Title: Performance improvement of Savonius turbine by design modifications: a review

Authors: Amit Kumar Mandal; Kunj Bihari Rana; Brajesh Tripathi

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota-324010, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota-324010, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota-324010, India

Abstract: Savonius turbine is a vertical axis wind turbine with a huge potential of harnessing wind energy. For utilising wind energy, horizontal axis wind turbine is a commonly used machine. The use of vertical axis wind turbines is not common due to their poor efficiency compared to horizontal axis wind turbine. Research in the direction of performance improvement by design modifications have increased in recent years. Present review incorporates the latest advancements in design modifications of Savonius wind turbines for performance improvement. It is observed that, the power and torque coefficients of Savonius turbine can be improved by two ways, i.e., by flow augmentation and negative torque reduction. This paper summarises the various types of modifications applied over Savonius rotor for performance improvement.

Keywords: wind energy; vertical axis wind turbine; VAWT; Savonius turbine; blade profile; flow augmentation; efficiency improvement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRET.2020.113766

International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology, 2020 Vol.11 No.4, pp.297 - 318

Received: 07 Mar 2020
Accepted: 06 Jul 2020
Published online: 22 Mar 2021 *

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