Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Abstract— The gravitational water vortex power plant carbon emissions, is one of the main reasons pushing the
(GWVPP) is a new type of low head turbine system in advancement and implementation of renewable resources such
which a channel and basin structure is used to form a as solar photovoltaics, wind and hydropower. Implementing
vortex, where the rotational energy from the water can be these in rural areas allow communities to generate and manage
extracted through a runner. This study is focused on the their own resources locally.
optimization of the runner to improve the efficiency of the
GWVPP. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is Micro hydropower plants are small scale hydropower
carried out on three different runner designs with straight, plants ranging from 5 kW to 100kW [4], with pico
twisted and curved blade profiles. ANSYS CFX was used hydropower considered to be below 5 kW generation [5]. This
to analyze the fluid flow through the channel, basin, system can be easily designed and developed for electricity
turbine hub and blade, and results were used to evaluate load ranging from single home to small building and industry
the efficiency of each of the runner designs. The CFD [28].Generally, micro hydropower systems do not need large
analysis showed curved blade profile to be the most dams or reservoirs, with water from a river is partially
efficient profile, with a peak efficiency of 82%, compared diverted through an intake canal to a forebay tank, and then
to 46% for the straight blade runner and 63% for the fed via penstock to a lower elevation. The water turbine,
twisted blade version. An experimental test of the turbine normally sheltered in a power house, transforms the energy in
system was carried out to validate the runner analysis, in a the water flow into electrical energy, with power generation
scale version of the GWVPP. The testing showed that the efficiencies able to reach up to 90% [6]. There are two main
runner behaved as predicted from the CFD analysis, and types of turbine, impulse and reaction, each suitable for
had a peak efficiency point of 71% at 0.5m head. different types of environmental conditions. Impulse turbines
are more suitable for higher heads, in the micro hydropower
Keywords: Low head turbine, vortex, computational fluid domain above 20 meters, whilst reaction turbines are more
dynamics, experimental turbine testing, blade profile suitable to lower heads, under 10 meter. Figure 1 shows micro
hydro turbine classifications.
1|Page
have shown that rural electrification alone has had minimal water but now this technology uses water aeration process to
negative impact on agricultural or industrial production but extract electrical energy.
has provided a cost-effective way to provide mechanical end-
uses to improve the lives of rural communities [7]. The life Unlike most micro hydropower technologies, fish and
cycle assessment of micro hydro in rural Thailand for twenty small debris can pass through an operating GWVPP without
years concluded that smaller hydro power systems have a causing damage to the turbine or harm to the fish. The
greater environmental impact per kilowatt hour, and perform GWVPP has several further claimed advantages, such as
less well environmentally than larger hydropower systems. homogenously disseminating contaminants in the water,
However, the micro hydropower system yields better increasing the heat of evaporation so water can reduce the
environmental and financial outcomes than diesel generator or temperature itself at rising temperatures in summer and also
grid connection alternatives [9]. through the creation of vortex dissolved oxygen concentration
can be improved [10].
2|Page
(height of water in the basin) tested, a height of 25 cm above Fig.3: Inlet and outlet velocity triangles for a typical impulse
the tank base (35% of the overall tank height) was found to be turbine runner.
optimum for turbine performance. A maximum measured
efficiency of 15.1% was found in these tests, however the In this type of impulse turbine, high velocity fluid
system was not optimized for this operation. strikes the runner deflecting the fluid stream, causing a change
in momentum on the fluid and exerting a reacting force on the
Current research has solely focused on the different turbine runner. The GWVPP runner blade design was also
parameters that govern the design of the basin structure or carried out using the same method. However, the water
conducting experimental studies on the turbine system. flowing into a Pelton Wheel assumes that the flow only moves
However, no research has been published on the design and in one direction. Conversely, in the GWVPP the water will be
optimization of the turbine runner. Therefore, this paper moving in two dimensions, horizontally and vertically. In
describes a numerical and experimental study that has been order to simplify analysis, it is possible to assume that the
conducted on gravitational water vortex energy system to most of the energy of a water vortex can be harnessed
select a suitable runner design, assessing the design using horizontally and it is negligible on vertical side. In an impulse
ANSYS CFX and validating the selected runner design by an turbine, the inlet jet velocity is constant, however for the
experimental study. GWVPP the inlet velocity varies across the radius of the
vortex, as described by (1). Therefore, the velocity triangles
shown in Fig. 3 vary across the radius of the runner.
