Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant Research Articles

Experimental and numerical study on gravitational water vortex power plant for small water bodies

This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of a newly designed Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVHP), utilizing both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental studies to assess its performance characteristics. The GWVHP was developed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations, incorporating components such as a water pump, primary water tank, secondary collection tank, channel, and rotor blades. Focusing on the crucial interplay between flow rate, torque, and efficiency, key factors in evaluating renewable energy systems, the study reveals notable findings. Simulation results showcase the plant achieving a peak torque of 6 at a flow rate of 2 m3/min, with experimental results closely trailing at 5.7 under identical conditions. Similarly, the simulation and experimental data both indicate maximum efficiencies of 58 % and 56 %, respectively, at the same flow rate. The novelty lies in the comparative analysis of simulation and experimental outcomes, exposing slight deviations attributed to factors such as modeling uncertainties and experimental setup variations. Addressing a critical gap in vortex basin and turbine optimization research, this paper introduces a novel approach by utilizing CFD analysis to experimentally validate the GWVHP's performance. Additionally, the study addresses the limitation of lab-scale models by simulating an actual-scale model, offering insights into scalability and reliability. The practical design of the GWVHP, tailored for real-site applications in small water bodies, enhances the applicability of the findings and contributes to advancing GWVHP technology for renewable energy. This multi-faceted approach underscores the potential of GWVHPs for practical and scalable renewable energy solutions.

Numerical analysis of the inlet channel and basin geometries for vortex generation in a gravitational water vortex power plant

Recently, the utilization of low-head hydroelectric technologies has received a great attention for the expansion of distributed power systems into isolated regions that are difficult to be connected to the electrical grid, especially in developing countries. The use of gravitational vortex hydropower systems can be a renewable and suitable option to expand electricity access and promote development in these remote regions, which are concomitantly rich in hydric resources, due to this system can operate with low head without the need of a large reservoir and installation area. In this study, the performance of the inlet channel and basin of a gravitational water vortex turbine was investigated. Two inlet channels and two basin geometries were numerically analysed in Ansys Fluent software. The velocity and vortex height were calculated and compared for each setting. It was found that the inlet channel with conical basin tended to produce more symmetric vortex in comparisons with that generated by the cylindrical geometry. Additionally, the conical basin maximized the flow velocity on the water surface area.

Numerical analysis of the inlet channel and basin geometries for vortex generation in a gravitational water vortex power plant

Recently, the utilization of low-head hydroelectric technologies has received a great attention for the expansion of distributed power systems into isolated regions that are difficult to be connected to the electrical grid, especially in developing countries. The use of gravitational vortex hydropower systems can be a renewable and suitable option to expand electricity access and promote development in these remote regions, which are concomitantly rich in hydric resources, due to this system can operate with low head without the need of a large reservoir and installation area. In this study, the performance of the inlet channel and basin of a gravitational water vortex turbine was investigated. Two inlet channels and two basin geometries were numerically analysed in Ansys Fluent software. The velocity and vortex height were calculated and compared for each setting. It was found that the inlet channel with conical basin tended to produce more symmetric vortex in comparisons with that generated by the cylindrical geometry. Additionally, the conical basin maximized the flow velocity on the water surface area.

The effect of conical basin geometry on gravitational water vortex power plant

The effect of conical basin geometry on gravitational water vortex power plant

Design and Analysis of a Fish-Friendly Micro Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) on Zarqa River, Jordan

Design and Analysis of a Fish-Friendly Micro Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) on Zarqa River, Jordan

Numerical Study of Damper Plate and Nozzle Effect on Vortex Turbine Basin for Increasing Flow Kinetic Energy Entering Turbine Rotor

The Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is a small-scale hydroelectric power generator that makes use of the energy generated from a vortex flow to turn turbine blades and generate electricity. In this research study, the focus was on the numerical analysis of the basin design of the GWVPP, which is divided into three sections: vortex generator section, transformer section, and turbine section. To support the transformation process from tangential vortex speed to axial vortex speed in the transformer section, a damper plate was installed to direct the rotating flow. The effect of the nozzle in accelerating the flow for optimizing the basin design was also studied to reduce blockage caused by the transformation process. The numerical results indicate that designs with nozzle have lower velocity outputs due to blockage from the rotating flow. At flow rate of 0.1 m3/s, the presence of damper plate reduces the maximum flow rotation, but at flow rate of 0.2 m3/s, it prevents flow leakage on the surface. The basin design without damper plate and nozzle is the optimal variation for flow rates of 0.1 m3/s, while the design with damper plate but without nozzle is optimal for flow rates of 0.2 m3/s.

