Detailed Hydrodynamic Study for

Performance Optimization of a
Mithinga Basumatary1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Combined Lift and Drag-Based
National Institute of Technology Silchar,
Modified Savonius Water Turbine

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Silchar 788010, Assam, India
e-mail: mithinga.1990@gmail.com

Agnimitra Biswas
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Silchar,
Silchar 788010, Assam, India
e-mail: agnibis@yahoo.co.in
Rahul Dev Misra
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Silchar,
Silchar 788010, Assam, India
e-mail: rdmisra@gmail.com
A combined lift and drag (CLD) Savonius water turbine is an advanced form of Savonius
water turbine that has higher efficiency than the latter. However, its detailed hydrodynamic
performance optimization is still unexplored, which is important for its possible future com-
mercialization. The objective of the present work is to perform a detailed hydrodynamic
study for performance optimization of the CLD Savonius water turbine at low water
speed (characteristic of river stream current) under different design and operating condi-
tions. A parametric optimization using orthogonal experiments is first done to obtain the
optimized values of all the contributing design parameters. It is then followed by a detailed
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation using ANSYS FLUENT software to optimize
the hydrodynamic performance of the turbine at the selected design conditions under differ-
ent operating tip speed ratios (TSRs). Detailed fluidic behaviors including boundary layer
features, blade loading, and vorticity structures of the turbine are explored to obtain impor-
tant performance insights, and power curves of the improved CLD design are also obtained.
It is found that the optimized CLD Savonius water turbine has higher hydrodynamic perfor-
mance than the earlier design of this turbine with a maximum coefficient of power obtained
as 0.29 at TSR 0.8. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4045924]

Keywords: hydrodynamic study, CFD, combined lift and drag turbine, orthogonal
experiment, flow physics study, alternative energy sources, renewable energy

1 Introduction hydrokinetic turbine have been done for parametric analysis of

Savonius turbine [16–18]. Also for enhancing the efficiency of
Hydrokinetic energy has the potential to replace fossil fuel-based
Savonius turbine, various researchers have done detailed studies
energy for marine application. In-land water and run-off river
on hybrid Savonius turbines, namely, combined three-bucket Savo-
resources will gain profit from hydro energy conversion technolo-
nius-three-bladed Darrieus turbine [19], hybrid H-Savonius wind
gies [1]. A number of government policies and programs including
turbine [20], combined Darrieus–Savonius turbines [21,22], and
hydropower projects have been initialized in different countries as
combined three-bucket Savonius and three-bladed Darrieus
well [2–5]. The companies like Throptom Energy Services (UK),
turbine [23,24]. For improving its efficiency, Golecha et al. [25]
Alternative Hydro Solutions Limited (Canada), Lucid Energy Tech-
have studied interactions between two Savonius turbines to
nology (USA), Seabell Int. Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Electric Energy
improve overall efficiency. Using multi-staging concepts, Sharma
Limited (UK) have explored the results of prototype (hydrokinetic
et al. [26] have done experimental investigation on two-stage two-
turbine) testing [6]. There are different types of flow, such as river
bladed Savonius turbine and obtained its improved performance.
stream flow, shallow depth water flow, run-off river stream, and
They concluded that the two-bladed Savonius turbine with two-
many others, through which conversion of hydrokinetic energy
stage is performing better than conventional Savonius wind
can be done by incorporating hydrokinetic turbines [7–9].
turbine. Furthermore, for improving the efficiency of this turbine,
Various researches have been done on micro-hydrokinetic turbines
researchers have incorporated extra components like deflector
in a small-scale manner [10,11]. The advanced designs are being
plates [27–29], impinging jet duct design entailing flow acceleration
used by various researchers to increase their performance coeffi-
[30], and channeling device [31]. Experimental study on Darrieus–
cients [12,13].
Savonius water turbine with deflector plate has been done by Sahim
Vertical axis Savonius hydrokinetic turbine is one of the most
et al. [32] and Kaprawi et al. [33] to improve its performance.
recognized turbines for small-scale power generation because of
For enhancing efficiency of this turbine, modifications of its
its various advantages [14]. In spite of that, the efficiency of con-
blade designs have also been attempted. Numerical and experimen-
ventional Savonius turbine is low. Some attempts have been
tal studies have been done on new blade shapes of Savonius turbine
made by researchers to improve its performance. Sarma et al.
in wind medium [34–38]. Various works on optimization of blade
[14,15] have done both computational and experimental studies
shape of Savonius turbine using different techniques as well as
on Savonius hydrokinetic turbine whose performance is compared
experimental studies of it have also been done in wind medium
with Savonius wind turbine and elucidated that the Savonius
[39–41]. Al-Kayiem et al. [42] have studied the comparison of
turbine is better in water medium as compared to wind medium.
various design parameters of Savonius turbine and found that
Experimental and computational investigations of Savonius
average power coefficient ranges from 0.037 to 0.37 at open flow
conditions. Kumar and Saini [43,44] have done investigation on
the performance of modified Savonius hydrokinetic turbine
1
Corresponding author. having twisted blades and obtained maximum Cp of 0.426 for
Contributed by the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME for publication in
the JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received September 10,
blade arc angle of 150 deg and blade shape factor of 0.6 correspond-
2019; final manuscript received December 27, 2019; published online January 10, ing to 0.9 tip speed ratio (TSR) at flow velocity of 2 m/s. Kumar and
2020. Assoc. Editor: Dr. Ryoichi S. Amano. Sarkar [45] have used duct augmentation techniques on helical

