Design and field testing of a Savonius wind pump’s rotor blade for pumping water in rural areas
08 May 2014-pp 63-67
TL;DR: In this paper, a Savonius rotor blade was developed and compared with the existing blades in terms of performance and production cost with a domestic fan and a wind speed of 6.94 m/s, which led to a conclusion that it was possible to locally develop a wind conversion technology that is affordable, efficient and adaptable for Kenya's average wind speed.
Abstract: Studies indicate that vertical axis wind turbines provide a more reliable energy conversion technology, as compared to horizontal axis wind turbines, especially in areas of lowly rated and/or uncertain wind speeds. The challenge however is the development of an efficient Savonius rotor blade which is affordable to low income earners in Kenya. The author researched on different technical design solutions and their advantages in terms of noise, shadows and impacts on birds and wildlife. The objectives of this research were thus to design and develop a Savonius rotor blade locally and compare its performance and production cost with the existing blades. From the developed blade, a laboratory test was conducted using a domestic fan and a torque of 15.46NM at a wind speed of 6.94 m/s was obtained which led to a conclusion that it was possible to locally develop a wind conversion technology that is affordable, efficient and adaptable for Kenya’s average wind speed of 4m/s.
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: Noyce et al. as mentioned in this paper explored a variety of mechanism and aerodynamic changes to allow the system to function as designed, and the most promising improvements to the system are weight reducing and friction reducing measures, in combination with understanding the wind conditions in the immediate vicinity of the rotor.
Abstract: The D-lab Honduras team designed and constructed a wind-powered water pump in rural Honduras during IAP 2007. Currently, the system does not work under its own power and water must be pumped by hand. This thesis seeks to explore a variety of mechanism and aerodynamic changes to allow the system to function as designed. The novel modifications to the Savonius rotor that were made do not seem to improve its performance. Within the constraints of the installed components, the current rotor should perform well pending other changes. The most promising improvements to the system are weight reducing and friction reducing measures, and in combination with understanding the wind conditions in the immediate vicinity of the rotor, changes will be made this summer so that unassisted wind pumping will be possible. Thesis Supervisor: Daniel Frey Title: Robert N. Noyce Associate Prof. of Mechanical Engineering & Engineering Systems
10 citations
"Design and field testing of a Savon..." refers background in this paper
...Application for the Savonius rotor have included pumping water, driving electrical generator, providing ventilation, and agitating water to keep ponds ice- free during winter [7]-[11]....
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Book•
14 Nov 2011
5 citations
"Design and field testing of a Savon..." refers methods in this paper
...After carefully researching on the existing literature and commercially available wind turbines, a Savonius VAWT was chosen because of its high starting torque and a reasonable peak power output per given rotor size, weight and cost, however less efficient [4]-[6]....
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