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A novel, vertical-axis turbine has been designed to meet a specific power-generation need. It is intended that the turbine will provide local electricity to off-grid cellular communication towers. It is intended that the turbine will reduce or eliminate the use of diesel-power generation for these towers and result in a reduction of operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The design effort has had two main stages. First, a prototype turbine blade was designed and tested in a large-scale wind tunnel. The initial design was based on available literature information. Subsequently, numerical simulations of the fluid flow patterns around the turbine blade were used to create improvements to the design. These improvements include the use of venting apertures in the turbine blade to reduce negative drag and thrust loading and the use of caps to improve power-generation efficiency. Through numerical modeling, significant improvements in performance were achieved resulting in a viable turbine design.

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A numerical simulation has been performed to assist in evaluating vertical-axis Savonius-style wind turbines. The simulation was fully three-dimensional and unsteady. Through the simulation, it was possible to assess the performance of a wind turbine that possessed novel features such as wing venting and blade caps. Results from the simulation were compared with experimental data and it was found that they were in general agreement. The simulations provide continuous information regarding air-flow patterns and velocity distributions during the rotation. Representative patterns of flow are shown.