Yoichi Kinoue

Performance of an impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes for wave power conversion

A simple fixed geometry impulse turbine has been studied as a suitable power converter in Oscillating Water Column based wave power plants. Comparison with the Wells turbine, which is the commonly used self-rectifying turbine in such applications, shows it to be superior in performance under irregular flow conditions. Optimum guide vane angle for maximum efficiency has been arrived at based on the five angles tested.

Hysteretic characteristics of Wells turbine for wave power conversion

A Wells turbine blade for wave power conversion has hysteretic characteristics in a reciprocating flow. The hysteretic loop is opposite to the well-known dynamic stall of an airfoil. In this paper, the mechanism of the hysteretic behavior was elucidated by an unsteady 3-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulation. It was found that the hysteretic behavior was associated with a streamwise vortical flow appearing near the blade suction surface. And also the effects of solidity, setting angle and blade thickness on the hysteretic characteristics of the Wells turbine have been discussed.

Effect of End Plates on the Performence of a Wells Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

In order to improve the performance of the Wells turbine for wave energy conversion, the effect of end plates on the turbine characteristics has been investigated experimentally by model testing under steady flow conditions. The end plate attached to the tip of the original rotor blade is slightly larger than the original blade profile. The characteristics of the Wells turbine with end plates have been compared with those of the original Wells turbine, i.e., the turbine without end plate. As a result, it has been concluded that the characteristics of the Wells turbine with end plates are superior to those of the original Wells turbine and the characteristics are dependent on the size and position of end plate. Furthermore, the effect of annular plate on the turbine performance, which encircles the turbine and is attached to the tip, was investigated as an additional experiment. However, its device was not effective in improving the turbine characteristics.

Effect of Inlet Geometry on Fan Performance and Inlet Flow Fields in a Semi-opened Axial Fan

Abstract In order to clarify the effect of inlet bellmouth size of semi-opened type axial fan on its performance and flow fields around rotor, fan test and flow field measurements using hotwire anemometer were carried out for 6 kinds of bellmouth size. As results of fan test, the shaft power curve hardly changed, even if the bellmouth size changed. On the other hand, the pressure-rise near best efficiency point became small with the bellmouth size decreasing. Therefore, the value of maximum efficiency became small as the bellmouth size decreased. As results of flow field measurements at fan inlet, the main flow region with large meridional velocity existed near blade tip when the bellmouth size was large. As bellmouth size became smaller, the meridional velocity at fan inlet became smaller and the one at outside of blade tip became larger. As results of flow field measurements at fan outlet, the main flow region existed near rotor hub side.

Impulse Turbine with Self-pitch-controlled Guide Vanes for Wave Power Conversion (Effect of Guide Vane Geometry on the Performance)

An impulse turbine with self-pitch-controlled guide vanes has been developed specially for wave energy conversion by the authors. Based on that work, a large turbine of 1 m diameter has been fabricated and operated on the west coast of India. In a practical turbine system, the guide vanes need substantial supports in order to heighten the strength. Such supports affect the performance of the turbine. In this paper, the etfect of guide vane support geometry on starting and running characteristics of the turbine was investigated experimentally. Two types of cross sections of support were studied, that is, circular type and airfoil type. The effect of support length was also studied.

Effect of Inlet Geometry on Fan Performance and Flow Field in a Half-Ducted Propeller Fan

In order to clarify the effect of rotor inlet geometry of half-ducted propeller fan on performance and velocity fields at rotor outlet, the experimental investigation was carried out using a hotwire anemometer. Three types of inlet geometry were tested. The first type is the one that the rotor blade tip is fully covered by a casing. The second is that the front one-third part of blade tip is opened and the rest is covered. The third is that the front two-thirds are opened and the rest is covered. Fan test and internal flow measurement at rotor outlet were conducted about three types of inlet geometry. At the internal flow measurement, a single slant hotwire probe was used and a periodical multisampling technique was adopted to obtain the three-dimensional velocity distributions. From the results of fan test, the pressure-rise characteristic drops at high flowrate region and the stall point shifts to high flowrate region, when the opened area of blade tip increases. From the results of velocity distributions at rotor outlet, the region with high axial velocity moves to radial inwards, the circumferential velocity near blade tip becomes high, and the flow field turns to radial outward, when the opened area increases.

