EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SAVONIUS WIND TURBINE BLADE FOR LOW WIND SPEED REGION

Abstract

In this study, a small-scale wind turbine blade for the application in a low wind speed region was experimentally investigated. Savonius wind turbine design was selected and evaluated based on the feasibility of low wind speed at the National Defense University of Malaysia (UPNM). Six different Savonius Wind Turbine Blade (SWTB) designs were selected to investigate the effect of the number of blades, diameters, and types of materials. A wind tunnel experiment was carried out to investigate the performance of the wind turbine blades with different parameters. The experimental results were analyzed based on power coefficient (Cp), wind speed (V), tip speed ratio (TSR), torque coefficient (Ct) and electric power output (Pe). It was found that the number of blades and diameter were the most significant factor in designing SWTB. For this particular study, the least number of blades with the bigger diameter were more significant to increase the Cp values. The material factor was least significant to the design as this experiment verified that all the models produced the highest peak of Cp corresponding to the wind speeds. The effectiveness of this experiment was concurred by the highest power output produced.