Air Turbine with staggered blades for wave power conversion

Abstract

In order to develop an efficient turbine for wave power conversion suitable for the actual oceanconditions, the air turbine with staggered blades has been presented and investigated experimentally by model testing. The experimental investigations have been performed under steady flow conditions. Then, the running and starting characteristics under sinusoidally oscillating flow conditions have been clarified by a computer simulation using a quasi-steady analysis. As a result, it is found that the air turbine with staggered blades is superior to the Wells turbine, and a suitable choice of design factor has been suggested for the setting angle of the rotor.