Utilization of the dethridge wheel as a low head power generator and loss analysis

Abstract

Utilization of low head flow water has long been used to generate power by using water wheels and low head turbines. Dethridge wheel which is usually used as a tool to measure the flow of water has also been studied its potential to become hydro power generation. Therefore, this study aims to compare performance between overshot Dethridge wheel and undershot Dethridge wheel. For this purpose, a small scale channel for the operation of a water wheel is equipped with a digital flow meter, a pump that has a debit of up to 25 l/s, a pony brake for a torque meter, and an inverter to adjust the flow rate by changing the pump rotation. The research was conducted at Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering, UHAMKA in Jakarta, Indonesia. Flow rates vary from 5 to 11 l/s with head of 10 cm and 537 cm. The efficiency of undershot and overshot, at the peak, are 21% and 18%, respectively.