Numerical analysis on overall performance of Savonius turbines adjacent to a natural draft cooling tower

• New application for Savonius turbine is presented.
• Turbine can improve cooling efficiency of a cooling tower like a windbreaker.
• New arrangement is useful from thermal and power generation viewpoints.

Two large Savonius turbine have been proposed to use near the radiators of a natural draft dry cooling tower instead of previously proposed solid windbreakers. A numerical procedure has been used to predict the flow field unsteadily, and calculate the cooling improvement and power generation in turbines. Numerical results showed that rotating turbines could improve cooling capacity as the same order of solid windbreakers. It was surprisingly concluded that presence of cooling tower near Savonius turbine increased its power generation. Ultimately, it was concluded that overall improvement of the proposed arrangement was considerable from thermal and clean energy production viewpoints.