Effect of the blade arc angle on the performance of a Savonius wind turbine

Abstract

Savonius wind turbine is a common vertical axis wind turbine which simply comprises two or three arc-type blades and can generate power under poor wind conditions. With the aim of increasing the turbine’s power efficiency, the effect of the blade arc angle on the performance of a typical two-bladed Savonius wind turbine is investigated with a transient computational fluid dynamics method. Simulations were based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations, and the renormalization group k − ε turbulent model was utilized. The numerical method was validated with existing experimental data. The results indicate that the turbine with a blade arc angle of 160 ∘ generates the maximum power coefficient, 0.2836, which is 8.37% higher than that from a conventional Savonius turbine.