Performance improvement of a Savonius water rotor with novel blade shapes

Savonius water rotor is a prominent drag based turbine able to extract energy available in flowing water with low velocity like river streams, tidal currents or other man made water canals. However, in view of its low performance, an enhanced design of the rotor blades is necessary to better its eff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ocean engineering 2021-10, Vol.237, p.109611, Article 109611
Main Authors: Mosbahi, Mabrouk, Lajnef, Mariem, Derbel, Mouna, Mosbahi, Bouzid, Driss, Zied, Aricò, Costanza, Tucciarelli, Tullio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blade shape
CFD
Efficiency
Engineering Sciences
Flow characteristics
Hydrokinetic rotor
Savonius rotor
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Summary:Savonius water rotor is a prominent drag based turbine able to extract energy available in flowing water with low velocity like river streams, tidal currents or other man made water canals. However, in view of its low performance, an enhanced design of the rotor blades is necessary to better its efficiency. Therefore, the present study aims to improve the efficiency of Savonius rotor by changing the blade design. Different blade shapes were investigated numerically using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Using conventional design, the peak power coefficient was found to be 0.166 at tip-speed ratio of 0.78. However, the peak power coefficient reaches 0.184 using the optimal blade design. This work may be an important towards further improvement of the Savonius rotor's efficiency. •A numerical-experimental study has been carried out on a Savonius hydrokinetic turbine.•The maximum power coefficient value is given for a TSR of 0.78.•The effect of the blade shape on the turbine performance is studied.•The blade shape affects the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow.•The optimal blade shape is suggested finally.
ISSN:0029-8018
1873-5258
DOI:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2021.109611