Study on performance improvement of an axial flow hydraulic turbine with a collection device

Abstract

The portable hydraulic turbine we previously developed for open channels comprises an axial flow runner with an appended collection device and a diffuser section. The output power of this hydraulic turbine was improved by catching and accelerating an open-channel water flow using the kinetic energy of the water. This study aimed to further improve the performance of the hydraulic turbine. Using numerical analysis, we examined the performances and flow fields of a single runner and a composite body consisting of the runner and collection device by varying the airfoil and number of blades. Consequently, the maximum values of input power coefficient of the Runner D composite body with two blades (which adopts the MEL031 airfoil and alters the blade angle) are equivalent to those of the composite body with two blades (MEL021 airfoil). We found that the Runner D composite body has the highest turbine efficiency and thus the largest power coefficient. Furthermore, the performance of the Runner D composite body calculated from the numerical analysis was verified experimentally in an open-channel water flow test.