Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Design Parameters on Savonius-Type Hydrokinetic Turbine Performance

Kuo-Tsai Wu, Kuo-Hao Lo, Ruey-Chy Kao and Sheng-Jye Hwang
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Kuo-Tsai Wu: Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 709, Taiwan
Kuo-Hao Lo: Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 709, Taiwan
Ruey-Chy Kao: Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 709, Taiwan
Sheng-Jye Hwang: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: To meet the increased demand of hydroelectric power generation, a novel drag-based Savonius turbine with the characteristics of a simpler fabrication process and good starting characteristics is designed, fabricated, and analyzed. The newly designed turbine is suitable to be installed in rivers, irrigation channels, ocean currents, etc., for small-scale hydroelectric power generation. In the present study, experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of the design parameters of this turbine on its power performance in order to improve its efficiency, including blade arc angles (180°, 135°), blade placement angles (0°, ±22.5°), and the number of blades (2, 3, 6, and 8). Further, three-dimensional CFD simulations are performed with Re = 6.72 × 10 5 , matching the experimental conditions, in order to study the changes in the flow field and the rotation characteristics of the turbine. The research results indicate that a six-bladed turbine with a blade arc angle of 135° and a blade placement angle of 0° has higher torque and better power performance, which makes it the most suitable design when also considering cost. Furthermore, it was found that an increase in the number of turbine blades contributes to improving the performance of the turbine. The maximum power coefficient is 0.099 at a tip speed ratio of 0.34.

Keywords: Savonius hydrokinetic turbine (SHT); power coefficient ( Cp ); moment coefficient ( Cm ); towing tank; tip speed ratio ( TSR ); computational fluid dynamics (CFD) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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