Journal of Energy Resources Technology Copyright © 2020 by ASME AUGUST 2020, Vol. 142 / 081301-1
Savonius hydrokinetic turbines at different operating conditions.
Reza Hassanzadeh et al. [46] have done computational investiga-
tions and comparison between helical Savonius and conventional
Savonius hydrokinetic turbine. Basumatary et al. [47,48] have
worked on an innovative combined lift and drag (CLD)-based mod-
ified Savonius hydrokinetic turbine and obtained maximum Cp of
0.28 at TSR 0.6 for a gap width ratio of 8.44% and overlap ratio
of 46.9%. Various researches have been done recently on hydroki-
netic Savonius turbines through computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) and experimental approaches [49–55]. Table 1 lists some
Savonius turbines are mainly designed to harness drag forces
using its original semi-circular blade sections or straight blade sec-
tions in case of modified design. However, lift forces can also be
harnessed to add to the thrust generated by drag forces for conven-
tional Savonius turbine by appropriate design modification using
lift-based airfoil profiles. Very few works have been done to
improve the performance of conventional Savonius water turbine
by combining lift and drag-based blade profiles for harnessing
energy from water [47,48], which have shown promising results.
The work reported in this paper is an extension of the study on

of the maximum performances of the developed Savonius turbines
under different design and operating conditions.
1.1 Genesis of the Problem and Present Contribution.
Hybrid designs of Savonius turbine, augmentation components,
channeling devices, blade twists, and helical blades may increase
the manufacturing difficulty as well as cost of Savonius turbine
thus might inhibit its large-scale commercialization. On the con-
trary, performance of Savonius turbine can also be improved by
simple blade design modifications without aggravating other
factors. From literature survey, it is also found that hydrokinetic
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CLD Savonius turbine by Basumatary et al. [47,48]. This paper is
also about utilizing drag forces along with lift forces to enhance
the performance of the hydrokinetic Savonius turbine. However,
the major difference of the present work compared to Ref. [47] is
that in this work all the contributing design parameters of the
CLD turbine have been included. In the work of Basumatary
et al. [47], three design parameters were included; whereas in this
work, another design parameter called cut out section angle is
also incorporated and in addition detailed hydrodynamic perfor-
mance of the turbine is explored in this paper. For further improve-
ment of the performance of the CLD turbine, an improved version

Table 1 Results obtained by some of the existing Savonius turbines

Parameters Impact on performance Optimum range Author’s Cp

Overlap ratio (%) Flow through the overlap section helps in 0 Sarma et al. [14] 0.39
generating thrust on the blades of the turbine, 15 Talukdar et al. [16] 0.28
therefore performance of the turbine (power 0 Golecha et al. [25] 0.21
and torque coefficients) is enhanced 0 Roy and Ducoin [36] 0.31
0 Kumar and Saini [43] 0.39
0 Kumar and Saini [44] 0.426
0 Reza Hassanzadeh et al. [46] 0.13
46.9 Basumatary et al. [47] 0.284
0 Mosbahi et al. [54] 0.14
AR (%) and turbine diameter (D) Aspect ratio is the ratio of height to diameter 0.65 Sarma et al. [14] 0.39
of the turbine based on this ratio, the turbine 1 Talukdar et al. [16] 0.28
maximum swept area can be determined for a 0.7 Golecha et al. [25] 0.21
given height, and turbine power is directly 0.909 Roy and Ducoin [36] 0.31
proportional to the swept area 1.58 Kumar and Saini [43] 0.39
1.58 Kumar and Saini [44] 0.426
2 Reza Hassanzadeh et al. [46] 0.13
D = 260 mm Basumatary et al. [47] 0.284
1.138 Mosbahi et al. [54] 0.14
No. of blades Number of blades decides the turbine solidity 3 Sarma et al. [14] 0.39
for the given turbine diameter and blade 2,3 Talukdar et al. [16] 0.28
chord length. Optimum number of blades for 2 Golecha et al. [25] 0.21
the optimum solidity condition has maximum 2 Roy and Ducoin [36] 0.31
power coefficient for the turbine 2 Kumar and Saini [43] 0.39
2 Kumar and Saini [44] 0.426
2 Reza Hassanzadeh [46] 0.13
2 Basumatary et al. [47] 0.284
3 Mosbahi et al. [54] 0.14
TSR Tip speed ratio determines the tangential 0.77 Sarma et al. [14] 0.39
speed of the turbine with respect to water 0.71,0.89 Talukdar et al. [16] 0.28
speed and power coefficient of the turbine 0.7 Golecha et al. [25] 0.21
directly which depends on TSR 0.6 Roy and Ducoin [36] 0.31
0.9 Kumar and Saini [43] 0.39
0.9 Kumar and Saini [44] 0.426
0.2–1.4 Reza Hassanzadeh et al. [46] 0.13
0.4–0.8 Basumatary et al. [47] 0.284
0.7 Mosbahi et al. [54] 0.14
Flow velocity (m/s) and Reynolds number The optimum velocity of flow or Reynolds 0.3–0.9 Sarma et al. [14] 0.39
number of flow of the turbine decides the 0.8 Talukdar et al. [16] 0.28
maximum extraction of power by the turbine Re = 1.2 × 105 Golecha et al. [25] 0.21
for a given turbine aspect ratio Re = 1.23 × 105 Roy and Ducoin [36] 0.31
2 Kumar and Saini [43] 0.39
2 Kumar and Saini [44] 0.426
0.177 Reza Hassanzadeh et al. [46] 0.13
0.3–0.9 Basumatary et al. [47] 0.284
0.86 Mosbahi et al. [54] 0.14

