Optimized blade of small vertical axis wind turbine and its vortex structure analysis

Abstract

Abstract. Sensitivity studies of blade angle and twisted angle are numerically investigated to optimize the Savonius blade. As blade angle increases, the contact area between blade and wind decreases, showing the suppression of the vortex generation near blade. Compared to the blade angle of 0 degree, the blade angle of 20 degree shows about 2.6% increment of power efficiency. Based on the blade angle of 20 degree, sensitivity studies of the twisted angle are performed. The result indicates that the adjustment of the twisted angle causes the torque of blade to increase. Optimized blade can suppress the formation of the vortex structure in rear region. Also, wind flows without disturbance of vortex when passing through the optimized blade. The 1kw vertical wind turbine system with optimized blade can generate 4442.2kWh per year and have 53% capacity factor.