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Thesis
Optimizing the Performance of Savonius Helical Bach Vertical Axis Wind Turbines in a Simulated Urban Environment
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
The project investigated vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs), specifically, helical Bach Savonius turbines in a simulated urban setting. Established railways can produce “free wind,” which means that small-scale VAWTs can be placed alongside high-speed rail to generate supplemental electrical energy. Furthermore, the appeal of the vertical axis wind turbines comes from their ability to self-start with low wind speeds, so that was a focal point in the turbine simulations: to investigate turbine performance at low speeds and low tip speed ratios (TSR). With SolidWorks and ANSYS 2022R2, calculations were conducted on three helical Bach turbines to obtain performance data in the form of the TSR, the power coefficient, and the torque coefficient. Two major studies were completed in this project: a validation performance study of a primary Bach turbine and a performance comparison study of a double-bladed helical Bach turbine and a triple-bladed helical Bach turbine. For the primary Bach turbine validation, a 6 m/s and an 8 m/s velocity inlet were used to get these maximum efficiency results: 0.107 at a TSR of 0.611 and 0.110 at a TSR of 0.573, respectively. For the other two multi-bladed helical Bach turbines, the new designs in this study, they both had a TSR of 0.11 and were situated in a 11 m/s velocity inlet with 40 rpm rotation. For the two-blade turbine, the power coefficient was 0.0224, and the torque coefficient was 0.204; for the three-blade turbine, 0.049 and 0.448.
Details
- Title
- Optimizing the Performance of Savonius Helical Bach Vertical Axis Wind Turbines in a Simulated Urban Environment
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Cheng Zhang (Committee Chair)Amrita Gautam (Committee Member)Bradley Regez (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 134
- Copyright
- Permission granted to the University of West Florida Libraries by the author to digitize and/or display this information for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires the permission of the copyright holder.
- Identifiers
- 99380461797006600
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical Engineering; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Science (MS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida