Performance Prediction of Impulse Turbine System in Various Operating Conditions

Abstract

This paper deals with the design and analysis of a 250 kW class impulse turbine for wave energy conversion. Numerical analysis was performed using FLUENT. The size and the performance of a turbine required to provide a certain power can be estimated using a series of performance charts built through the present study. Temporal and spatial variations of flow fields were also considered and compared with those of uniform inflow. It was concluded that a simple steady-flow analysis using performance charts still provided a practical and useful way to predict the design and performance of turbines.1. IntroductionImpulse turbines installed on OWC chambers are considered one of the best wave-energy-extracting devices suitable for full-scale application, especially because of its wide operating range and relatively low rotational speed. As an example of full-scale turbine, a 250 kW-class impulse turbine was chosen to analyze the aerodynamic performance of internal duct flow around a turbine rotor as well as the whole air flow passage. The basic turbine model of Setoguchi et al. (2001) was employed for CFD calculation in a systematic manner for flow analysis with and without the turbine rotor.