A study on the rotational behaviour of a Savonius Wind turbine in low rise highways during different monsoons

This work describes the behaviour of a vertical axis Savonius Wind Turbine (SWT) in Four-way lane highways during South-West and North-East monsoons. A vertical axis SWT was designed and fabricated using low-cost materials. Starting behaviour of the SWT was studied by measuring and calculating the starting torque coefficient. The proposed SWT's cut-in speed was achieved at a velocity of 3.5 m/s. Experiments were carried out on a four-way lane highway through the placement of turbine at two different positions (middle and sides of the highway). Also, the experiments were repeated during different monsoons to understand the behaviour under different wind directions. Error analysis was performed on the data obtained by considering possible measurement errors and instrument accuracies. The obtained experimental data clearly illustrates that the SWT's nominal rotational speed varies at different monsoons, when located at the sides of the road. From the data analysis, it can be understood that the wind directions play a key role for harnessing maximum amount of energy in highway wind-energy generation. Maximum augmented rotational speed of around 64% was achieved by placing the SWT at the median of Four-way lane highways in different monsoons. (C) 2017 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.