081301-2 / Vol. 142, AUGUST 2020 Transactions of the ASME

 Fig. 1 Cut out section of airfoil NACA 0018
of modified CLD Savonius water turbine is proposed in this work.
For this, a parametric optimization using orthogonal experiments by
a Taguchi method is first done to obtain the optimized values of all
the contributing design parameters. It is then followed by a detailed
CFD investigation using ANSYS FLUENT software to understand the
hydrodynamic turbine performance at the optimized design condi-
tions under different operating conditions. Detailed fluidic behavior
including boundary layer features, blade loading, and vorticity
structures of the turbine are explored and performance insights
are obtained. Following the results, important conclusions are
made at the end of the paper.
2 Design Considerations
The basic design of the present CLD Savonius hydrokinetic
turbine is based on that of the CLD turbine in Refs. [47,48]. It consists
of two blades mounted on a shaft of 14 mm diameter (d). As name of
the turbine suggests, i.e., combined lift and drag Savonius turbine,
this turbine consists of a straight blade section (drag profile) and a
lift section (curve section of an airfoil profile). Basically, the curve
section is a cut out section of the airfoil NACA 0018, which is
attached to the straight blade section. The curve section of the
turbine is demonstrated in Fig. 1 and the proposed CLD turbine
design is shown in Fig. 2. The overall diameter (D) of the turbine
is 260 mm with blade thickness of 1.5 mm, where the blades of the
turbine are at a phase angle difference of 180 deg. The blades are
kept at a gap width ratio (∅) of 8.64% and overlap ratio (θ) of 23.5%.
Gap width ratio (∅) is defined as the ratio of overall diameter of
the turbine (D) and the gap width, g (Fig. 2), which is expressed in
Eq. (1). The gap width of the turbine allows to pass water flow
between the blades, which signifies that the gap width controls
the rate of water flow.
g
θ= (1)
D L(y) = K(y − T)2
e
∅= (2)
D the measured response. Three different forms of S/N ratio, consisting
Overlap ratio is defined as the ratio of overall diameter of the
turbine (D) and the overlap distance, e (Fig. 2), which is expressed
in Eq. (2). Due to overlap of the turbine, flow of the water is
bounded between the straight blade sections at certain level,
which exerts thrust on the straight portion of the blades and thus
helps in the rotation of the turbine.
Parametric optimization of the CLD turbine has been done in this
paper considering different design parameters such as overlap ratio,
Fig. 2 Proposed CLD turbine design
Journal of Energy Resources Technology
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gap width ratio, azimuthal angle, and cut out section angle. In the
work of Basumatary et al. [47], only the first three design parame-
ters were included; whereas in this work, the cut out section angle is
also incorporated. The details of design parameters used for the
CLD hydrokinetic Savonius turbine has been shown in Table 2.
3 Taguchi Method (Orthogonal Experiment)
Taguchi method is a method to optimize the performance param-
eter of a turbine considering different levels and factors. In the
Taguchi method, different combinations of levels and factors are
simulated and the best performing combinations of levels and
factors is identified which is further studied in detail. In previous
studies in this domain area [47,56,57], it has been found that for
number of parameters between three and five, three to four levels,
i.e., an orthogonal array of L9 (33), L16 (45), and L16 (43), had gener-
ated optimum combination of parameters. As per the available liter-
ature, there is hardly any work that considered more than four levels
in the performance investigation of the water turbines. Furthermore,
the levels considered for each parameter in this work have covered
the range of values commonly considered in water turbine designs.
Hence, in the opinion of the authors, four levels used in the present
study are appropriate. Here, A, B, C, and D are the four factors con-
sidered corresponding to the four control parameters: azimuthal
angle, gap width ratio, overlap ratio, and cut out section angle with
levels 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The details of different factors
and levels corresponding to their notations and control parameters
have been shown in Table 3. In depth study of the Taguchi method
is done by various researchers [56–59]. The outcome of the system
is measured through deviation in characteristic of target value and
loss function gained from the statistics [56]. The loss function can
be expressed as in Eq. (3), which is shown as follows:
(3)
where L is the loss, K is the constant, T is the target response, and y is
of the nominal-the-better, the larger-the-better, and the
smaller-the-better, are defined in the method. A larger S/N ratio cor-
responds to a better characteristic performance. The S/N ratio is cal-
culated based on the following loss function [58] expressed in Eq. (4)
as follows:
S/N = −10 log[(y − T)2 ] (4)
Table 2 Details of design parameters
Design parameters CLD turbine
Shaft diameter (d), mm 14
Overall diameter of the turbine (D), mm 260
Blade thickness (t), mm 1.5
Overlap ratio (∅), % 0, 23.50, 46.90, and 93.98
Gap width ratio (θ), % 6.67, 7.89, 8.64, and 9.45
Azimuthal angle (a1), deg 0, 45, 90, and 135
Cut out section angle (a2), deg 10, 15, 20, and 25
AUGUST 2020, Vol. 142 / 081301-3
 Table 3 Details of factors, control parameters, notations, and levels

Levels

Factors Control parameters Notations 1 2 3 4

A Azimuthal angle, deg a1 0 deg 45 deg 90 deg 135 deg

B Gap width ratio, % θ 6.76 7.89 8.64 9.45
C Overlap ratio, % ∅ 0 23.5 46.9 93.98
D Cut out section angle, deg a2 10 deg 15 deg 20 deg 25 deg

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4 Computational Modeling
A 2D two-bladed modified CLD Savonius hydrokinetic turbine
is designed in Design Modeler of ANSYS FLUENT 14.0 software con-
sidering the design parameters discussed in Sec. 2. After physical
modeling of the present CLD Savonius turbine, the same is then
transported to Ansys mesh where meshing is done considering dif-
ferent operating parameters, and computational and boundary con-
ditions. Different operating parameters considered for meshing are
TSR and flow stream velocity (v). TSR is defined as the ratio
between the tangential speed of tip of the blade and the flow
stream velocity. The details of the computational model are demon-
strated in Fig. 3 where the modified CLD Savonius turbine design
is confined within two domains. There are two domains: one
domain is circular whose diameter is three times of diameter of
the turbine (3D) [16] and the other is rectangular domain with
length and width of 10D × 7D [43]. The circular confinement is
mainly to observe the quality of mesh near the turbine walls. The
rectangular domain is kept far apart from the turbine so that no
boundary effects should change the results. Figure 4(a) shows the
mesh details of the inner fluid zone which is a rotating zone and Fig. 4 Mesh details: (a) stationary and rotating zone and (b) near
the outer fluid zone which is a stationary zone. In Fig. 4(b), turbine walls
height of the first layer of grid points near the turbine wall is
0.0044 mm with further six layers of inflation zone, minimum
orthogonal quality 0.384, and maximum skewness 0.701. The the boundary layer. The SST k–ω model is generally used for low
mesh details of the modified CLD Savonius turbine model are tab- velocity conditions without any external energy input, and it can
ulated in Table 4. be expressed as in Eqs. (5–12) [60]:


4.1 Turbulence Modeling. In this paper, the shear stress Dρk ∂ui ∂ ∂k
transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model is used as this kind of turbu- = τij − β* ρωk + (μ + σ k μt ) (5)
Dt ∂xj ∂xj ∂xj
lence model is mainly used for unraveling incompressible flow
through complex geometries. This type of model has the ability to

solve the problem of model’s adverse pressure gradients and flow Dρω γ ∂ui ∂ ∂ω 1 ∂k ∂ω
= τij −βρω2 + (μ+σ ω μt ) +2ρ(1−F1 )σ ω2
separation. Roy and Ducoin [36] have also used the SST k–ω turbu- Dt vt ∂xj ∂xj ∂xj ω ∂xj ∂xj
lence model and concluded that this type of model is reliable due to (6)
its accuracy in predicting turbulence phenomenon in near blade
zone. Therefore, the SST k–ω turbulence model is implemented where
in the present work. The k–ω model is a two equation turbulence
model which consists of two extra transport equations for two trans- F1 =tanh(arg41 ) (7)
port variables. For evaluating the energy of the turbulent flow, tur-
bulence kinetic energy (k) is used and for evaluating the scale of   √  
k 500v 4ρσ ω2 k
turbulence, specific dissipation (ω) is used. The SST turbulence arg1 =min max ; 2 ; (8)
model is a combination of k–ω and k–epsilon turbulence models 0.09ωy y ω CDkω y2
where the k–ω model is used in the inner region of the boundary
layer and the k–epsilon model is used in free shear flow outside  
1 ∂k ∂ω −20
CDkω =max 2ρσ ω2 ·10 (9)
ω ∂xj ∂xj
and
a1 k
vt = (10)
max(a1 ω; ΩF2 )
where

F2 =tanh(arg22 ) (11)

 √ 
k 500v
arg2 =max 2 ; 2 (12)
Fig. 3 Computational model 0.09ωy y ω

081301-4 / Vol. 142, AUGUST 2020 Transactions of the ASME

 Table 4 Mesh details

First layer height 0.0044 mm

Inflation layer 6
Minimum orthogonal quality 0.384
Maximum skewness 0.701
Momentum 0.2
Growth rate 0.8
Nodes 236,660
Elements 458,943

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4.2 Computational and Boundary Conditions. After com-
putational modeling, the model is transported to ANSYS FLUENT soft-
ware where various computational and boundary conditions have Fig. 6 Wall y-plus value of blade 1 and blade 2
been considered for further simulations. The boundary conditions
considered are velocity inlet for inlet, outflow for outlet, interior for and signal to noise (SN) ratio at different factors and levels have
interior fluid, exterior for outer fluid, moving wall for blade 1 and been discussed. Orthogonal experiment of L16 (44) has been
blade 2, and no slip boundary for the side walls. Modified CLD Savo- carried out for the CLD Savonius turbine. From orthogonal array
nius turbine is operated at water velocity conditions of 0.3–0.9 m/s of L16, totally 16 combinations of different levels and factors
by opting semi-implicit method for pressure linked equations have been formed, which are simulated. Results have been gener-
(SIMPLE) algorithm for the SST k–ω model. Standard wall treatment ated in Table 5 to show the values of predicted results of mean
has been chosen for the turbine and a quick scheme is chosen for Cp and SN ratios. Here, larger the SN ratio, larger will be the
momentum, turbulence kinetic energy, and its dissipation rate. mean Cp, which implies that the performance of the turbine is
better at larger SN ratio. From Table 5, it is seen that the run
number 14 is having largest SN ratio of −14.532 which corresponds
4.3 Grid Independence Limit Test. Grid independence limit to larger mean Cp of 0.188. Also, it is seen that the run number 4 is
(GIL) test is a test of the model where change in coefficient of having lowest SN ratio of −24.858 and it corresponds to a lowest
moment (Cm) corresponding to element size has been done until mean Cp of 0.086. For simulations of 16 different combinations
no more change in result is noticed. As there are two mesh zones, of levels and factors, a constant water velocity of 0.5 m/s (character-
one is the inner fluid zone and the other is the outer fluid zone, istic of river stream current) at TSR 0.6 is considered for carrying
element size of the outer fluid zone is kept constant at 5 mm and out all 16 different runs [47]. Figures 7(a) and 7(b) show the
element size of the inner fluid zone is changed from 4.44 to 4.472 graph of the mean of Cp and mean SN ratios at different combina-
for conducting the GIL test at different azimuthal angles. The tions of levels and factors. From Figs. 7(a) and 7(b), it is noted that
details of the GIL test have been shown in Fig. 5 where Cm of run 14 which is a combination of azimuthal angle (a1) 135 deg, gap
element size 4.46 mm and 4.475 mm for the inner fluid zone are width ratio (θ) 7.89%, overlap ratio (∅) 46.9%, and cut out section
not having much difference at all the azimuthal angles. Therefore, (a2) 10 deg is the best combination among all other 16 combina-
in this work, element size of 4.46 mm for the inner fluid zone and tions. Therefore, run 14 is the best design consideration of the mod-
5 mm for the outer fluid zone have been chosen for further simula- ified CLD Savonius turbine. Interaction plot for Cp at different
tions and analyses. After the GIL test, wall y-plus value of the levels and factors has also been shown in Fig. 7(c).
turbine blades have been evaluated for knowing the quality of
mesh near the turbine blades. Figure 6 shows the wall y-plus value
of the turbine blades against the blade positions of the turbine, 5.2 Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of the
where it is noted that the majority of wall y-plus values are within Optimized Combined Lift and Drag Savonius Turbine
1.5 which signifies that it is in acceptable range [47,50,51]. 5.2.1 Validation of the Modified Combined Lift and Drag
Savonius Turbine Performance. Validation of the modified CLD
Savonius turbine performance has been shown in this section for
5 Results and Discussions further simulations. For validating at first, conventional design of
In this section, the relevant results obtained in this investigation Savonius turbine has been designed considering same design
are discussed below:
Table 5 Predicted results of mean Cp and SN ratio of L16 (44)
5.1 Parametric Analysis of the Combined Lift and Drag orthogonal array
Savonius Turbine Using Orthogonal Experiment. The control-
ling parameters against the factors and levels have already been dis- Run A B C D SN ratio Mean Cp
cussed in Sec. 3. Now, in this section, predicted results of mean Cp
1 1 1 1 1 −20.337 0.096
2 1 2 2 2 −19.008 0.112
3 1 3 3 3 −21.380 0.085
4 1 4 4 4 −24.858 0.057
5 2 1 2 3 −19.837 0.101
6 2 2 1 4 −17.303 0.136
7 2 3 4 1 18.302 0.121
8 2 4 3 2 −15.641 0.165
9 3 1 3 4 −21.294 0.086
10 3 2 4 3 −20.768 0.091
11 3 3 1 2 −18.739 0.116
12 3 4 2 1 −18.288 0.121
13 4 1 4 2 −20.164 0.098
14 4 2 3 1 −14.532 0.188
15 4 3 2 4 −15.642 0.165
16 4 4 1 3 −16.043 0.158
Fig. 5 GIL test of the modified CLD Savonius turbine