Numerical comparison of Savonius turbine as a rotor for gravitational vortex turbine with standard rotor

The generated kinetic energy of a water vortex can be transformed into electrical energy by a Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant. Which is a new and green alternative for a conventional power plant that can induce/create a vortex without great civil construction. Previous studies focus their objective on tank design and vortex formation inside it (to study the fluid outlet velocity). However, the rotor design is a parameter that affects directly in turbine performance. The main purpose of this study is to compare numerically with the Ansys software the Savonius turbine as a Gravitational Vortex turbine rotor with the standard rotor (straight blades). The study showed that the straight-bladed rotor performed better with a generated torque of approximately 1.1 Nm, compared to 0.6 Nm generated by the Savonius. In conclusion, it was shown that the design of the rotor for the gravitational vortex turbine considerably affects its performance, where it can be increased or decreased by up to 30% difference.

Simulation of Propeller Runner for Cylindrical Basin of Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant

The gravitational water vortex power plant is an emerging technology of power generation from water vortex in a small amount. It can generate electricity in a low head of range (0.7-2m). This system is very simple and requires less keep-up. This research aims to develop the propeller type runner which gives optimum efficiency and cylindrical basin suitable for this propeller runner in GWVPP. The research has been conducted by developing a new propeller runner and cylindrical basin considering the top surface open as the atmosphere. Blade angle, discharge hole diameter of the basin, the position of runner, and rpm are optimized on CFD-based optimization. After the CFD analysis, the optimum blade angle was 43º, exit hole diameter of this basin was found 175 mm which is 20% of the basin diameter. The optimum height was found 785mm which is 65.42% of the total height. And the efficiency of the optimized system was 23.639 % at 40 rpm.

Simulation of screw runner for cylindrical basin of gravitational water vortex power plant (GWVPP)

Gravitational water vortex plant is an emerging technology to extract energy created from vortex formation in ultra-low head range. This research was conducted to test a modification in Archimedes screw as a new type of runner for Gravitational water vortex plant, considering atmospheric opening at the topmost surface of the channel. After CFD optimization, the optimum dimension for screw runner was found to have 2 blades, 267 mm height, 180 mm radius from center axis, 160 mm pitch and is positioned 235.5 mm from the top surface of the gravitational water vortex basin. Runners with blade number two and three were found to be more efficient than single and four blade runners. Out of all runners, the efficiency and output power of the two-blade screw runner was found to be a maximum of 4.07 % and 1.004 Watts respectively at 55 rpm. Further analysis of the optimized runner was done by varying the inlet speed of the water at the canal from 0.25 m/s to 0.75 m/s and found that efficiency increased with increasing inlet speed.

Performance Analysis of Cone Basin-Based Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) by Variations in the Number of Blades

The electricity supply is not evenly distributed for all regions in Indonesia. This is due to the lack of transportation access to reach these areas because of difficult terrain conditions. One of abundant energy sources available in nature is water, which can be used for micro-level power generation. Micro hydro generator usually uses a waterfall with a high head. However, not all of the water flow has a head tall. Therefore, this study proposes a promising prototype of a cone basin-based Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP). The purpose of this study is to determine the performance of the cone basin-based GWVPP prototype by variation in the number of blades. The vortex turbine is designed with a water flow rate of 169.63 liters/minute and a cone basin with square-shaped blades and variations in the number of blades, namely 2, 4, and 6, with the same turbine blade area of 0.01 m2 . It was found that an increase in the number of blades enhances mechanical characteristics of, e.g. torque and rotational speed, as well as electrical characteristics, e.g. voltage, current, and electric power. The maximum result is achieved when the number of blades is six with the rated power of 5 mW and the rotation speed of 119.351 rpm.

