Comparative Study of Deflector Configurations under Variable Vertical Angle of Incidence and Wind Speed through Transient 3D CFD Modeling of Savonius Turbine

Abstract

The demand for clean and sustainable energy has led to the exploration of innovative technologies for renewable energy generation. The Savonius turbine has emerged as a promising solution for harnessing wind energy in urban environments due to its unique design, simplicity, structural stability, and ability to capture wind energy from any direction. However, the efficiency of Savonius turbines poses a challenge that affects their overall performance. Extensive research efforts have been dedicated to enhancing their efficiency and optimizing their performance in urban settings. For instance, an axisymmetric omnidirectional deflector (AOD) was introduced to improve performance in all wind directions. Despite these advancements, the effect of wind incident angles on Savonius turbine performance has not been thoroughly investigated. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining the performance of standard Savonius configurations (STD) compared to the basic configuration of the deflector (AOD1) and to the optimized one (AOD2) under different wind incident angles and wind speeds. One key finding was the consistent superior performance of this AOD2 configuration across all incident angles and wind speeds. It consistently outperformed the other configurations, demonstrating its potential as an optimized configuration for wind turbine applications. For instance, at an incident angle of 0°, the power coefficient of the configuration of AOD2 was 61% more than the STD configuration. This ratio rose to 88% at an incident angle of 20° and 125% at an incident angle of 40°.

Keywords

• vertical axis wind turbine
• transient three-dimensional simulation
• CFD simulation
• power coefficient
• Savonius rotor
• aerodynamics