Optimization of the S-Rotor Savonius Wind Turbine

Abstract

In this study, 2D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was used to investigate the optimum working conditions of the S-Rotor Savonius (S-RS) wind turbine and to determine the most suitable geometry. The CFD model has been validated by studies on the S-RS wind turbine in the literature. The sliding mesh method which uses a mesh motion was utilized to perform the numerical study. CFD analysis was carried out under various tip-speed ratio at 4 m/s airspeed for the S-RS wind turbine which has a frontal swept area of approximately 0.3 m2. Within the scope of the optimization study, aspect-ratio (AR) and overlap ratio (OR) of the S-RS wind turbine's rotor in the fixed frontal swept area were taken as parameters. The geometry of the S-rotor has been optimized using the Ansys/Response Surface Optimization (RSO) tool. Under the constraints in which the optimization study was carried out, aerodynamic efficiency was obtained as %22.19 at 0.848 AR and 0.068 OR. This yield is significant when the efficiency of S-RS’s wind turbine is taken into consideration.