Savonius vertical wind turbines

Savonius wind turbines are a type of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), used for
converting the force of the wind into torque on a rotating shaft. The turbine consists of
a number of aerofoils usually--but not always--vertically mounted on a rotating shaft
or framework, either ground stationed or tethered in airborne systems.
They were invented by the Finnish engineer Sigurd J. Savonius in 1922. Johann Ernst
Elias Bessler (born 1680) was the first to attempt to build a horizontal windmill of the
Savonius type in the town of Furstenburg in Germany in 1745. He fell to his death
whilst construction was under way. It was never completed but the building still
exists.

Operation
Savonius turbines are one of the simplest turbines. Aerodynamically, they are drag-type
devices, consisting of two or three scoops. Looking down on the rotor from above, a two-
scoop machine would look like an "S" shape in cross section. Because of the curvature,
the scoops experience less drag when moving against the wind than when moving with
the wind. The differential drag causes the Savonius turbine to spin. Because they are
drag-type devices, Savonius turbines extract much less of the wind's power than other
similarly-sized lift-type turbines. Much of the swept area of a Savonius rotor may be near
the ground, if it has a small mount without an extended post, making the overall energy
extraction less effective due to the lower wind speeds found at lower heights.

Use
Savonius turbines are used whenever cost or reliability is much more important than
efficiency. For example, most anemometers are Savonius turbines, because efficiency
is completely irrelevant for that application. Much larger Savonius turbines have been
used to generate electric power on deep-water buoys, which need small amounts of
power and get very little maintenance. Design is simplified because, unlike with
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), no pointing mechanism is required to
allow for shifting wind direction and the turbine is self-starting. Savonius and other
vertical-axis machines are not usually connected to electric power grids. They can
sometimes have long helical scoops, to give smooth torque
The most ubiquitous application of the Savonius wind turbine is the Flettner Ventilator
which is commonly seen on the roofs of vans and buses and is used as a cooling device.
The ventilator was developed by the German aircraft engineer Anton Flettner in the
1920s. It uses the Savonius wind turbine to drive an extractor fan. The vents are still
manufactured in the UK by Flettner Ventilator Limited.
Small Savonius wind turbines are sometimes seen used as advertising signs where the
rotation helps to draw attention to the item advertised. They sometimes feature a simple
two-frame animation.

Tethered airborne Savonius turbines

• Airborne wind turbines
• Kite types
• When the Savonius rotor axis is set horizontal and tethered, then kiting results.
There are scores of patents and products that use the net lift Magnus-effect that
occurs in the autorotation of the Savonius rotor. The spin may be mined for some
of its energy for making noise, heat, or electricity

Airborne wind turbine

Airborne wind generator of Savonius style An airborne wind turbine is a design
concept for a wind turbine that is supported in the air without a tower. Airborne wind
turbines may operate in low or high altitudes; they are part of a wider class of airborne
wind energy systems (AWE) addressed by high altitude wind power. When the
generator is on the ground,[] then the tethered aircraft need not carry the generator
mass or have a conductive tether. When the generator is aloft, then a
conductive tether would be used to transmit energy to the ground or used aloft or
beamed to receivers using microwave or laser. Airborne turbine systems would have
the advantage of tapping an almost constant wind, without requirements for slip rings
or yaw mechanism, and without the expense of tower construction. Kites and
'helicopters' come down when there is insufficient wind; kytoons and blimps resolve
the matter. Also, bad weather such as lightning or thunderstorms, could temporarily
suspend use of the machines, probably requiring them to be brought back down to the
ground and covered.
Some schemes require a long power cable and, if the turbine is high enough, an
aircraft exclusion zone. As of 2008, no commercial airborne wind turbines are in
regular operation
Aerodynamic variety

