The paper describes an experimental investigation, and presents the results of the aerodynamic performance of a high-solidity Wells turbine for a wave power plant. A monoplane turbine of 0.6 m rotor diameter with guide vanes was built and tested. The tests were conducted in unidirectional steady airflow. Measurements taken include flow rate, pressure drop, torque, and rotational speed, as well as velocity and pressure distributions. Experimental results show that the presence of guide vanes can provide a remarkable increase in turbine efficiency.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Topics:
Turbines, Wave energy, Wells, Guide vanes, Air flow, Flow (Dynamics), Pressure, Pressure drop, Rotors, Torque
1.
Falca˜o, A. F. de O., Sarmento, A. J. N. A., Gato, L. M. C., and Pontes, M. T., 1991, “Preliminary Design of a Demonstration OWC Wave Plant for the Azores,” Third International Symposium on Ocean Wave Energy Utilization, eds., T. Miyazaki and H. Hotta, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, pp. 395–403.
2.
Ferro, L. M. C., 1990, “Design of a Kaplan Bulb Turbine Rotor,” Internal Report (in Portuguese), Dept. Mechanical Engineering, IST, Lisbon, Portugal.
3.
Gato
L. M. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1984
, “
On the Theory of the Wells Turbine
,”
ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power
, Vol.
106
, pp.
628
–
633
.
4.
Gato
L. M. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1984
, “
Aerodynamics of the Wells Turbine
,”
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
, Vol.
30
, No.
6
, pp.
383
–
395
.
5.
Gato
L. M. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1989
, “
Aerodynamics of the Wells Turbine: Control by Swinging Rotor Blades
,”
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
, Vol.
31
, No.
6
, pp.
425
–
434
.
6.
Gato
L. M. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1990
, “
Performance of Wells Turbine with Double Row of Guide Vanes
,”
JSME International Journal
, Series II, Vol.
33
, No.
2
, pp.
262
–
271
.
7.
Gato
L. M. C.
,
Ec¸a
L. R. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1991
a, “
Performance of the Wells Turbine with Variable Pitch Rotor Blades
,”
ASME JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY
, Vol.
113
, pp.
141
–
146
.
8.
Gato
L. M. C.
,
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
Pereira
N. H. C.
, and
Pereira
R. M. R. J.
,
1991
b, “
Design of Wells Turbine for OWC Wave Power Plant
,”
Proceedings, First International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
, eds., J. Chung, B. Natvig, K. Kaneko, and A. Ferrante, International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE), Vol.
1
, pp.
380
–
384
, Golden, CO.
9.
Horlock, J. H., 1966, Axial Flow Turbines, Butterworths, London, U.K.
10.
Kaneko
K.
,
Setoguchi
T.
,
Harakawa
H.
, and
Inoue
M.
,
1991
, “
Biplane Axial Turbine for Wave Power Generator
,”
International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering
, Vol.
1
, No.
2
, pp.
122
–
128
.
11.
McCormick
M. E.
, and
Surko
S. W.
,
1989
, “
An Experimental Study of the Performance of the Counter-rotating Wave Energy Conversion Turbine
,”
ASME JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY
, Vol.
111
, pp.
167
–
173
.
12.
Pereira, N. H. C., and Pereira, R. M. R. J., 1991, “Calibration of a Flow Meter,” Internal Report (in Portuguese), Dept. Mechanical Engineering, IST, Lisbon, Portugal.
13.
Raghunathan
S.
, and
Tan
C. P.
,
1983
, “
The Performance of Biplane Wells Turbine
,”
Journal of Energy
, Vol.
7
, No.
6
, pp.
721
–
742
.
14.
Raghunathan
S.
,
Tan
C. P.
, and
Ombaka
O. O.
,
1985
, “
Performance of the Wells Self-Rectifying Air Turbine
,”
Aeronautical Journal
, Vol.
89
, pp.
369
–
379
.
15.
Raghunathan
S.
, and
Ombaka
O. O.
,
1985
, “
Effect of Frequency of Air Flow on the Performance of the Wells Turbine
,”
International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow
, Vol.
6
, No.
2
, pp.
127
–
132
.
16.
Raghunathan
S.
,
Setoguchi
T.
, and
Kaneko
K.
,
1989
, “
The Effect of Inlet Conditions on the Performance of Wells Turbine
,”
ASME JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY
, Vol.
111
, pp.
37
–
42
.
17.
Richards, D., and Weiskopf Jr., F. B., 1986, “Studies With, and Testing of the McCormick Pneumatic Wave Energy Turbine With Some Comments on PWECS Systems,” Proceedings of the International Symposium Utilization of Ocean Waves-Waves to Energy Conversion, eds., M. E. McCormick and Y. C. Kim, ASCE, New York, NY, pp. 80–102.
18.
Sarmento
A. J. N. A.
,
Gato
L. M. C.
, and
Falca˜o
A. F. de O.
,
1990
, “
Turbine-Controlled Wave Energy Absorption by Oscillating-water-column Devices
,”
Ocean Engineering
, Vol.
17
, No.
5
, pp.
481
–
497
.
19.
Setoguchi
T.
,
Kaneko
K.
,
Maeda
H.
,
Kim
T. W.
, and
Inoue
M.
,
1993
, “
Impulse Turbine with Self-Pitch-Controlled Guide Vanes for Wave Power Conversion: Performance of Mono-Vane Type
,”
International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering
, Vol.
3
, No.
1
, pp.
73
–
78
.
20.
Warfield, V. P., 1994, “An Investigation into the Performance of a High Solidity Wells Turbine for an Oscillating Water Column Wave Power Plant,” M. Tech. thesis, Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland.
21.
Wilson, D. G., 1984, The Design of High-Efficiency Turbomachinery and Gas Turbines, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 1996
 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.