Applications of Modelling and Simulation (Jan 2020)
Effect of Blade Materials on the Performance of Savonius Wind Turbine for Operation in Taif City-Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Renewable energy technologies are considered as the key driver of the country’s economic growth and development. One of the important targets of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 is to generate 9.5 Gigawatts of renewable energy (solar and wind power) in the near future. The application of wind energy in industrial and household sectors is becoming increasingly attractive and widely extended to substitute the traditional oil-produced energy. This can also minimize the environmental pollution. Different types of wind turbine have been used for low as well as high power applications. Recently, an increased attention has been given to vertical axis wind turbine due to its simplicity and advantages over horizontal axis wind turbine. Savonius wind turbine is considered as one of the most popular types of vertical axis wind turbine due to its simplicity in design and operation for low power applications especially in low wind speed regions. Different design parameters of Savonius wind turbine have been previously investigated towards the best performance. However, the blade materials have not been considered previously in order to show its impact on Savonius wind turbine performance. In the present paper, the design and operation of Savonius wind turbine are investigated according to the local climate conditions in Taif-city, Saudi Arabia. Two different materials have been used for blade manufacturing, namely Aluminum sheets (3003) and PVC (ASTM D2665 -14) materials. The effects of such materials on the performance of Savonius rotor related to its output power are experimentally investigated. It is found that, the blades made from Aluminum sheets showed better performance than those made from PVC material. In general, it is concluded that Savonius wind turbine can be used efficiently for household applications in Taif region, Saudi Arabia.
