Optimal Design of Fractional-Order PID Controllers for a Nonlinear AWS Wave Energy Converter Using Hybrid Jellyfish Search and Particle Swarm Optimization

In this study, a nonlinear Archimedes wave swing (AWS) energy conversion system was employed to enable the use of irregular sea waves to provide useful electricity. Instead of the conventional PI controllers used in prior research, this study employed fractional-order PID (FOPID) controllers to control the back-to-back configuration of AWS. The aim was to maximize the energy yield from waves and maintain the grid voltage and the capacitor DC link voltage at predetermined values. In this study, six FOPID controllers were used to accomplish the control goals, leading to an array of thirty parameters required to be fine-tuned. In this regard, a hybrid jellyfish search optimizer and particle swarm optimization (HJSPSO) algorithm was adopted to select the optimal control gains. Verification of the performance of the proposed FOPID control system was achieved by comparing the system results to two conventional PID controllers and one FOPID controller. The conventional PID controllers were tuned using a recently presented metaheuristic algorithm called the Coot optimization algorithm (COOT) and the classical particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO). Moreover, the FOPID was also tuned using the well-known genetic algorithm (GA). The system investigated in this study was subjected to various unsymmetrical and symmetrical fault disturbances.