Study on Performance of a Straight-Bladed Vertical-Axis Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion by CFD

Abstract

The highly efficient air turbine is necessary in order to achieve a highly efficient wave power generation by oscillating water column system. A straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine is proposed to develop a novel air turbine that is suitable for an oscillating water column based on wave energy plants. The objective of this work is to study the effect of guide vane geometry on the performance of straight-bladed vertical-axis turbines. However, because of difficulty in visualizing the airflow around the vertical axis turbine by experimental fluid dynamics, the effect on the airflow of guide vanes proposed in Ref. (4) had not clarified. So, we considered the relationship between the airflow changes and the turbine performance by 2D RANS analysis based on the guide vane geometry proposed in Ref. (4). It is clarified that 2D RANS analysis can obtain the qualitative characteristics of vertical axis turbine. And the effects of guide vanes on the airflow were clarified. When installing the guide vane, the turbine efficiency was increased.