VERTICAL AXIS CURRENT TURBINE (VACT) AND ITS EFFICIENCY

This study examines the efficiency of a vertical axis current turbine (VACT) according to various non-dimensional mass moments of inertia. The vertical axis current turbine of drag force type with flat plate-shaped blade is tested. From experiments in a circulating water channel the angular velocity, the power coefficient and tip speed ratio of the vertical axis current turbine are obtained. The property changes for various conditions give the relationships between efficiency-related parameters. The maximum power coefficients of experiments occur at the tip speed ratio of approximately 0.35∼0.40. From the experiments, turbine is found to give a 7% power coefficient which related to I* = 0.52.Copyright © 2013 by ASME