Journal of Energy Resources Technology AUGUST 2020, Vol. 142 / 081301-5


Fig. 7 Graphs for (a) mean of Cp at different levels and factors,
(b) mean of SN ratio at different levels and factors, and (c) inter-
action plot for Cp at different levels and factors
Fig. 8 Validation graph
parameters of Ref. [14] and then simulated in ANSYS FLUENT 14.0
software using the same operating and boundary conditions of
Ref. [14]. The results obtained from the simulations have been val-
idated with the existing experimental work and found an average
error of coefficient of performance (Cp) within ±7.14%. Figure 8
shows the comparison graph for the results of the experimental
work and the computational work.
5.2.2 Correlations and Power Curves of the Modified
Combined Lift and Drag Savonius Turbine. Correlation equations
of the modified CLD Savonius turbine have been found to predict
the power of the turbine at different TSRs with respect to different
Reynolds number (Re). The range of TSR used is from 0.4 to 0.9
and the Reynolds number used for correlation are 77,600,
129,000, 181,000, and 233,000. Here, powers of the turbine are
addressed with P1 (Re = 77,600), P2 (Re = 129,000), P3 (Re =
181,000), and P4 (Re = 233,000). The correlation equations
formed for prediction of power is expressed in Eqs. (13)–(16) for
modified CLD Savonius turbine with θ of 7.89%, ∅ of 46.9%,
and a2 of 10 deg. The power obtained from the correlations and
the present CFD results of the modified CLD Savonius turbine
have been plotted for comparison in Fig. 9. Figure 9 shows
that the errors are with ±0.0027% for Re = 77,600, ±0.0174% for
Re = 129,000, ±0.0063% for Re = 181,000, and ± 0.00536% for
Re = 233,000.
P1
= −9.42 TSR3 + 17.03 TSR2 − 9.41TSR + 1.69; R2 = 0.99
Re0.2
(13)
081301-6 / Vol. 142, AUGUST 2020
for Re = 77,600, 0.4 ≤ TSR ≤ 0.8
P2
= −6.75 TSR2 + 10.56TSR − 2.97; R2 = 0.927 (14)
Re0.2
for Re = 129,000, 0.4 ≤ TSR ≤ 0.8
P3
= −14.83 TSR2 + 24.51TSR − 7.38; R2 = 0.919 (15)
Re0.2
for Re = 181,000, 0.4 ≤ TSR ≤ 0.8
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P4
= −22.75 TSR2 + 39.51 TSR − 12.08; R2 = 0.914 (16)
Re0.2
for Re = 233,000, 0.4 ≤ TSR ≤ 0.8.
5.2.3 Study of Vorticity. The study of vorticity has been done on
the modified CLD Savonius turbine at different azimuthal angles (a1)
considering TSR of 0.8 and velocity of 0.5 m/s. The vorticity plot has
been shown for the modified CLD Savonius turbine with gap width
ratio (θ) 7.89%, overlap ratio (∅) 46.9%, and cut out section (a2)
10 deg, which is the best combination of design parameters.
Figures 10(a)–10(d) show the vorticity plot for different azimuthal
angles (0 deg , 45 deg , 90 deg , and 135 deg) considering the
rotation in the clockwise direction. In Fig. 10(a), small vortices
separation are seen near the suction side of blade 1 (toward the end
of the straight blade section) and near the suction side of blade 2
(curve section) and toward end of its straight blade section, which
will lower turbine’s performance at this azimuthal position. Here
again, blade 1 is the returning blade and blade 2 is the advancing
blade considering turbine rotation in clockwise direction.
Minimum water flow is seen in the gap width of the turbine, which
signifies minimum thrust generated by the turbine at a1 = 0 deg. In
Fig. 10(b), concentration of separating vortices is noted close to
the suction side of blade 1, which interacts with the blades, thus con-
tributing to thrust generation on it; such mode of thrust generation is
not reported in the conventional Savonius turbine [14]. Also, in
Fig. 10(b), small separated vortices are noted near pressure side of
blade 2 (curve section) and near the suction side of blade 2 (straight
section), which will slightly lower the performance of blade
2. However, overlapping flow through the straight blade sections
of the turbine is seen, which signifies augmentation of thrust in
between turbine blades at a1 = 45 deg; such a length of the overlap-
ping zone is not reported in the conventional Savonius turbine [36].
At a1 = 90 deg in Fig. 10(c), large separated vortices detached from
the blade are noted which takes the energy from mean flow and grows
in size. Moreover, the overlapping flow through the turbine is also
seen at a1 = 90 deg, which signifies generation of thrust. A very
large recirculation zone is seen in Fig. 10(d) in the suction side of
blade 1 (straight section) at a1 = 135 deg, which interacts with
blade 1, thereby increasing the thrust on the returning blade 1;
such phenomenon is not reported in the conventional Savonius
turbine [36]. Also overlapping flow has helped in augmentation of
thrust on the turbine and contributes to augmentation of performance
of the turbine. Moreover, overlapping flow is stronger than any other
azimuthal positions and its length of traverse between the straight
blade sections is also very significant.
5.3 Hydrodynamic Performances of the Modified
Combined Lift and Drag Savonius Turbine. In this section, the
hydrodynamic performance parameters, namely, coefficient of
drag (Cd), coefficient of lift (Cl), tangential force (Ft), normal force
(Fn), coefficient of performance (Cp), and coefficient of torque (Ct)
have been analyzed and discussed considering the optimized design
parameters obtained by the Taguchi method with θ of 7.89%, ∅ of
46.9%, and cut out section (a2) of 10 deg. The detail analysis will
be done at different velocities (0.3 m/s, 0.5 m/s, 0.7 m/s, and
0.9 m/s) and different azimuthal angles (0 deg, 45 deg, 0 deg, 135
deg, 180 deg, 225 deg, 270 deg, 360 deg and 360 deg).