Enhancing the performance of gravitational water vortex turbine by flow simulation analysis

Gravitational Water Vortex Power (GWVP) plant is a favourable micro-hydro extraction method due to its simplicity and compatibility with ultra-low hydraulic head applications. However, the GWVP turbines are less efficient than other commercial hydro turbines. This study mainly focuses on improving the performance of the vortex turbine setup inside a conical basin structure using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis for different configurations of vortex turbine blades. After validating the ANSYS CFX CFD setup with available experimental results, the parametric study of the turbine was carried out based on four parameters; blade inclination, turbine height, vertical twist and horizontal curvature. The relationship between flow behaviour and performance was analysed in each case, considering the air-water interface, pressure and velocity fields. The blade inclination, similar to the conical basin inclination, yielded enhanced performance, and an optimal blade height was identified for this setup. The horizontally curved blade showed a slightly better performance than the vertical twist blade for the original design of the conical basin. However, when the drain diameter of the basin structure has increased, the performance of the vertically twisted blade showed good performance resulting in 55.3% efficiency while maintaining a stable air core.

Performance analysis of a runner for gravitational water vortex power plant

AbstractMicro‐hydropower can be used to meet the needs of both isolated and rural communities for electricity. Due to its inexpensive initial investment, simple design, easy maintenance and low‐head utilisation, the gravitational water vortex power plant (GWVPP) has recently piqued interest. The findings of numerical work employing a numerical simulation and analytical approach for the GWVPP are presented in this study. To understand the influence of each on the efficiency of GWVPP, four parameters (speed, hub‐blade angle, number of blades and runner profile) were explored. Design‐Expert software was used to investigate the interplay of each parameter/factor in order to maximise the contribution of each. Design‐Optimal Expert's (custom) design tool was used to construct twenty‐four experimental runs. To calculate the system efficiency, these runs were simulated in commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software called Ansys CFX.The numerical results were in good agreement with the experimental results, which yielded R2 values of 0.9507 and 0.9603 for flat and curved profiles, respectively. Furthermore, the findings show that the chosen parameters have an impact on the GWVPP's efficiency via interaction as seen in response surface methodology (RSM). Furthermore, numerical analysis increased the curved blade profile runner's total efficiency by 3.65%. In comparison with the unoptimised scenarios, the efficiency of the flat runner profile increased by 1.69%.

Design, Fabrication & Analysis of a Gravitational Water Vortex Based Energy Harvester

ABSTRACT Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is one of the micro-scale hydropower system that is capable to convert rotational moving fluid to usable energy. It is preferred over other such systems because of its ultra-low operating heads and the system’s ability to work with low flow rate to generate electricity. The ease of setup, low maintenance, and operating cost make it suitable for portable energy source applications. The novelty of this study is the dome-shaped basin GWVPP system; the design was inspired from the Brachistochrone curve theory. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis study was used to investigate the formation of vortex, and determine and optimize the curve radii parameter for fabrication of the system basin. Two different dome basins were fabricated in this study; wide version and narrow version. A total of 30 experimental tests were made for the dome basin GWVPP system. The maximum efficiency of the system setup was recorded at 31.77%, obtained at the bottom of the dome-basin using angled-curved blades profile from narrow dome basin with smallest outlet diameter. This study shows that there is a possible alternative basin design for GWVPP system.

Vortex profile analysis under different diffuser size for inlet channel of gravitational water vortex power plant

Hydropower is a renewable technology to store the amount of electricity which is the least expensive. Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant is an ultra-low head micro hydropower system working ranging from 0.7 m to 2m without having the needs of a large reservoir and installation area. Several researches have been conducted on its basin configuration, orifice diameter, blade configuration, the geometry of the basin shape but not onto the addition of the diffuser at the inlet channel. The function of the diffuser is to direct the water into the basin allowing the water vortex to travel towards the tangential direction where this phenomenon will increase the rate of speed flow through the turbine. The simulation results showed that the addition of the diffuser has significantly increased the tangential velocity and the kinetic energy of the vortices. The increase in the velocity of the flow increased the height of the vortex which also led to the increase in the strength of the vortex and affects the vortex uniformity.

