Abstract
A straight-bladed vertical axis turbine for wave energy conversion has been proposed in order to develop a novel air tur-
bine suitable for OWC based wave energy 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 490 mm. The starting characteristics of the proposed
turbine have been simulated by using quasi-steady analysis. It was found that the airfoil suitable for the proposed turbine
was a symmetric type. Furthermore, as for the suitable solidity of the turbine, it was obtained to be approximately 0.22.