II. THEORETICAL DESIGN OF RUNNER
In a water vortex, water swirls around an empty core,
known as a vortex center, of decreasing radius as the vortex The maximum power output for the blade can be obtained
height above the outlet plain reduces. In classical with the following equation
hydrodynamics, a free, irrotational vortex can be defined as a
flow pattern with streamlines in concentric circles. In reality,
(2)
since all fluids have viscosity, no flow is truly irrotational.
However, flows can be successfully studied by assuming them
where Pshaft is the shaft output power, r is the water
to be inviscid and irrotational because of the negligible
density, Q is the water flow rate, U is the tangential velocity,
viscous effects [21]. In a free vortex, fluid particles do not
rotate as they translate in circular paths around the vortex V1 is the absolute inlet velocity, is the deflected angle for the
center. For an irrotational vortex, the radial velocity vr of a water flow. Again, as the velocities will vary across the runner
water particle is zero, while the tangential velocity v0 is given radius, the output power will need to be integrated to calculate
by: it accurately.
Fig.4: Forces acting on the runner blade from the impact of the
water.
(3)
3|Page
(4)
(12
(5)
(13)
(10)
4|Page
The stream line flow and velocity distribution shows of the vortex better than the straight and twisted one. Using
that the velocity of the vortex pool which strikes the runner is the calculated torque and efficiency obtained from the
approximated 1.3 m/sec at radii from 60mm to 120mm, Fig. 7.
This value of velocity, which has significance for the
production of torque on the shaft through the blade, is taken
for the analysis of the runner in the rotating domain. The
streamlines also predict that it is likely that the area of the
stream of water which strikes the blade will be maximum for
the blade with curved profile.
5|Page
Fig. 13: Fabricated runner and blade
(14)
Where rpulley is the pulley radius, Mweight is the mass on one side
of prony brake dynamometer and Mcounterweight is the mass on
the other side of Prony brake dynamometer.
6|Page
angle and profile is the main reason behind the maximization for developing countries with more basic workshop facilities
of the output power. Comparing the simulation and available.
experimental results, the calculated efficiency in the CFD
compares well to the measured experimental efficiency with a
10% difference. The difference can be attributed to increased
losses in the experimental testing, through leakage, increased
surface friction due to manufacturing techniques, and
mechanical losses that are not accounted for the in the CFD
model.
As can be seen in Fig. 15, the efficiency is dependent on The gravitational water vortex power plant is an
the speed of rotation. Therefore, when coupled with an emerging technology in context of low head hydropower,
electrical load, this load will have to be maintained at a providing a suitable option for rural electrification. A method
constant value to ensure that no non-linear effects occur, for designing the runner for the GWVPP has been proposed
causing a collapse of the turbine speed and output. This can be using basic hydrodynamic equations, and three alternative
achieved by the use of a suitable electronic load controller runner designs were proposed. CFD analysis for three
(ELC) [5]. Moreover, these plants have a common problem of different runner blade profiles showed that a curved blade
very low utilization of electricity generation during off peaks profile is most suitable for the GWVPP, with an angle between
hours resulting in the low plant factor. Using a Micro-Grid the blade and the hub of 19°, achieving a calculated maximum
(also called local grid), the issue of loss of plant efficiency as a efficiency of over 80%. An experimental test rig was
result of under-utilization of electricity generation during off constructed to validate the CFD analysis, and achieved a
peak hours can also be addressed [26]. The speed of rotation measured efficiency of 70.9%. The difference between
for this turbine is very slow at its maximum efficiency point, experimental testing and CFD analysis was acceptable, and
therefore matching it to a standard generator to produce 50 or was mainly attributed to leakage and mechanical losses, non-
60 Hz output frequency will require a step-up in speed through ideal construction of the canal and basin with increased
either a gearbox or belt drive system. surface friction, and increased rotational speed of the turbine.
