The effect of blade type variations on savonius wind turbine performance

Abstract

The Savonius wind turbine is one types of vertical wind turbine that can be working in low wind speed conditions. This type of turbine is suitable for development in Indonesia, which has an average wind speed ranging from 3 to 5 m/s. This research presents the results of performance comparisons among three types of turbine blades, namely L, U, and S with each helix 60° and no-load conditions. Turbines are made of alumunium with a thickness of 0.7mm. The dimensions of the turbine are high 0.8m and the rotor diameter 0.46m, and each has three blades. The testing location was carried out on the seashore of Batu Belubang village, Bangka Island, Indonesia. The research was conducted to see how much the blade performance was by measuring the shaft rotation that occurred. From the results of the study, the three turbines showed excellent performance. Where for U blade type, the shaft can rotate up to 559 rpm at 5.5 m/s wind speeds. For type L blades with wind speeds of 5.6 m/s, the beam is capable of rotating up to 430 rpm. While for the type S showed the best performance on 564rpm at a wind speed of 5.5 m/s.