Numerical Investigation of Savonius Hydrokinetic Turbine Having Novel Thick Blades.

Abstract

Recently, hydrokinetic energy is playing an important role in the production of green energy. It boasts a minimal ecological footprint and holds significant promise for generating energy on a small scale. Savonius Hydrokinetic Turbine (SHKT) acquires the hydrokinetic energy and converts it into useful energy. It has some specific advantages over other hydrokinetic turbines. Two unique thick blade designs have been utilized to replace the traditional semi-circular blades of the Savonius hydrokinetic turbine, resulting in the creation of two novel variants known as SHKT Design-1 and SHKT Design-2. Numerical investigations are carried out to assess and contrast the performance of SHKT Design-1 and SHKT Design-2 with conventional SHKT, with inlet velocity 0.9 m/s at various tip speed ratios between 0.7 to 1.1. The current study demonstrates that, the performance of SHKT is greater compared to SHKT Design-1 and SHKT Design-2. Savonius hydrokinetic turbine has a 10.5% and 7.5% higher maximum coefficient of power compared to SHKT Design-1 and SHKT Design-2 respectively. The flow field generated about the SHKT, SHKT Design-1 and SHKT Design-2 are examined and deliberated upon to evaluate performance across different facets.