271
Views
23
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Performance enhancement of a twisted Savonius hydrokinetic turbine with an upstream deflector

, , , &
Pages 51-65 | Received 01 Jul 2020, Accepted 15 Sep 2020, Published online: 29 Sep 2020
 

ABSTRACT

The conventional Savonius turbine is one of the most used rotors to convert the kinetic energy of natural water resources instead of potential energy. However, this rotor presents low efficiency. A twisted Savonius turbine was appeared which is considered most performant by twisting the blades of the conventional Savonius turbine along theirs spans. In fact, various experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to enhance the efficiency of the twisted Savonius turbine which has not been completely explored. In this study, an experimental investigation was carried out to assess the performance characteristics of a twisted Savonius turbine in an irrigation canal. In order to improve the efficiency of the Savonius turbine, three deflector designs were investigated numerically based on a CFD 3D numerical model. The peak value of the turbine power coefficient reaches 0.166 at a tip-speed ratio value of 0.78 without using a deflector upstream the turbine. Using the deflector design showing the highest efficiency, the peak value of the power coefficient was increased by 17.47%. The use of the proposed deflector is expected to provide toward a more effective employment of flowing water like tidal currents, river streams or other man-made water channels for electrical energy production in rural regions.

Nomenclature

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to take this chance to express the genuine thanks to the financial support of the LASEM laboratory of University of Sfax. The authors would like to acknowledge also the Higher National Engineering School of Tunis (ENSIT) for supporting this research activity.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 405.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.