Effects of blade number and draft tube in gravitational water vortex power plant determined using computational fluid dynamics simulations

Effects of blade number and draft tube in gravitational water vortex power plant determined using computational fluid dynamics simulations

Computational and Experimental Study of the Effect of Solidity and Aspect Ratio of a Helical Turbine for Energy Generation in a Model Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant

Gravitational Water Vortex power plant is a relatively new plant used to generate hydropower from low head rivers and canals. There has been an increase in research in the field of runner design and canal design for GWVPPs throughout the world. As no definite equations are formulated in case of runners used in a GWVPP, they are currently produced by hit and trial method. This research focuses on studying about the use of a pure reaction turbine, Gorlov turbine, to generate power from a GWVPP. ANSYS Fluent was used to perform computational study while the experimental study was done using helical turbine blades fabricated using a 3-D printer. The energy generated is very low compared to the impulse turbines. Both the computational and experimental study shows that when increasing the aspect ratio of the turbine but keeping the solidity same, the efficiency is increased significantly. However, the studies also show that on increasing the solidity, the efficiency seems to decrease. All the turbines used submerged to 3 different depts and all the results show that increasing the submergence increased the efficiency.

Effects of Geometrical Parameters in Gravitational Water Vortex Turbines with Conical Basin

Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is an appropriate means to convert kinetic energy of water to rotational mechanical energy at the very low head site. This study aims to establish a basic reference for the design of the runner for the Gravitational Water Vortex Turbine (GWVT) with a conical basin. Seven different geometrical parameters have been identified for runner design, and the effect of these parameters on the system efficiency has been studied numerically and experimentally. The effect of these parameters has been studied over the range of speed with torque. The results from performance tests of these runners suggest that runner height is the most significant parameter to be considered in the design of a turbine runner for GWVPP with a conical basin. The results show that the efficiency of GWVT has improved up to 47.85% as obtained from experiments.

Performance Analysis of Booster based Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant

Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is a power generation system that suits for ultralow head streams of water with low flow rate. Due to the simple design, compact structure, and the possibility of local fabrication, it can benefit rural areas for off-grid supply. The purpose of this research is to study the potential of booster based GWVPP. Previous researches concluded the best position of turbine in GWVPP is actually not the maximum head position which eventually does not extract all possible head. This research explores the possibility of adding an extra runner (booster runner) below the main runner in the existing set up for additional power generation. The performance of the booster runner, modelled in CATIA V5R21 was studied computationally using ANSYS 18.1 FLUENT for various boosters with varieties of number of blades, blade inclination angle, height of booster, rotational speed and the blade profile so as to obtain the most suitable design of the booster runner, which was then verified experimentally in a model set up using four different booster runners. The research showed an increase of 3.84W in the miniaturized model which corresponds to the increase in efficiency of 20.4% from a total of 63.55% by main runner alone. This implies that the power generation can be increased by the addition of the booster runner in the existing set up.

Novel Runner Configuration of a Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant for Micro Hydropower Generation

Novel Runner Configuration of a Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant for Micro Hydropower Generation

Analysis of Gottingen 428 Airfoil Turbine Propeller Design with Computational Fluid Dynamics Method on Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant

Along with technological development and the increase in human population, the electricity needs are increasing every year. However, 94% of power plant in Indonesia still using fossil fuels that are pollutant and non-renewable. In addition, NASA said that the earth's temperature had risen by 1°C since 1880 and the current carbon dioxide level was the highest in the last 650,000 years. Therefore, Indonesia need to improve, in fact Indonesia is one of the highest emission contributors in the world. Indonesia is not yet 100% electrified, there are still 2,519 villages without electricity. Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) which is a micro hydro-power plant may answer the problem, because it is an easy renewable energy to be made and utilized in the NIZ (not interconnected zones) region. This study will examine the changes in the number and shape of the blade, as well as the length of the chord, to know the effect on turbine power so that it can produce higher efficiency at GWVPP. Propeller turbine with a Gottingen 428 airfoil analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. The results show that the number of blades and the length of the chord is inversely proportional to the efficiency of the turbine, and the shape of blade is more efficient when it’s twisted.