The output of the experimental setup was 14 W, which The GVWPP can be scaled using hydrodynamic similarity,
would not provide a useful amount of power for an off-grid and therefore offers an opportunity for power generation in the
household or community. However, using hydrodynamic remote villages where it is difficult to provide the national
scaling laws [27], this system can be designed to meet any power grid. Its simple design also allows it to be fabricated in
changed in environmental conditions for head or flow rate. For basic workshops, allowing the design to be replicated across
example, a pilot system has been designed to produce 1.6kW the world.
for an off-grid community in Nepal. The available head at site
is 1.5 m, and flow rate is 0.2 m 3/s. For this design, a basin
diameter of 2000 mm was chosen with a canal width of 1000 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
mm, and the predicted maximum operating efficiency speed is
95 rpm. The construction of a GWVPP does not require any This study acknowledges the financial support from
specialist tools or equipment, the workshop will only require Tribhuvan University, Kantipur Engineering College,
to bend and weld sheet metal. Therefore, this turbine is ideal Dhapakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal. The authors would like to thank
the Himalaya College of Engineering, Chyasal, Lalitpur,
7|Page
Nepal for providing test rig for the experimental reading, and [12] "KourisPower Ltd. Home Page," 2016. [Online].
are obliged to Center of Energy Studies, Central Campus, Available: http://www.kourispower.com/. [Accessed 23
Pulchowk, Electrical Energy Management Group, University 06 2016].
of Bristol and Department of Automobile and Mechanical
Engineering for their technical support. The authors would [13] O. B. Yaakob, Y. M. Ahmed, A. H. Elbatran and H. M.
like to thank all the member of Vortex Energy Solution Pvt. Shabara, "A Review on Micro Hydro Gravitational
Ltd for funding the pilot project and 3R Concern for Vortex Power and Turbine Systems," Jurnal Teknologi,
fabrication of runner models and 1kw pilot project. Also like vol. 69, pp. 1-7, 2014.
to thank to Acme Engineering College and Kantipur City
College for their help in doing computational study. [14] S. Mulligan and P. Hull, "Design and optimisation of a
water vortex hydropower," Department of Civil
REFERENCES Engineering and Construction, IT Silgo, Sligo, 2010.
[6] J. Twidell and T. Weir, Renewable Energy Resources, [19] S. Dhakal, "Comparison of cylindrical and conical
New York: Taylor and Francis, 2006. basins with optimum position of runner: Gravitational
water vortex power plant," Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, vol. 48, pp. 662-669, 2015.
[7] O. Paish, "Small hydro power: technology and current
status," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol.
2002, no. 6, pp. 537-556, 2002. [20] C. Power, A. McNabola and P. Coughlan, "A Parametric
Experimental Investigation of the Operating Conditions
of Gravitational Vortex Hydropower (GVHP)," Journal
[8] V. Nelson, Introuduction to Renewable Energy, Boca of Clean Energy Technologies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 112-119,
Raton: CRC Press, 2011.
March 2016.
[9] A. Pascale, T. Urmee and A. Moore, "Life cycle [21] R. W. Fox, J. Pritchard and T. McDonald, Introduction to
assessment of a community hydroelectric power system fluid mechanics, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
in rural Thialand," Renewable Energy, vol. 2011, no. 36,
pp. 2799-2808, 2011.
[22] M. Nechleba, Hydraulic Turbines: Their Design and
Equipment, London: Constable & Co. Ltd, 1957.
[10] F. Zotlöterer, "Zotlöterer Smart Energy System Home
Page," [Online]. Available:
[23] A. Sayma, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Bookboon,
http://www.zotloeterer.com/welcome/gravitation-water- 2009.
vortex-power-plants/. [Accessed 14 06 2016].
[11] "Genossenschatt Wasserwribe - Home Page," [Online]. [24] B. R. Munson and D. F. Young, Fundamentals of Fluid
Available: http://gwwk.ch/. [Accessed 23 06 2016].
Mechanics, Ames, lowa: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
8|Page
[25] B. S. Massey and J. Ward-Smith, Mechanics of Fluids,
London: CRC Press, 1998.
9|Page