyzed. The generator performance is evaluated using finite element method. The results show that the proposed generator has advantages of larger air-gap effective area, higher power density, more steady output power and voltage, low cogging fore and harmonic component, which is well suit for wave energy conversion.