Abstract
Wave energy conversion is an appealing but challenging engineering undertaking. Waves are consistent, predictable, abundant, and powerful. A wave energy converter is capable of converting the energy of a wave into usable electricity, providing a clean source of reliable green energy to help support the global population’s high demand for energy. The research presented here investigates the effects of leading-edge tubercles for the Wells turbine as applicable to the oscillating water column wave energy converter, a promising type of wave energy converter technology. Two turbine prototypes were created and tested. The first being the baseline design which is a Wells turbine with select optimization parameters to ensure proper operation of the prototype. The second design has all the same parameters as the first but with the addition of tubercles on the leading-edge of the airfoil. Both designs were used in an oscillating water column prototype and tested under irregular wave conditions for voltage and power output. The addition of the leading-edge tubercles showed significant improvements to the voltage and power output and over a wider operating range. The research presented here is intended to stimulate interest in wave energy conversion and to further contribute to efforts taken to improve the performance of on-shore and near-shore oscillating water column wave energy converters.