Abstract

Small hydropower generation is one of important alternative energy, and potential of small hydropower is great. Efficiency of small hydro turbines is lower than that of large one, and these small hydro turbine's common problems are out of operation by foreign materials. Then, there are demands for small hydro turbines to keep high performance and wide flow passage. Therefore, we adopted contra-rotating rotors which can be expected to achieve high performance and low-solidity rotors with wide flow passage in order to accomplish high performance and stable operation. Final goal of this study is development of an electric appliance type small hydro turbine which has high portability and makes an effective use of unused small hydro power energy source. In this research, experimental apparatus of the contra-rotating small hydro turbine with 60mm casing diameter was manufactured and performance of it was investigated by an experiment. Efficiency of the contra-rotating small hydro turbine was high in pico-hydro turbine and high efficiency could be kept in wide flow rate range. Internal flow condition, which was difficult to measure experimentally, was shown by the numerical flow analysis. Further, influence of spokes to support the rotor was clarified. Then, a relation between the performance and internal flow condition was considered by the experimental and numerical analysis results.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.