Vortex Features in a Half-ducted Axial Fan with Large Bellmouth (Effect of Tip Clearance)

Abstract In order to clarify the features of tip leakage vortex near blade tip region in a half-ducted axial fan with large bellmouth, the experimental investigation was carried out using a 2-dimensional LDV system. Three sizes of tip clearance (TC) were tested: those sizes were 1mm (0.55% of blade chord length at blade tip), 2mm (1.11% of blade chord length at blade tip) and 4mm (2.22% of blade chord length at blade tip), and those were shown as TC=1mm, TC=2mm and TC=4mm, respectively. Fan characteristic tests and the velocity field measurements were done for each TC. Pressure – flow-rate characteristics and two-dimensional velocity vector maps were shown. The vortex trace and the vortex intensity distribution were also illustrated. As a result, a large difference on the pressure – flow-rate characteristics did not exist for three tip clearance sizes. In case of TC=4mm, the tip leakage vortex was outflow to downstream of rotor was not confirmed at the small and reference flow-rate conditions. Only at the large flow-rate condition, its outflow to downstream of rotor existed. In case of TC=2mm, overall vortex behaviors were almost the same ones in case of TC=4mm. However, the vortex trace inclined toward more tangential direction. In case of TC=1mm, the clear vortex was not observed for all flow-rate conditions.

Experimental Investigation on Separated Flows of Axial Flow Stator and Diagonal Flow Rotor

Experimental investigations were conducted for the internal flows of the axial flow stator and diagonal flow rotor. Corner separation near the hub surface and the suction surface of stator blade are mainly focused on. For the design flow rate, the values of the axial velocity and the total pressure at stator outlet decrease between near the suction surface and near the hub surface by the influence of corner wall. For the flow rate of 80-90% of the design flow rate, the corner separation of the stator between the suction surface and the hub surface is observed, which becomes widely spread for 80% of the design flow rate. At rotor outlet for 81% of the design flow rate, the low axial velocity region grows between near the suction surface of rotor and the casing surface because of the tip leakage flow of the rotor.

Hysteretic characteristics of Wells turbine for wave power conversion (effects of solidity and setting angle)

A Wells turbine for wave power conversion has hysteretic characteristics in a reciprocating flow. The hysteretic loop is opposite to the well-known dynamic stall of an airfoil. In this paper, the mechanism of the hysteretic behavior was elucidated by an unsteady three-dimensional Navier–Stokes numerical simulation. It was found that the hysteretic behavior was associated with a streamwise vortical flow appearing near the blade suction surface. Also the effects of solidity and setting angle on the hysteretic characteristics of the Wells turbine have been discussed in this paper.

Numerical Investigations of Hysteretic Characteristics on Wells Turbine

A Wells turbine for wave power conversion has hysteretic characteristics in a reciprocating flow. The hysteretic loop is opposite to the well-known dynamic stall of an airfoil. In this paper, the mechanism of the hysteretic behavior was elucidated by an unsteady 3-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulation. It was found that the hysteretic behavior was associated with a streamwise vortical flow appearing near the blade suction surface. In the accelerating process of axial flow velocity, the vortex is intensified to enlarge the flow separation area on the blade suction surface. In the decelerating flow process, the flow separation area is reduced because of the weakened vortex. Therefore, the aerodynamic performance in the accelerating flow process is lower than in the decelerating flow process, unlike the dynamic stall. Based on the vortex theorem, the mechanism to vary the intensity of the vortex can be explained by the trailing vortices associated with change in the blade circulation.Copyright