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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A rationalised CFD design methodology for Turgo turbines to enable local manufacture in the Global South
AU - Butchers, Joe
AU - Benzon, Shaun
AU - Williamson, Sam
AU - Booker, Julian
AU - Aggidis, George
PY - 2021/10/1
Y1 - 2021/10/1
N2 - In the Global South, pico- and micro-hydropower turbines are often made by local workshops. Despite several advantageous features, e.g. a high power density and capacity to handle silt, there is no commonly available Turgo turbine design appropriate for local manufacture. Technological developments including the internet, CAD and additive manufacturing increase the opportunity to precisely transfer designs around the world. Consequently, design improvements can be shared digitally and used by manufacturers in their local context. In this paper, a rationalised CFD approach is used to guide simple design changes that improve the efficiency of a Turgo turbine blade. The typical manufacturing capacity of the micro-hydropower industry in Nepal is used to rationalise the variation of potential design changes. Using the geometry and operational parameters from an existing design as a benchmark, a 2-blade homogenous multiphase model is developed and run using the commercial code ANSYS CFX. Initially, it is identified that the jet aim position has a significant effect on the efficiency. A design of experiments approach and subsequent analysis of numerical and visual results are used to make design changes that result in an improvement in efficiency from 69% to 81%. The design changes maintain the simple profile of the blade ensuring that the resulting design is appropriate for manufacture in a local workshop.
AB - In the Global South, pico- and micro-hydropower turbines are often made by local workshops. Despite several advantageous features, e.g. a high power density and capacity to handle silt, there is no commonly available Turgo turbine design appropriate for local manufacture. Technological developments including the internet, CAD and additive manufacturing increase the opportunity to precisely transfer designs around the world. Consequently, design improvements can be shared digitally and used by manufacturers in their local context. In this paper, a rationalised CFD approach is used to guide simple design changes that improve the efficiency of a Turgo turbine blade. The typical manufacturing capacity of the micro-hydropower industry in Nepal is used to rationalise the variation of potential design changes. Using the geometry and operational parameters from an existing design as a benchmark, a 2-blade homogenous multiphase model is developed and run using the commercial code ANSYS CFX. Initially, it is identified that the jet aim position has a significant effect on the efficiency. A design of experiments approach and subsequent analysis of numerical and visual results are used to make design changes that result in an improvement in efficiency from 69% to 81%. The design changes maintain the simple profile of the blade ensuring that the resulting design is appropriate for manufacture in a local workshop.
KW - Turgo
KW - CFD
KW - hydropower
KW - optimisation
KW - parametric
KW - manufacture
U2 - 10.3390/en14196250
DO - 10.3390/en14196250
M3 - Journal article
VL - 14
JO - Energies
JF - Energies
SN - 1996-1073
IS - Energies 2021
M1 - 6250
ER -