Transactions of the ASME
 (a)
(c)
Fig. 9 Power curves at different Reynolds number (Re): (a) Re = 77,600, (b) Re = 129,000,
(c) Re = 181,000, and (d ) Re = 233,000
5.3.1 Blade Loading of the Modified Combined Lift and Drag
Turbine. Now, the tangential force (Ft) and normal force (Fn)
acting on the blade are studied in detail for different azimuthal
angles (a1) for TSR 0.6. The resultant force acting on the turbine
is a combination of normal force (Fn) and tangential force (Ft)
acting on the blade. Normal force is a force which acts normally
on to the turbine blades and a tangential force is a force which
acts tangentially to the blades of the turbine. Figure 11(a) shows
the tangential force acting on the turbine blades at different azi-
muthal angles for different velocities, which shows that Ft is
higher at azimuthal angle 90 deg and 270 deg for water velocity
0.9 m/s, which is due to the higher pressure distribution on the
advancing blade 2. On the contrary for water velocity 0.5 m/s, the
fluctuation in the variation of Ft is less due to much uniform pres-
sure distribution on blade 1 suction side. The variation of Ft at
water velocity 0.7 m/s is more uniform than at 0.9 m/s.
Figure 11(b) shows the normal force (Fn) acting on the turbine
blades at different azimuthal angles for different water velocities.
Again similar to Ft, variation of Fn is very much fluctuating above
and below its mean value. From Fig. 11(b), it is noticeable that the
value of Fn is higher at azimuthal angle 135 deg and 315 deg for
velocity 0.7 m/s, which can be attributable to the thrust generated
on the suction side of the straight blade section of the returning
blade 1 (Fig. 10(d)). The hydrodynamic torque generation has a
huge impact on the turbine performance; therefore, generation of
torque has been studied for the modified CLD Savonius turbine.
Here, a dimensionless approach has been adopted for torque, i.e.,
coefficient of torque (Ct) which is the ratio of hydrodynamic
torque generated by the turbine to the theoretical torque water gener-
ated by virtue of its inlet momentum [61]. Figure 12(a) shows the var-
iation of Ct at different azimuthal angles for different velocities and
shows that the value of Ct is higher at 135 deg and 315 deg for veloc-
ity 0.5 m/s. Another important observation from Fig. 12(a) is that
there are two peaks of Ct in both the halves of the rotational cycle.
This can be attributed to the contribution of both the airfoil curve
section and the straight section of the blades. This is because at the
first peak of both the halves (i.e., azimuthal angle 45 deg and
225 deg), the velocity distribution on the airfoil leading edge is
higher (as per Fig. 12(b)), which shall contribute to higher Ct. At
second peak of both the halves (i.e., azimuthal angle 135 deg and
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(b)
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(d )
315 deg), Ct is higher than the first peak and it can be corroborated
with the contribution of large vortices interactions with blade 1 and
the strong and long overlapping flow between the straight blade sec-
tions (as per Fig. 10(d)). Furthermore, Ct values are higher
for water velocity 0.5 m/s, which can be attributed to the uniform
pressure distribution across the advancing and returning blades of
the turbine as discussed earlier. Then again, Ct values are lower for
water velocity 0.9 m/s at all the azimuthal angles due to much non-
uniform pressure distribution as discussed earlier. Moreover, for azi-
muthal positions 0 deg, 90 deg, 180 deg, 270 deg, and 360 deg,
performance is lower as compared to other azimuthal positions as
the thrust is less drag dominated for the disposition of the straight
blade sections at these azimuthal positions.
For more insights at these water velocities, the coefficient of per-
formance (Cp) has been investigated for different TSR values
between 0.4 and 0.9 at an interval of 0.1. Figure 12(b) shows the var-
iation of Cp at different TSRs and noted that the Cp gradually
increases with increase in TSR and then gradually decreases with
the increase in TSR. From the nature of graph in Fig. 12(b), the
range of TSR is evaluated in which the modified CLD Savonius
turbine functions well. Here, velocity 0.5 m/s is best performing in
all the TSR considered for simulation. Also, the modified CLD Savo-
nius turbine is performing best at TSR 0.8 in all the velocities consid-
ered, maximum Cp of 0.29 at velocity 0.5 m/s has been obtained.
5.3.2 Blade Polars of the Modified Combined Lift and Drag
Savonius Turbine. Coefficient of drag (Cd) is a dimensionless
value that is used to quantify drag force acting on the turbine. Sim-
ilarly, coefficient of lift (Cl) is a dimensionless value that is used to
quantify lift force acting on the turbine. Figures 13(a) and 13(b)
show the graphical plots of the variations of Cd and Cl for TSR
0.6 at different velocities and different azimuthal angles. There is
a peak of Cd and Cl in each half of the revolution, which also
results in a peak each for Ft and Fn in each half of the revolution
as these are calculated from Cl and Cd only. In Fig. 13(a), it is
seen that the value of Cd is higher at azimuthal angle 135 deg
and 315 deg for velocity 0.5 m/s, which is closely followed by
the results for velocity 0.7 m/s. This is due to the large vortex gen-
eration near the straight blade which has contributed in drag force
and helped in rotating the turbine blade and also due to the strong
AUGUST 2020, Vol. 142 / 081301-7

