Experimental study of Wells turbine with multiparameter modification for wave energy conversion

In this article, a Wells turbine geometry is created with the modification of multiple geometric parameters, i.e., blade sweep/skew, endplate, casing groove, and guide vane. The experiment of a bidirectional turbine is conducted at the wave and fluid engineering laboratory, IIT Madras. The preliminary objective of the study is to measure the starting characteristics and corresponding flow velocity, revolution per minute (rpm), differential pressure of higher and lower pressure sides of the turbine. The output parameters are measured at different cycle times and the stroke length of a piston-cylinder combination, which simulates different wave conditions. After starting the Wells turbine, rotational and axial speeds increase for some time. After that, it will fluctuate between a specific range, and pressure is prepositional to the airflow rate. The wave energy can be converted into pneumatic energy with the help of wave energy converting(WEC) devices, i.e., oscillating water column(OWC) that can be further converted into mechanical energy and then into electrical energy with some appropriate devices. In this article, an experimental analysis of the turbine geometry is reported.