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Numerical investigation and experimental validation about negative overlap in Savonius hydrokinetic turbine

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Abstract

Conventional hydroelectric turbines use the potential energy of the water as a primary source of energy. However, the hydrokinetic turbines use the kinetic energy of the flowing water to generate power output. It is also one of the best clean energy generation technologies. Out of many hydrokinetic turbines, the Savonius hydrokinetic turbine is very simple in design and easy to manufacture. The ratio of the gap between the two vanes to the turbine diameter is known as the overlap ratio. The effect of the positive overlap has been extensively investigated for the Savonius turbine. However, for the first time in the present investigation, the effect of the negative overlap ratio on the hydrodynamic performance of the Savonius turbine is investigated. The highest value of negative overlap ratios is obtained for two, three, and four numbers of blades of Savonius hydrokinetic turbines. With the present investigation, the best-suited range of the negative overlap ratio is obtained for each case. The present investigation also concludes that the Savonius turbine with three and four vanes, with a negative overlap ratio, maintains its good performance for a wide variation in the turbine load. Also, the best-obtained design through numerical analysis was cross-verified by experiments.

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Data availability

All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article.

Abbreviations

OR:

Overlap ratio \(\left[ \frac{e}{D} \right]\)

C P :

Coefficient of power \(\left( {\frac{{2P_{{{\text{out}}}} }}{{\rho AV^{3} }}} \right)\)

C t :

Coefficient of torque \(\left[ {\frac{{C_{{\text{P}}} }}{{{\text{TSR}}}}} \right]\)

D :

Diameter of rotor [m]

d :

Diameter of vane [m]

e :

Eccentric portion between vanes or gap between blades [m]

F d :

Drag force (N)

F l :

Lift force (N)

FSI:

Fluid-structure interaction

H :

Height of vanes [m]

HKT:

Hydrokinetic turbine

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy

OR:

Overlap ratio [e/D]

P in :

Power available in flowing water \(\left[ {\frac{1}{2}\rho AV^{3} } \right]\)

P out :

Power developed by turbine [T × ω]

R :

Radius of Rotor [m]

r :

Instantaneous torque radius or instantaneous distance from the resultant force to the center of the rotor [m]

T :

Torque available at the turbine rotor shaft [Nm]

\(\tau_{{\text{w}}}\) :

Wall shear stress [Pa]

\(u_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Friction velocity

V :

Free stream velocity of flow [m/s]

Y :

Normal distance from the wall

\(\rho\) :

Density of fluid [kg/\({\mathrm{m}}^{3}\)]

ω :

Specific dissipation rate

\(\theta\) :

Angle of rotation of vane [°]

SST:

Shear stress transport

TSR:

Tip speed ratio

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

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Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, Delhi, India for funding through core research grant specially to provide funding for computational and experimental resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Ichchhanath, Dumas Road, Surat, Gujarat, 395007, India

    Ravi S. Patel & Vimal K. Patel

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Correspondence to Vimal K. Patel.

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Patel, R.S., Patel, V.K. Numerical investigation and experimental validation about negative overlap in Savonius hydrokinetic turbine. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 648 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04557-4

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