In order to develop a high performance air turbine having simple structure for wave energy conversion, an impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes has been presented and investigated experimentally by model testing. As a result, a suitable choice of the design factors has been clarified for rotor blade inlet (or outlet) angle and guide vane setting angle of the turbine. Furthermore, it is found that the running and starting characteristics of the present impulse turbine are superior to those of a Wells turbine under irregular wave conditions.
