WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER

摘要

A wave energy converter (100) for extracting energy from waves in a body of liquid. The wave energy converter (100) comprises an endless spine (102) supporting a plurality of pneumatic absorbers (106) spaced about the spine (102). Each of the pneumatic absorbers (106) includes an oscillator (108) that is displaceable cyclically on contact with an incident wave to pump a fluid contained within the pneumatic absorber (106) and thereby extract energy from the wave in the form of pneumatic energy. The pneumatic absorbers (106) define at least one group of pneumatic absorbers (106). The pneumatic absorbers (106) in the or each group are connected in series by means of non-return valves (112) so as to direct fluid along a uni-directional flow pathway (A) through the group of pneumatic absorbers (106) and thereby aggregate and rectify pneumatic energy extracted via the group of pneumatic absorbers (106).