Performance Enhancement of a Gravitational Water Vortex Turbine by varying different paramters

Gravitational Water Vortex Powerplant is an ultralow-head technology. This technology is very fruitful to be used in areas, where the hydraulic head of water is not very large, typically less than 3m. Operating at such low head reduces the cost of building a reservoir and then harnessing the energy

Project Title

Performance Enhancement of a Gravitational Water Vortex Turbine by varying different paramters

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

Gravitational Water Vortex Powerplant is an ultralow-head technology. This technology is very fruitful to be used in areas, where the hydraulic head of water is not very large, typically less than 3m. Operating at such low head reduces the cost of building a reservoir and then harnessing the energy from that reservoir. Moreover, since the technology does not use any material/component that produces anti-green byproducts, it makes it a very handsome alternative for meeting low energy needs without harming the environment.

Our project is composed of two sections:

1) Determining Optimum operating conditions via CFD Analysis in ANSYS CFX to improve the turbine's performance

2) Installation of Vortex Turbine at a practical site (near NOWSHEHRA, KPK)

For the first section, we have identified some gaps in previous researches i.e., optimum flowrate range for a given geometry, optimum head range for a given geometry, and the inlet width of basin for the given flow which have not been addressed. We believe that by finding these optimum values can result in an improved performance of the turbine. For this ANSYS CFX is used to analyze the turbine performance, computationally.

For the second part, we have identified a site near NOWSHEHRA, which provides us the opportunity of installing a Vortex Turbine. The available head of water at this site is 0.8m and a flowrate of 315 litres/s (determined in last week of December), which is theoretically capable of providing power of 2.8kW. The actual power, however, would be less than this because turbine design is still in the developmental process and needs to be improved significantly to achieve the highly efficient performance with the likes of Kaplan's. We are still very optimistic because the geometrically similar laboratory setup of this model was >50% efficient, and will be hopefully replicated at the site as well.

The overall cost of the setup depends upon the manufacturing processes that are to be used. The same turbine can be made by performing milling operations, by casting, and by using sheet-metal as well. Each has its pros and cons, but since we want to make low cost model, we have opted for sheet-metal design of blades. The other major component of the model, i.e., the basin used to direct flow and give swirl to the flow is also made by the same Galvanized Steel Sheets, but of lesser thickness.

Project Objectives

The objective of this project is to determine optimum values of various performance parameters of vortex turbines that can be maximized to improve the performance of turbine.

Moreover, to gain a hands-on-experience of installing an actual powerplant that would result in an extensive learning experience.

Project Implementation Method

The site is surveyed, and the necessary dimensional and flow characteristics are found. Basing on that and the literature reviewed the initial design of the setup is selected. The turbine blade is the most crucial part of the whole setup which needs to be the safest of all, therefore different models are studied computationally and then the final design is taken for manufacturing. The available methods for manufacturing of are looked into. Because the geometry of the blade is a bit non-traditional (curves in both planes) for sheet metal blades, therefore different manufacturing processes have been looked into so that the blades in manufactured cost-effectively. After the manufacturing of blades, basin, the remaining components are manufactured, assembled, and brought to site for installation. The performance curve for the plant is afterwards obtained that tell will tell us about the performance of the setup.

Benefits of the Project

• low cost energy
• clean energy
• no need of reservoir construction
• renewable energy source

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

SIZE: 4.5m x 1.5m x 2m

Turbine diameter: 0.9m

Power Output: >1 kW (dependent on seasonal flowrate)

Turbine blade material: Galvanized Steel Sheet

Blade thickness: 2.5 mm

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Energy

Other Industries

Core Technology

Clean Tech

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy

Required Resources

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