Development of a Hydropower Turbine Using Seawater from a Fish Farm

Md Rakibuzzaman,Hyoung-Ho Kim,Youngtae Ryu,Sang-Ho Suh,Kyung Yup Kim

doi:10.3390/pr9020266

Abstract

Discharge water from fish farms is a clean, renewable, and abundant energy source that has been used to obtain renewable energy via small hydropower plants. Small hydropower plants may be installed at offshore fish farms where suitable water is obtained throughout the year. It is necessary to meet the challenges of developing small hydropower systems, including sustainability and turbine efficiency. The main objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of constructing a small hydropower plant and develop 100 kW class propeller-type turbines in a fish farm with a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). The turbine was optimized using a computer simulation, and an experiment was conducted to obtain performance data. Simulation results were then validated with experimental results. Results revealed that streamlining the designed shape of the guide vane reduced the flow separation and improved the efficiency of the turbine. Optimizing the shape of the runner vane decreased the flow rate, reducing the water power and increasing the efficiency by about 5.57%. Also, results revealed that tubular or cross-flow turbines could be suitable for use in fish farm power plants, and the generator used should be waterproofed to avoid exposure to seawater.

Highlights

Hydropower is expected to remain the world’s largest source of renewable electricity and to play a critical role in decarbonizing the power system and improving system flexibility
Hydropower generation has been declining in Southeast Asia and the Americas due to continued drought caused by climate change
Different runner vane openings were used in the simulation because when it created the exact opening angle, the runner blades were crossed the interface between the guide vane outlet and runner vane inlet

Summary

Introduction

Hydropower is expected to remain the world’s largest source of renewable electricity and to play a critical role in decarbonizing the power system and improving system flexibility. Demand for hydroelectric power generation is increasing to cope with the increasing proportion of renewable energy and to adapt to increasing power demands from industrialization and the climate change crisis [2]. Small scale hydropower development is being studied worldwide to improve technology to make it more reliable and economically efficient, which is necessary due to climate change, high oil prices, and environmental problems [2]. Domestic small hydroelectric power generation technologies are being localized due to new and renewable energy certificates (RECs) and the sale of electric power in domestic institutions and corporations; a continuous decrease in the development unit price has been affected by small and medium enterprises [3,5,6]

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Conclusion