Studying the Behavior of a Variable Pitch “Hydro Screw” Micro Hydro Turbine, Numerical Analysis and Experimental Investigation

Subject Areas : Mechanical Engineering

ali hosseini moghdam omami ¹ , yousef yassi ² , ahmad Nourbakhsh ³

1 - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, Iran
2 - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Energy Institute of Higher Education, Iran
3 - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tehran University, Iran

Received: 2018-09-08 Accepted : 2019-02-09 Published : 2019-12-01

Keywords: Flow, Variable Pitch, Hydro Power, Screw,

Abstract :

Hydro screw is an axial micro hydro turbine of Archimedean origin. Due to ever-increasing need for clean fuel based and environmentally clean electric power, a research project was undertaken at IROST. In this study, the effect of spiral variable pitch on hydro screw turbine has been studied numerically. Based on the results, it was found that the turbine had the best efficiency with a spiral pitch of 1.5. Accordingly, the small model of this turbine was made and tested in the laboratory. The results indicate that the numerical results of the calculations are in good agreement with experimental result, and therefore they can be used safely in the course of subsequent turbine studies. In summary, the results indicate that the maximum turbine output is between 62% and 68% which is about 30% higher than the constant pitch blade turbine.

References:

[1]    Nourbakhsh, A., Turbomachinary, 4rd ed, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran, 2015, pp. 15-25, 9640351962.

[2]    Williamson, S., Stark, B., and Booker, J., Low Head Pico Hydro Turbine Selection using a Multi-Criteria Analysis, Renewable Energy Congress, Vol. 6, 2011, pp. 1377–1395.

[3]    Muller, G., Senior, J., Simplified Theory of Archimedean Screws, Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 47, No. 5, 2009, pp. 666–669.

[4]    Saroinsong, T., The Effect of Head Inflow and Turbine Axis Angle Towards the Three Row Bladed Screw Turbine Efficiency, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Vol. 10, No. 7, 2015, pp. 16977-16984.

[5]    Mcnabb, C., Liston, C., Passage of Juvenile Chinook salmon and other Fish Species through Archimedes Lifts and a Hidrostal Pump at Red Bluff, California. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Vol. 132, No. 3, 2003, pp. 326–334.

[6]    Stergiopoulou, A., Kalkani, E., Investigating the Hydrodynamic Behavior of Innovative Archimedean Hydropower Turbines, International Journal of Research and Reviews in Applied Sciences, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2013, pp. 87-96.

[7]    Stergiopoulou, A., Stergiopoulos, V., Quo Vadis Archimedean Turbines Nowadays in Greece, in the Era of Transition? Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 7, 2012, pp. 870-879.

[8]    Stergiopoulou, A., Stergiopoulos, V., and Kalkani, E., Experimental and Theoretical Research of Zero Head Innovative Axis Archimedean Screw Turbines, International Journal of Energy and Environment, Vol. 6, No. 5, 2015, pp. 471-478.

[9]    Shaun, R. W., Analyzing the Performance of the Archimedes Screw Turbine within Tidal Range Technologies, M.S.B, Dissertation, Mechanical Engineering Dept., lanchester Univ., Bailrigg, 2015.

[10] Schleicher, W. C., Numerical Investigation and Performance Characteristic Mapping of an Archimedean Screw Hydro turbine, M.S.B, Dissertation, Mechanical Engineering Dept., Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, 2012.

[11] Riglin, J. D., Cavitation Study of a Micro hydro Turbine, M.S.B, Dissertation, Mechanical Engineering Dept., Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, 2012.

[12] Omami, A., Yassi, Y., Nourbakhsh. A., and Najafi, A. F., Design and Numerical Analysis of Hydro Coil Turbine with Constant and Variable Pitch’s Blade, Tabriz University Journal of Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 48, No. 1, 2018, pp. 153-162.