An aerodynamic airborne wind power system relies on the wind for support.
Bryan Roberts, a professor of engineering at the University of Technology, in Sydney,
Australia, has proposed a helicopter-like craft which flies to 15,000 feet (4,600 m)
altitude and stays there, held aloft by wings that generate lift from the wind, and held in
place by a cable to a ground anchor. According to its designers, while some of the energy
in the wind would be 'lost' on lift, the constant and potent winds would allow it to
generate constant electricity. Since the winds usually blow horizontally, the turbines
would be at an angle from the horizontal, catching winds while still generating lift.
Deployment could be done by feeding electricity to the turbines, which would turn them
into electric motors, lifting the structure into the sky.
The Dutch ex-astronaut and physicist Wubbo Ockels, working with the Delft University
of Technology in the Netherlands, has designed, and demonstrated , an airborne wind
turbine he calls a "Laddermill". It consists of an endless loop of kites. The kites lift one
end of the endless loop, (the "ladder") up, and the released energy is used to drive an
electric generator.
A Sept'09 paper from Carbon Tracking Ltd., Ireland has shown the capacity factor of a
kite using ground based generation to be in 52.2% which compare favorably with
terrestrial wind-farm capacity factors of 30%.
A team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the United States has developed a smaller
scale kite power system with an estimated output of about 1 kW. It uses a kiteboarding
kite to induce a rocking motion in a pivoting beam.
The Kitegen uses a prototype vertical-axis wind turbine. It is an innovative plan (still in
the construction phase) that consists of one wind farm with a vertical spin axis, and
employs kites to exploit high-altitude winds. The Kite Wind Generator (KWG) or
Kitegen is claimed to eliminate all the static and dynamic problems that prevent the
increase of the power (in terms of dimensions) obtainable from the traditional horizontal-
axis wind turbine generators. Generating equipment would remain on the ground, only
the airfoils are supported by the wind. Such a wind power plant would be capable of
producing the energy equivalent to a nuclear power plant, while using an area of few
square kilometres, without occupying it exclusively. (The majority of this area can still be
used for agriculture, or navigation in the case of an offshore installation.)
KiteLab's Dave Santos of Ilwaco, Washington, has been advancing single-surface
wingmills to generate useful electricity with the generator ground-based
The Rotokite is developed from Gianni Vergnano's idea. It uses aerodynamic profiles
similar to kites that have been rotated on their own axis, emulating the performance of a
propeller. The use of the rotation principle simplifies the problem of checking the flight
of the kites and eliminates the difficulties due to the lengths of cables, enabling the
production of wind energy at low cost. The Heli Wind Power is a project of Gianni
Vergnano that uses a tethered kite.
Aerostat variety
An aerostat-type wind power system relies at least in part on buoyancy to support the
wind-collecting elements. Aerostats vary in their designs and resulting lift-over-drag
aerodynamic characteristic; the kiting effect of higher lift-over-drag shapes for the
aerostat can effectively keep an airborne turbine aloft.
Balloons can be added to the mix to keep systems up without wind, but balloons leak
slowly and have to be resupplied with lifting gas, possibly patched as well. Very large,
sun heated balloons may solve the helium or hydrogen leakage problems.
An Ontario based company called Magenn Power Inc. has developed a turbine called the
Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS). The 100-foot (30 m)-wide MARS system uses a
horizontal rotor in a helium suspended apparatus which is tethered to a transformer on the
ground. Magenn states that their technology provides high torque, low starting speeds,
and superior overall efficiency thanks to its ability to deploy higher in comparison to non-
aerial solutions. The first prototypes were built by TCOM in April 2008

The Twind Technology concept uses a pair of captive balloons at an altitude of 800
meters. The tether cables transmit force to a rotating platform on the ground. Each
balloon has a sail connected to it. The two balloons move alternately, the balloon with the
sail open moves downwind and draws the other balloon upwind, and then the motion
reverses. The tether cable can be used to turn the shaft of a generator to produce electrical
energy or perform other works (grinding, sawing, pumping)

Estimated costs

Sky Windpower estimate that their technology will be capable of producing electricity for
$0.02 per KWh, while a system of raising a kite to a high altitude while turning a
generator on the ground, and then changing its shape so that it can be drawn back down
with less energy than it produced on the way up, has been estimated to be capable of
producing electricity for $0.01 per KWh - both numbers being significantly lower than
the current price of non-subsidized electricity