Savonius Rotor Wind Power Science Fair Projects 8th Graders

Blade separation wind speed windmill science fair projects abstract begins heres...

Procedures

To build the Savonius Rotor Windmill
1.Cut in half 12’’ by 4’’ and an 18’’ by 4’’ pipes. 
2.Construct a frame at least 20’’ wide and 25’’ tall, drill a hole through the middle of the top board.
3.Saw a space so a 1 cm. wide steel pole may enter, then drill a hole half way through the base board and place a bearing so the pole may freely turn.
4.Cut and glue the sandpaper to the plastic plates.
5.Drill a hole in the middle of the plates, the place the steel pole through them.
6.Place either 12’’ or 18’’ blades between the plates.
7. Use nuts and washers to keep them in place.
8. Connect a rubber band to steel rod and an electric motor.
9. Connect a milivolt meter to the electric motor.
10.Place a fan in front of windmill and make sure milivolt meter is receiving electricity. 

Testing the Savonius Rotor
1.Loosen sandpaper and adjust 12 in. blades so they are 0 in. apart.
2.Place fan directly in front of the windmill.
3.Wait approximately 1 minute for windmill to be at full speed. Record output.
4.Repeat steps 1-3 with blades separated 1,2,3, and 4 in. apart. Record output
5.Repeat steps 1-4 with 18 in. blades. Record output.

Results

The original purpose of this experiment was to find out the best separation of blades and wind speed of a Savonius Rotor Windmill so that it will produce the most power.

The results of the experiment indicate that the largest blade separation and highest wind speed produce the most power.

Conclusion

My first hypothesis was that the most blade separation would produce the most power.

My second hypothesis was that the highest wind speed would produce the most power with either of the blade heights.

The results indicate that my first and second hypothesis will be kept.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if I put a different diameter blade that windmill would put out more or less power.

If I were to conduct this project again I would add different heights and diameters of blades with higher wind speeds to test. original abstract