Small wind turbine as an energy saving device can be applied in many fields. A high performance and reliable small wind turbine is under demand. The optimization study of a Darrieus-Savonius combined rotor aims to obtain a high aerodynamic performance rotor with low start-up requirement. The study contains numerical simulation study and wind tunnel experiment study. Three important parameters of Darrieus-Savonius rotor are investigated in simulation. Blade number (N) of Darrieus rotor will affect the power coefficient limit of Darrieus-Savonius rotor. Radius ratio (KD) indicates the Savonius impact on a combined rotor and has an optimum value for the combined rotor. The influence of Stagger angle (Ɵ) in a combined rotor is based on the combination arrangement. The optimum combin...[ Read more ]

Small wind turbine as an energy saving device can be applied in many fields. A high performance and reliable small wind turbine is under demand. The optimization study of a Darrieus-Savonius combined rotor aims to obtain a high aerodynamic performance rotor with low start-up requirement. The study contains numerical simulation study and wind tunnel experiment study. Three important parameters of Darrieus-Savonius rotor are investigated in simulation. Blade number (N) of Darrieus rotor will affect the power coefficient limit of Darrieus-Savonius rotor. Radius ratio (KD) indicates the Savonius impact on a combined rotor and has an optimum value for the combined rotor. The influence of Stagger angle (Ɵ) in a combined rotor is based on the combination arrangement. The optimum combination arrangement in simulation is N=2, KD=1/4, Ɵ=0 degree, with maximum power coefficient of 0.363 and start-up below 0.15 Nm friction in 3 m/s. In wind tunnel experiments, the Savonius result is closed to the simulation value.