Experimental investigations on an inline low head axial flow turbine with hydrofoil shaped vanes

ABSTRACT

Low-head propeller turbines are becoming more popular due to their ease of installation and low cost. The turbines are appropriate for some urban areas where a limited amount of power is required and renewable sources are readily available. The current study’s objective is to study such a turbine and alter its geometry to boost production. To improve the efficiency of the four-bladed turbine, the NACA 0012-shaped hydrofoil is used in place of conventional blades. The rotors were designed with different chord angles of attack in relation to flow direction. The experiments were carried out at the 95°, 100°, 105°, 110°, 115°, and 120° angles for the various corresponding head conditions. The redesigned rotors were all tested for different loads, Reynolds numbers, and flow discharge. The experimental results show that an angle of attack of 110° has an optimum performance of 86.70% for a head of 0.012 m. The maximum power produced by 110° is 0.204 W. The 95° angle for the same head had the lowest efficiency, which was 20.63%.

KEYWORDS:

• Renewable energy
• low-head turbine
• hydrofoil
• vane angle
• axialflow turbine

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, Delhi, India, for funding through a core research grant for this study. The sanction order number CRG/2020/005420.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board [CRG/2020/005420].