Design and Development of a Small-Scale Archimedes Screw Turbine for Sarawak Rural Development

Abstract

This study aims to develop model to describe performance of small-scale Archimedes screw turbine (AST) operating in low velocity in-stream water. This study started off with conceptual designing based on literature review findings. Eventually, the small-scale prototype is then being built and tested in the laboratory. The experiment is set up to simulate the actual Sarawak river velocity to determine the relationship between key performance variables such as the inclination angle of AST and water flow velocity. The findings revealed that the 45-degree angle of inclination was the optimum angle of AST within the water velocity of 1.0 m/s until 1.5 m/s. At this angle, the highest revolution per minutes (RPM) generated by AST shaft was found to be 179.8, and the highest torque recorded was 0.9Nm. It was found that both angles of inclination and river water velocity are significant to RPM and torque generation (p<; 0.05). The outcome of this study would be useful for designing a small-scale AST power generation system by utilising low flow river (velocity <; 1.5m/s) as a power source. For the future study, it is recommended to optimise the existing design of small-scale AST.