Sail Wing Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion (Performance Improvement by Means of Guide Vane)

Abstract

In an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) based wave energy plant, an air turbine is operated through bi-directional airflow generated by the reciprocating motion of water column in the air chamber. A sail wing turbine can be used as an air turbine for wave energy conversion because it has a special structure in which the shape of the sail changes in reciprocating airflow and always can rotate in the same direction. This turbine is generally used for wind power generation and recently adopted as a turbine for wave energy conversion. This turbine has simple construction and its manufacturing cost seems to be lower. However, its efficiency is worse than other conventional turbines at present. In order to improve the turbine performance by means of guide vane, a wind tunnel test under steady flow and a CFD analysis were conducted to investigate the turbine characteristics in the study.