2018 Volume 46 Issue 12 Pages 735-742
A straight-bladed vertical axis turbine for wave energy conversion has been proposed in order to develop a novel air turbine suitable for an oscillating water column based wave energy plant. This study aims at investigating the effect of guide vane position on the performance of a straight-bladed vertical axis turbine. The experimental study was performed by using a wind tunnel. The rotor comprises four straight blades with a profile of NACA0018, chord length of 80.5 mm, pitch radius of R=230 mm, and blade width of 490 mm. The guide vane has a profile of a circular arc and a chord length of l=87 mm. The gap between the rotor blade and the guide vane G is altered for investigating the effect of the guide vane position G / R. The experimental results indicate that the guide vane position G / R suitable for the proposed turbine is obtained in the case of G / R =0.11.
