The objective of this paper is to report the effects of Reynolds number and hub-to-tip ratio on the performance of the impulse turbine for wave energy conversion. The turbine was investigated experimentally under steady and sinusoidally oscillating flow conditions by model testing. As a result, it was found that the critical value of Reynolds number and the optimum hub-to-tip ratio are approximately 4.0×104 and 0.7, respectively. Furthermore, their effect on starting characteristics have been clarified.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
wave power generation, turbines, offshore installations, mechanical engineering
Topics:
Impulse (Physics), Reynolds number, Turbines, Wave energy, Flow (Dynamics)
1.
Falcao, A. F. deO., Whittaker, T. J. T., and Lewis, A. W., 1993, “JOULE II Preliminary Action: European Pilot Plant Study,” Proc. 1993 Euro. Wave Energy Symp., pp. 247–257.
2.
Washio, Y., Osawa, H., Nagata, Y., Fujii, F., Furuyama, H., and Fujita, T., 2000, “The Offshore Floating Type Wave Power Device “Mighty Whale:” Open Sea Tests,” Proc. 10th Int. Offshore and Polar Eng. Conf., 1, pp. 373–380.
3.
Santhakumar, S., Jayashankar, V., Atmanand, M. A., Pathak, A. G., Ravindran, M., Setoguchi, T., Takao, M., and Kaneko, K., 1998, “Performance of an Impulse Turbine Based Wave Energy Plant,” Proc. 8th Int. Offshore and Polar Engg. Conf., 1, pp. 75–80.
4.
Thorpe, T. W., 2001, “Current Status and Developments in Wave Energy,” Proc. Int. Conf. on Marine Renewable Energies (MAREC 2001), pp. 103–110.
5.
Malmo
,
O.
, and
Reitan
,
A.
,
1985
, “
Wave Power Absorption by an Oscillating Water Column in a Channel
,”
JFM
,
158
, pp.
163
–
175
.
6.
Gato
,
L. M. C.
, and
deO Falcao
,
A. F.
,
1990
, “
Performance of Wells Turbine With Double Row of Guide Vanes
,”
JSME Int. J., Ser. II
,
33
(
2
), pp.
262
–
271
.
7.
Inoue
,
M.
,
Kaneko
,
K.
,
Setoguchi
,
T.
, and
Saruwatari
,
T.
,
1988
, “
Studies on the Wells Turbine for Wave Power Generator (Turbine Characteristics and Design Parameter for Irregular Wave)
,”
JSME Int. J., Ser. II
,
31
(
4
), pp.
676
–
682
.
8.
Raghunathan
,
S.
, and
Tan
,
C. P.
,
1982
, “
Performance of Wells Turbine at Starting
,”
J. Energy
,
6
, pp.
430
–
431
.
9.
Raghunathan
,
S.
, and
Beattie
,
W. C.
,
1996
, “
Aerodynamic Performance of a Contra-Rotating Wells Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion
,” J. of Power and Energy, Part I pp. 431.
10.
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
,”
Int. J. Offshore Polar Eng.
,
3
(
1
), pp.
73
–
78
.
11.
Setoguchi
,
T.
,
Kaneko
,
K.
,
Taniyama
,
H.
,
Maeda
,
H.
, and
Inoue
,
M.
,
1996
, “
Impulse Turbine With Self-Pitch-Controlled Guide Vanes for Wave Power Conversion: Guide Vanes Connected by Links
,”
Int. J. Offshore Polar Eng.
,
6
(
1
), pp.
76
–
80
.
12.
Setoguchi
,
T.
,
Takao
,
M.
,
Kinoue
,
Y.
,
Kaneko
,
K.
,
Santhakumar
,
S.
, and
Inoue
,
M.
,
2000
, “
Study on an Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion
,”
Int. J. Offshore Polar Eng.
,
10
(
2
), pp.
145
–
152
.
13.
Setoguchi
,
T.
,
Santhakumar
,
S.
,
Maeda
,
H.
,
Takao
,
M.
, and
Kaneko
,
K.
,
2001
, “
A Review of Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion
,”
Renewable Energy
,
23
(
2
), pp.
261
–
292
.
14.
Kinoue, Y., Takao, M., Setoguchi, T., Kaneko, K., and Inoue, M., 1999, “The Bi-directional Impulse Turbine for Wave-Energy Conversion,” Proc. 3rd ASME/JSME Joint Fluid Eng. Conf., FEDSM99-7833, pp. 1–7.
Copyright © 2004
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.