Experimental and numerical investigation of I-65-type cylinder effect on the savonius wind turbine performance

Gunawan Sakti, Triyogi Yuwono*, Wawan Aries Widodo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, a circular cylinder cut by 65 degrees on both sides was placed aligned with the axis returning turbine vane of a Savonius rotor turbine. This type of cylinder is called an I-65-type cylinder and is designed to bring down the drag forces on the returning blade, aerodynamically. Wind turbine performance was investigated experimentally and numerically under two conditions, with and without the installation of a type I-65-cylinder in line with a horizontal axis returning turbine blade. The study was conducted with Reynolds number Re = 9.9 x 104 based on free stream velocity (U) 5 m/s and a characteristic length L = 2D-b, where D is the outer diameter of the vane and b is the diameter of the rod. The I-65-type cylinder, which has a diameter of 0.5D, is placed at a distance of 1.4D in front of the returning turbine blade. In numerical studies, a 3D simulation was conducted to analyze the Savonius turbine flow using Commercial CFD software, Ansys Fluent version 19.1. The experimental output shows that installing an I-65-type cylinder in front of the returning blade can increase the Cp of the Savonius turbine. Compared to the conventional turbine, the maximum power coefficient of the Savonius turbines increased to around 23.6% due to the installation of an I-65-type cylinder, and this was achieved at a tip-speed ratio (TSR) of 0.8. This result is justified by numerical results carried out in this study.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)115-125
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Volume19
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • I-65-type cylinder
  • Performance
  • Returning blade
  • Savonius turbine
  • Sliding mesh
  • Transient

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