Date of Award

8-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Legacy Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Member

Dr. John R. Wagner, Committee Chair

Committee Member

Dr. Todd Schweisinger, Committee Member

Committee Member

Dr. Yue Wang, Committee Member

Abstract

The overall goal of this research is to study the performance of Savonius wind tur-bine. Some of the advantages of a Savonius wind turbine include simple construction, good startup characteristics, low noise, and reduced wear. The applications of this type of wind machine include water pumping and small scale electricity generation. In the present re-search, an experimental model of the Savonius wind turbine is studied including the for-mulation of a mathematical model. The mathematic model for the torque acting on the Savonius rotor has been developed and the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) model has been simulated using the d-q synchronous reference frame theory. In the present research, the mathematic model of the wind turbine system has been simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The model includes the wind turbine model and the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) model. The wind turbine pa-rameters of the experimental system have been used for the simulation purpose. A 1kW PMSG has been coupled with the wind turbine to study the dynamic performance of the wind turbine system. The system response and performance have been evaluated at 3 dif-ferent wind speeds of 16.9 m/sec, 19.8 m/sec, and 21.9 m/sec corresponding to the wind speeds of the blower used for experimental system. The experimental Savonius wind turbine has been developed to compare the nu-merical and experimental results. The experimental system includes Savonius rotor, PMSG, charge controller and rectifier, current and voltage transducers, frequency to analog converters, electrical load, and a National Instruments Data Acquisition Device (NI DAQ). The current and voltage transducers are used to measure the current and voltage in the system and the outputs are connected to the NI DAQ. The frequency to analog converters are used to measure the rpm of the rotor and the anemometer. The charge controller is meant for battery charging applications of the system. The numerical and experimental results have been obtained at three different wind speeds (16.9 m/sec, 19.8 m/sec, and 21.9 m/sec). The maximum value of the electric power generated is 2.7 Watts at a wind speed of 21.9 m/sec. Comparison of experimental and numerical results at the wind speed of 21.9 m/sec shows there is an approximate difference of 16%, 11%, 61% and 4% for the angular velocity, voltage, current, and electrical power generated, respectively. The difference in the values may be attributed to the fact that the mathematical model does not include the three-dimensional (3D) fluid effects and environ-mental factors.

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