Influence of Setting Condition on Characteristics of Savonius Hydraulic Turbine with a Shield Plate

The aim of this investigation was to improve power performance of Savonius hydraulic turbine utilizing small stream for electric generation.An attempt was made to increase the power coefficient of runner by the use of flat shield plate placed upstream of the runner.The difference of the power coefficient is discussed in relation to clearance between the runner and the bottom wall and the rotation direction of the runner.The flow field around the runner was also examined visually to clarify influences of setting conditions on the power performance.From this study it was found that the power coefficient is achieved for 0.47 by only using a flat shield plate,the increase is up to 80% over the runner without the plate.Moreover,it is the proper condition that clearance ratio is 0.73 in this study.