Heave compensation system and method
AssigneeItrec B.V.
InventorsJoop Roodenburg, Cornelis Johannes Ekelaar
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Abstract
A heave compensation system comprises a motor-generator to interact with a load and a control unit being arranged to control operation of the motor-generator. The control unit is arranged to: operate the motor-generator to drive the load in a first part of a wave motion cycle, and operate the motor-generator to regenerate in a second part of the wave motion cycle at least a part of the energy with which the load has been driven in the first part of the wave motion cycle. The heave compensation system comprises an electrical storage element to buffer at least part of the regenerated energy for powering the motor-generator in a following cycle of the wave motion.
Claims20
An active heave compensation system comprising:
- a control unit;
- an electric motor-generator configured to interact with a load and the control unit, wherein the control unit is arranged to control operation of the electric motor-generator, the control unit being arranged to:
- operate the electric motor-generator to drive the load in a first part of a wave motion cycle, and
- operate the electric motor-generator to regenerate in a second part of the wave motion cycle at least a part of the energy with which the load has been driven in the first part of the wave motion cycle;
- and
- an electrical storage element configured to buffer at least part of the regenerated energy for powering the electric motor-generator in a following cycle of the wave motion,
- wherein the electric motor-generator is configured to function as an electric motor to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy for driving the load in the first part of a wave motion cycle, and is configured to function as an electric generator to regenerate said at least a part of the electrical energy in the second part of the wave motion cycle when mechanically driven by a corresponding motion of the load.
An active heave compensation method for at least partly compensating for an effect of a wave motion on a load, the method comprising the steps of:
- operating an electric motor-generator which interacts with the load to drive the load in a first part of a wave motion cycle;
- operating the electric motor-generator to regenerate in a second part of the wave motion cycle at least a part of the energy with which the load has been driven in the first part of the wave motion cycle;
- and
- providing an electrical storage element configured to buffer at least part of the regenerated energy for powering the motor-generator in a following cycle of the wave motion,
- wherein the electric motor-generator is configured to function as an electric motor to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy for driving the load in the first part of a wave motion cycle, and is configured to function as an electric generator to regenerate said at least a part of the electrical energy in the second part of the wave motion cycle when mechanically driven by a corresponding motion of the load.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.