Using 2-bladed Savonius rotor to harvest highway wind energy at airport: A case study

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Savonius wind turbine (SWT) is a famous type of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) that accepts wind from all directions, particularly suitable for various applications including the design of small-scale wind turbines. This study evaluates the potential installation of a simple 2-bladed SWT on Queen Alya’ airport highway, Amman, Jordan. The strategic objective of this work was to design and install the SWT prototype at different sites along the airport road to define the most efficient location for capturing wind energy. The SWT rotor was fabricated via galvanized steel sheets. The self-starting ability of the rotor was examined by determining the torque coefficient at different angles of attack. The field tests were carried out by employing the turbine at three different locations along a six-lane highway (including the left, right, and middle sides of the highway). It was found that the proposed turbine has a cut-in wind speed of 2.5 m/s. Furthermore, the torque coefficient values indicated that the proposed rotor has a strong self-starting capacity. Field studies also revealed that the rotational speed of the turbine differs at various positions of the wind turbine. In addition, the results highlighted the significance of wind directions relative to vehicle directions for generating wind power on highways. The established Savonius rotor exhibited a maximum coefficient of performance of 0.25 with operational TSRs up to 0.7. Overall, a maximum enhanced rotational speed of about 53% was attained by positioning the turbine in the middle of six-way-lane highways.