Abstract
A straight-bladed vertical axis turbine for wave energy conversion has been proposed in order to develop a novel air turbine suitable for OWC based plant. Performances of the proposed turbine under steady flow conditions have been investigated experimentally by using a wind tunnel. The tested rotor has some straight blades with a profile of NACA4-diget series airfoil, a pitch diameter of 460 mm and a width of 490mm. The starting characteristics of the proposed turbine have been carried out by using quasi-steady analysis.