Fig. 10 Vorticity vector plot of the modified CLD Savonius turbine: (a) at
0 deg, (b) at 45 deg, (c) at 90 deg, and (d) at 135 deg
overlapping flow at these azimuthal positions. Figure 13(b) shows
graphical plot of the variations of Cl at TSR 0.6 for different veloc-
ities and different azimuthal angles. In Fig. 13(b), it is seen that the
value of Cl is higher at azimuthal angle 135 deg and 315 deg, fol-
lowed by those at 45 deg, 90 deg, 225 deg, and 270 deg. Cl is
higher for water velocity higher than 0.5 m/s due to the ability of
the airfoil blade section to generate higher hydrodynamic lift at
an increased velocity. By referring Figs. 10(b) and 10(c), it can
be understood that higher velocity distributions on the airfoil
section has contributed to higher Cl at these azimuthal positions.
Also smooth flow of water near the curve sections of blades has
helped in contributing to the generation of lift force.
For more exploration in the contributions of lift and drag forces on
the turbine blades, distribution of Cl and Cd on the curve section and
the straight section of the blades has been studied for blade 1 and
blade 2 considering TSR 0.8, respectively. A look up of Table 6
has been given for knowing the significance of curve and straight sec-
tions of the blades for Cl and Cd generation. Figures 14(a) and 14(b)
show the variation of Cd on turbine blades at different positions of the
turbine for different azimuthal angles. In Fig. 14(a), variation of Cd is
shown for blade 1 at a1 = 0 deg, 180 deg, and 360 deg, respectively.
The variation of Cd is most significant for the straight section of blade
1, but a sudden drop in Cd is observed in the curve section of blade
1. Similarly, in Fig. 14(b), variation of Cd is shown for blade 2 at
a1 = 0 deg, 180 deg, and 360 deg, respectively. The variation of
Cd is most significant for the straight section of blade 2 also, but a
gradual drop in Cd is observed in the curve section of blade 1 and
also a gradual drop in Cd in the straight section is observed in
Fig. 14(b), which is due to the presence of shaft in between the
overlap section of blade 1 and blade 2. By observing from Figs.
14(a) and 14(b), it is clear that drag force is least significant in the
curve section whereas drag is most significant in the straight
section of the blades. Figures 14(c) and 14(d) show the variation
of Cl for blade 1 and blade 2 at different positions of the turbine
for different azimuthal angles. In Figs. 14(c) and 14(d), a spike in
the distribution of Cl is noticed in the curve section of the turbine
blades and also slight rise in the distribution of Cl is noted in the
straight section due to the presence of shaft in between the turbine
blades. Thus, by observing Figs. 14(c) and 14(d), it is clear that lift
is least significant for both curve and straight sections of the
blades. For a1 = 45 deg and 225 deg, variation of Cd on blade 1
and blade 2 is shown in Figs. 15(a) and 15(b), respectively. By
observing Figs. 15(a) and 15(b), it is clear that drag force is
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moderately significant both in the curve section and in the straight
section of the blades. For a1 = 45 deg and 225 deg, distribution of
Cl is shown in Figs. 15(c) and 15(d), where a spike of Cl distribution
is noted in the curve section of the blades which signifies the curve
section of the blades contribute in augmenting the power of the
turbine whereas distribution of Cl in the straight section of the
blade is least significant. From Fig. 15(c) and 15(d), it is clear
that lift force is moderately significant in the curve section and
lift force is least significant in the straight section of the blades.
Figures 16(a) and 16(b) show the variation of Cd for a1 =
90 deg and 270 deg, where it is observed that the contribution
of Cd is dropping gradually in the straight section of the blades
due to flow separation, and distribution of Cd is most significant
in the curve section of the blades. Thus, from Figs. 16(a) and
16(b), it is seen that the drag force is most significant in the
curve section and drag force is moderately significant in the
straight section of the blades. Figures 16(c) and 16(d) show the
Cl distribution in blade positions for a1 = 90 deg and 270 deg,
where a gradual rise in Cl is noted in the curve section of the
turbine and Cl distribution in the straight section of the turbine
is moderately significant. From Figs. 16(c) and 16(d), it is seen
that lift forces are moderately significant for both the curve
section and the straight section of the blades. Now, in Figs.
17(a) and 17(b), it is observed that the variation of Cd is most sig-
nificant in the straight section of the blades and Cd distribution in
the curve section of the blades is also moderately significant,
which signifies that both straight and curve sections of blades
influence in harnessing the power of the turbine. However, a
sharp rise in Cl distribution is noted in the curve section of the
turbine blades and almost constant Cl distribution in the straight
section of the turbine blades for a1 = 135 deg and 315 deg
shown in Figs. 17(c) and 17(d), which signifies that the lift
forces are generated on the curve section of the turbine blades,
contributes in augmenting the power of the turbine.
5.4 Comparison of Performance. Modified CLD Savonius
water turbine is designed with 250 mm turbine diameter consider-
ing shaft diameter of 16 mm at a1 of 135 deg, θ of 7.89%, ∅ of
46.9%, and a2 of 10 deg. The same design has been considered
for comparison of performance parameter (Cp) with other existing
turbines from the literature at water velocity 0.8 m/s. Figure 18
shows the comparison graph of the modified CLD Savonius
turbine with Talukdar et al. [16], Basumatary et al. [47], and
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Fig. 11 (a) Tangential force and (b) normal force on blades at dif-
ferent azimuthal angles and different velocities for TSR 0.6

