UGEN is a floating OWC, enclosing a U-tank with chambers connected through a duct hosting an air turbine. A frequency-domain model of the body’s dynamics had been developed, representing the turbine as a linear damping. The scope of this work is to develop a more accurate model of the turbine. An impulse and a Wells turbine are considered. Time-domain models are built in SIMULINK, giving special attention to variations of air density, whose compressibility influences the turbine’s performance and the whole WEC’s dynamics. Harmonic and irregular waves are tested, for validation and simulation respectively, with forced oscillation of the water columns; the optimal combination of diameter and speed is sought for each of the two turbines. Instantaneous and average power and efficiency are evaluated.
