Experimental Investigation of the area ratio of double-layer

blades as obstacle blades on swirling savonius rotor

performance
Indra Herlamba Siregar 1,*, Moch Effendy1, and Akhmad Hafizh A R1
1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Universitas Negeri Surabaya
Kampus Unesa Ketintang, Ketintang Surabaya 60231, Indonesia
Email: indrasiregar@unesa.ac.id

Abstract. The effect of the area ratio of the double layer obstacle blades to the performance of the
swirling savonius rotor model has been identified. There are 4 studied ratios of 1: 6, 2: 6, 3: 6 and 4:
6 which are equivalents to 300, 600, 900 and 1200 of the double layer obstacle blades arc angles in
wind tunnels with wind speeds between 3 m / s to 6 m / s which is equivalent to Reynolds number
56323 to 112645. The results of the study show that a small ratio of 30 0 and 600 blades arc angles can
improve the performance of swirling savonius rotor, especially at Reynolds number 112645. Besides
that, the existence of double-layer obstacle blades can increase the resistance of swirling savonius
rotor toward the load.

Keywords: area ratio, double layer obstacle blades, arc angels, Reynolds number, swirling savonius
rotor

1. Introduction
In recent times the world's energy supply today is dominated by non-renewable fossil energy.
Apart from this the use of fossil energy also impacts the environment and human health. A serious
impact on the environment is the occurrence of weather changes caused when fossil energy is
converted into energy that is useful for humans will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
which causes the formation of the greenhouse effect which will ultimately change the weather [1].
Emissions released by fossil energy also pollute the air which has a serious impact on human
health [2].
To overcome the impact of the use and non-renewable nature of fossil energy, researchers
have recently looking for alternative energy supplies that are environmentally friendly and
renewable. Wind energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources, many countries
have explored and used wind energy because of pollution-free and the availability of abundant
sources of wind energy for conversion to electricity and the other energy form [3].
The technology that can convert wind energy into energy that can be utilized by humans is a
wind turbine, where the wind turbine is divided into two kinds of vertical axis wind turbine and
horizontal axis wind turbine. In general, vertical axis wind turbines have simple construction, are
low cost, have better start capability than horizontal axis wind turbines, and do not require yaws
and the turbine orientation always faces the wind direction [4].
 Vertical axis wind turbines are divided into two kinds of Savonius rotor wind turbines that work
due to differences in drag forces that arise on the sides of concave and convex blades, while
Darrieus wind turbines work based on lift forces acting on the blades [5]. Savonius rotor wind
turbines have the ability to self-starting at low wind speeds better than darrieus wind turbines but
in terms of efficiency lower than darrieus wind turbines [6].
Indonesia's geographical position in the equator causes its wind characteristics to vary and the
average wind speed is also low with an average of 3 m/s to 7 m/s. However, Indonesia based on
PEU has a wind energy potential of 9 GW, so that with a large enough energy potential and low
average wind speed, the development of savonius rotor wind turbine is very appropriate.
There are many experimental studies concerning to improve the performance of Savonius
rotor wind turbine has been carried out, starting from the effect of the number of blades [7-9], the
results show that the number of blades in Savonius rotor wind turbine has an impact on turbine
performance which is the number of blades 2 gives the best performance.
The development of the geometric shape of savonius rotor wind turbine blades have been
carried out by many researchers, including Modi and Fernando [10]. Then Kamoji et al. [11]
modified the savonius blade with the geometric shape of the J-shaped blade, where the concave
blades were separated, this modification received a Cp value of 0.2 while Kacprzak [12] modified
the blade developed by Kamoji by reducing the plane of the geometric blade, the resulting Cp
value was better than the blades developed by Kamoji et al. [11] and Tartuferi [13] developed new
blades for savonius rotor wind turbines based on drag named SR 3345 and SR 5050, but the
resulting Cp value is no better than the blades developed by kamoji however, the maximum Cp
value is achieved at a lower tip speed ratio.
Besides, to increase the performance of the savonius rotor wind turbine, the researchers also
conducted research related to controlling the flow on the surface of the blade by adding horizontal
plate [14,15] and vertical plate [16] on the surface of the main blade and adding multiple quarter
blades [17,18].
The recent study is focusing on the effect ratio of the double-layer blade as an obstacle to the
main blade to improve the performance of the savonius rotor wind turbine in the wind tunnel.

