Sail Wing Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

(Effect of Guide Vane Solidity)

Abstract

The studies on the oscillating water column (OWC) type wave energy converter has to be special geometry so that it can always rotate in the same direction in a bi-directional airflow, which makes it difficult to increase the efficiency and select a turbine geometry compared to the turbines for uni-directional flows. In order to overcome these difficulties, the use of a new air turbine for wave energy conversion, a sail wing turbine for bi-directional flow has been proposed by the authors. This turbine is operated in a bi-directional airflow by using some rotating sails made of a thin, flexible material such as cloth that changes shape in response to the airflow direction. The advantages of this turbine are that the rotor is lightweight, the turbine structure is simple, and it does not suffer from the stalling as seen in Wells turbine. However, it has been pointed out that the efficiency of this type of turbine is lower than that of the Wells turbine. In this study, in order to improve the performance of the sail wing turbine, the effect of the guide vane solidity on the performance was conducted through a wind tunnel test under steady flow condition.