(a) (b)

Fig. 12 (a) Variation of Ct at different azimuthal angles for different velocities

and (b) variation of Cp at different TSRs

(a) (b)

Fig. 13 (a) Coefficient of drag (Cd) and (b) coefficient of lift (Cl) at TSR 0.6
for different velocities

Table 6 Look up table for significance of curve and straight sections of the blades for Cl and Cd
generation

Azimuthal angle (a1) Curve section of blade Straight section of blade

0 deg, 180 deg, and 360 deg
45 deg and 225 deg
90 deg and 270 deg
135 deg and 315 deg
Drag force is least significant
Lift force is least significant
Drag force is moderately significant
Lift force is moderately significant
Drag force is most significant
Lift force is moderately significant
Drag force is moderately significant
Lift force is most significant
Drag force is most significant
Lift force is least significant
Drag force is moderately significant
Lift force is least significant
Drag force is moderately significant
Lift force is moderately significant
Drag force is most significant
Lift force is least significant

Mosbahi et al. [54] at different TSRs. The CLD turbine [47] from
the existing work is considered for comparison, which has
250 mm turbine diameter, θ of 7.89%, and ∅ of 46.9%. The Savo-
nius turbine in Ref. [16] is having an aspect ratio 1 (AR1), turbine
diameter 250 mm, blade diameter 144 mm, and shaft diameter
16 mm. Also, the helical Savonius hydrokinetic turbine in
Ref. [54] is having turbine diameter 182 mm, height 160 mm, end
plate diameter 196 mm, shaft diameter 20 mm, blade chord
90 mm, blade thickness 4 mm, and blade twist angle 90 deg.
From Fig. 18, it is perceived that the performance of the modified
CLD Savonius turbine is better as compared to the other existing
turbines. In comparison to the original CLD Savonius turbine, the
present modified CLD Savonius turbine has a maximum coefficient
of performance of 0.29, obtained at a TSR 0.8.
6 Conclusions and Recommendations
A parametric optimization using orthogonal experiments by the
Taguchi method is first done to obtain the optimized values of all
the contributing design parameters of the modified CLD Savonius
water turbine. It is then followed by a detailed CFD investigation
using ANSYS FLUENT 14 software to understand the hydrodynamic

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(c) (d )

Fig. 14 Variation of Cd and Cl for blade 1 and blade 2 separately for

azimuthal angles 0 deg, 180 deg, and 360 deg at TSR 0.8: (a) blade 1,
(b) blade 2, (c) blade 1, and (d ) blade 2

(a) (b)

(c) (d )

Fig. 15 Variation of Cd and Cl for blade 1 and blade 2 separately for azimuthal
angle 45 deg and 225 deg at TSR 0.8: (a) blade 1, (b) blade 2, (c) blade 1, and (d)
blade 2

performance of the turbine at the optimized design conditions under
different operating tip speed ratios. From the study, the following
conclusions are summarized:
• From the orthogonal experimentation, the best combination of
the control parameters—azimuthal angle (a1) 135 deg, gap
width ratio (θ) 7.89%, overlap ratio (∅) 46.9%, and cut out
section (a2) 10 deg—has been obtained for the improved per-
formance of the modified CLD Savonius turbine.
• Due to the pressure difference between the suction side and
the pressure side of the turbine blades, the hydrodynamic toque
is generated, which is more significant at water velocity 0.5 m/s
due to more uniform pressure distribution, thereby resulting in
the highest coefficient of power at this velocity condition.
• Performance correlation equations of the modified CLD
Savonius turbine have been formed to predict the power of the
turbine at different TSRs with respect to different Reynolds
number (Re). With the help of correlations obtained for the
modified CLD Savonius turbine, a series of power curves
have been studied for different Reynolds number at different
TSRs and compared with the original obtained power.
• A very large recirculation zone is noted at azimuthal angle
135 deg near the straight section in the suction side of the
blade which interacts with the blade, thereby increasing the
thrust on the returning blade; such phenomenon is not reported
in the conventional Savonius turbine. Also overlapping flow
between the straight blade section has increased thrust on the
turbine and helps in augmenting the performance of the turbine.
• Two peak values of torque coefficient in one revolution of the
modified CLD Savonius turbine contribute to its power perfor-
mance. Each peak is attributed to the effect of straight and
curve blade sections.
• Maximum Cp obtained by the modified CLD turbine is 0.29 at
TSR 0.8; such improvement in performance is not obtained in
recent published works on design modification of the Savonius
turbine.

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(c) (d )

Fig. 16 Variation of Cd and Cl for blade 1 and blade 2 separately for azi-
muthal angle 90 deg and 270 deg at TSR 0.8: (a) blade 1, (b) blade 2, (c)
blade 1, and (d) blade 2

(a) (b)

(c) (d )

Fig. 17 Variation of Cd and Cl for blade 1 and blade 2 separately for azimuthal
angle 135 deg and 315 deg at TSR 0.8: (a) blade 1, (b) blade 2, (c) blade 1, and
(d) blade 2

Thus, the findings of this study highlight that the improved

design of the CLD Savonius turbine can be adapted in low speed
water streams available in river for harnessing water power.

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