Performance comparison of turbines for wave power conversion

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to compare the performances of bi-directional turbines under irregular wave condition, which could be used for wave power conversion in the near future. The overall performances in connection with the behavior of oscillating water columns have been evaluated numerically. The types of turbine included in the paper are as follows: (a) Wells turbine with guide vanes (WTGV); (b) turbine with self-pitch-controlled blades (TSCB); (c) biplane Wells turbine with guide vanes (BWGV); (d) impulse turbine with self-pitch-controlled guide vanes (ISGV), and (e) impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes (IFGV). In the study, the experimental investigations were carried out to clarify the performance under steady flow condition and then the numerical simulation was used for predicting the performance of the turbine under irregular wave condition, which typically occurs in the sea. As a result, it is found that the running and starting characteristics of the impulse type turbines could be superior to those of the Wells turbine under irregular wave condition.