2. Research Methods
In this study, the model of savonius rotor wind turbine is swirling savonius rotor wind turbine
because of any overlapping each blade. The model made from PVC with the aspect ratio (H/D) = 1,
where the height of model (H) = 300 mm, the diameter of the model (D) = 300 mm, and
overlapping ratio (m/d) = 20%, where m is the distance between the blades, the number of blades
is 2 blades, diameter of each blade (d) = 180 mm. The savonius rotor wind turbine model is made
from PE for more details see figure 1.
The swirling Savonius rotor wind turbine model was tested in an open-type subsonic wind
tunnel with an area of 2025 cm 2 with a blower diameter specification of 16 "blades integrated with
a speed inverter that can produce wind speeds ranging from 0 to 15 m / s. The swirling Savonius
rotor wind turbine model set up in the wind tunnel can be seen in Figure 2.2.
The instrument used in this study to measure the rotation of the wind turbine model is a laser
tachometer DT-1236L with a measurement range of 10-99999 rpm and accuracy: ± (0.05% + 1
digit), wind speed measurement with a flexible anemometer KW0600562 with a measurement
range of 0.6 - 30 m / s.
 Figure 1. Dimensions of model swirling Savonius wind turbine.

Figure 2. Set up of swirling Savonius rotor wind turbine model in the wind tunnel.

Torque measured by the Prony brake method proposed by kamoji et.al [11] with load every 250
gr till the wind turbine model stops, the scheme can be seen in Figure 3.
 Figure 3. Prony brake scheme for torque measurement

The main variable of the study is the ratio of the area of the double blade as an obstacle (
/1800 x circumference of the blade x-height of the blade) to the area of the main blade
(1800/3600 x circumference of the blade x-height of the blade). The ratio is  = 00 (only main
blades),  = 300 (1:6),  = 600 (2:6),  = 900 (3:6) and  = 1200 (4:6). While the control variable is the
speed of the wind coming out of the wind tunnel from 3 to 6 m/s adjusting the range of
Indonesian average wind speeds.

Figure 4. Design of obstacle blade

The swirling Savonius rotor wind turbine model performance parameters can be calculated
using three non-dimensional equations and a dimensional equation in the form of power density,
tip speed ratio, power coefficient, and Reynolds number. The density of the power is determined
from the measurement of torque (T) and angular speed (ω) divided by the sweep of turbine area
(A), as in the following equation
Tω
Power Density=
A (1)
 The tip speed ratio (TSR) is the ratio of the wind speed at the tip of the blade which is
determined based on the measurement of the angular velocity (ω) and the radius of the turbine
shaft (R )with the wind speed entering the turbine Vw as in the following equation

ωR
TSR= (2)
Vw

While The power coefficient is defined as the ratio of the power generated by the wind turbine
rotor to the wind power entering the turbine which is formulated with the following equation

Tω
C p=
0 . 5 ρ A V 3w   (3)

Reynolds number is the ratio between inertial force and viscous force what is used to
determine whether the fluid flow is laminar or turbulent.

ρVD
ℜ= (4 )
μ

3. Results and discussion

The swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model is made of PVC sheet and tested in an open wind
tunnel with performance parameters such as power density and power coefficient. Figures 5 and 6
show that the maximum power density of The swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model is
obtained at a ratio of 2: 6 or at the arc angle of the double layer blades as an obstacle 60 0 at
Reynolds 112645 at 30.62 W /m 2, under this condition the resulting power coefficient is 25.25 %,
while the maximum power coefficient obtained at the Reynolds number 93871 is 27.73% with the
power density under this condition 19.46 W / m2.

