In order to save money to build a Pendulor Wave Power Converter, a new Pendulor was invented and studied. Applying the results obtained by the studies, design for remodeling of Muroran Wave Test Plant was accomplished. The feature occupies less space, provides easy installation and is safer against storms. The new plant will be completed in May 1994.
In order to open a new age of Ocean Wave Energy, we must break the cost barrier for utilizing it. From this point of View, wave power converters should be made cheap as possible so it can supply electricity at an economical price. For this reason, a new Pendulor Wave Power Converter was invented and studied. (Watabe, 1993) The Pendulor utilizes pendular motion excited by ocean waves and then the motion is altered to a generator running by means of an oil pump/motor set. (Watabe & Kondo, 1989) The old Pendulor consisted of a pendulum and a cylinder pump as illustrated in Fig.1. As soon as the pendulum was placed in the water, the pendulum began moving whenever the waves were there. So, coupling work with the pump to the pendulum was very dangerous. It required a water gate to shut incoming waves out. Concerning with the new Pendulor, a rotary pump is combined with a pendulum by a common shaft which supports both the pendulum and the rotary pump. This configuration makes installation easier without having to have a gate. The new feature occupies less space and provides safer circumstances against atoms. The idea can be expected to save money not only for the pendulum assembly but also for the caisson, basement, safety devices, and so on. The authors have studied the new Pendulor and are applying the results to this study. The designs for remodeling of the Muroran Wave Test Plant was done and will be explained in this paper.
