Abstract
This study proposes a straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine for ocean-wave energy conversion. The aim is to develop a novel air turbine suitable for an oscillating water column in a wave energy plant. To this end, the performances of straight-bladed vertical-axis turbines were investigated for different guide-vane geometries in a wind tunnel experiment. The rotor has four straight blades with an NACA0018 profile, a chord length of 80.5 mm, a pitch diameter of 460 mm, and a blade width of 490 mm. In this study, the guide-vane geometry was varied as arc, semi-arc, and semi-arc with a straight part. Under steady flow conditions, the turbine performance was evaluated by determining the torque, input and flow coefficients, and the turbine efficiency. The semi-arc blade geometry decreased the input coefficient and increased the torque coefficient. Moreover, the semi-arc blade with a straight part improved the starting characteristics of the turbine and its efficiency over a wide range of flow coefficients.
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