Figure 5. Power Density max in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades and
different Reynolds number
 The existence of the double layer blades as an obstacle in front of the main blade able to
increase the performance of the swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model both the power
density and the power coefficient. This is suspected by the existence of the double-layer blades as
an obstacle at a certain position the obstacle blade can increase the flow thrust in the overlap area
so that it pushes the convex blades in the direction of the concave blades which results in the
negative torque produced by the convex blades decreasing (see figure 7) which causes the positive
torque difference generated by the concave blade with the negative torque produced by the
convex blade, the fact that there is an increase in torque from The swirling savonius rotor wind
turbine model with the obstacle blade than without the obstacle blades see Figure 8.

Figure 6. power coefficient max in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades
and different Reynolds number

Figure 7. Illustration of flow in an overlap area

 Figure 8. Static torque max in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades and
different Reynolds number

Figure 8 also shows that at the arc angle of the double layer blades as an obstacle of 300 and
600 the presence of the disturbing blade able to improve the static torque capability of The
swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model , where the increase in static torque is correlated with
the increased self-starting capability of The swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model [7].
Figures 9 to 12 show that the addition of the double-layer blades as an obstacle is able to
increase the power coefficient of The swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model in the small ratio
of the area of the double-layer blades as an obstacle to the area of the main blade, this is
represented by the arc angle of the double-layer blades as an obstacle 30 0 and 600. The greater
area ratios represented by arc angles 90 0 and 1200 have an impact on the decreasing power
coefficient of The swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model . This is because the presence of the
double-layer blades as an obstacle in this condition causes the flow that will enter the overlap area
to be distortion by the free stream but also causes the focus point on the concave side main blade
(f) to be obstructed so that both of these causes the thrust produced by the concave side blade to
decrease which in finally the positive torque produced is also reduced see figure 13.
In addition, figures 9 to 12 also show that the existence of the double-layer blades as an
obstacle increases the resistance of swirling savonius rotors to the load, which is shown by the
extent of the graph produced by swirling savonius rotors with the double-layer blades as an
obstacle which are wider than swirling savonius rotors without the double-layer blades as an
obstacle.
 30.00

25.00

20.00

15.00
Cp (%)

10.00

5.00

0.00
19 64 09 69 94 00 18 89 79 00 97 70
1. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.

TSR

0 30 60 90 120

Figure 9. power coefficient in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades
at Re = 56323

30.00

25.00

20.00

15.00
Cp (%)

10.00

5.00

0.00
20 92 00 10 90 79 10 91 72 51 17 85 70 00 93 72 00
1. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.

TSR

0 30 60 90 120

Figure 10. power coefficient in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades
at Re = 75097
 30.00

25.00

20.00

15.00
Cp (%)

10.00

5.00

0.00
28 99 80 69 25 05 99 78 46 24 02 87 82 59 29 04 88 74 61 11 90 75
1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0.

TSR

0,00 30,00 60,00 90,00 120,00

Figure 11. power coefficient in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades
at Re = 93871

30.00

25.00

20.00
Cp (%)

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
1.31 1.12 0.86 1.25 1.11 0.96 0.67 1.17 1.00 0.92 0.00 1.08 0.93 0.74 1.18 0.98 0.77
TSR

0 30 60 90 120

Figure 12. power coefficient in the variation of the ratio of obstacle blades to main blades
at Re = 112645
 Figure 13. Illustration of flow over overlap area for 900 and 1200 the double-layer blades as an
obstacle arc angles

4. Conclusions
The addition of the double-layer blades as an obstacle able to work up the durability of The
swirling savonius rotor wind turbine model against loading and is able to increase the
performance and ability of the self-starting model in the small ratio of the area the double-
layer blades as an obstacle with the main blade.

Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the ministry of education and culture which funded this research in
basic research schemes.

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