access icon free Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of an inline low-head microhydroturbine for applications in water pipelines

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Received 02/11/2019, Accepted 10/08/2020, Revised 18/07/2020, Published 22/10/2020

The excess hydraulic pressure in water supply network pipes is one of the major problems in design and implementation stages of these projects. To reduce the excess pressure and maintain network safety, a variety of pressure reducing valves are used, which waste all the excess pressure. However, having used the appropriate water microturbines, while reducing the pressure loss to an optimum value, the system could recover the wasted energy. In this study, numerical simulation and experimental investigation of microturbine in a water supply system have been performed to evaluate the electrical power generation capacity of an over-pressured network. The numerical simulation of the microturbine was conducted using Ansys-Fluent software. The microturbine has been experimentally investigated with different inlet flow rates, the effect of different post-microturbine heads and also the effect of different opening angles of guide plate on its performance, three different scenarios were defined. Based on numerical simulation and laboratory results, the best performance of the microturbine was obtained when the inlet flow rate was 0.01184 m3/s and also opening angle 20° for the guide plate, in which the microturbine output was equal to 59.01 W. The generated power by the microturbine can meet the electrical needs of sensors and other network monitoring equipment.

Inspec keywords: flow simulation; pipelines; numerical analysis; computational fluid dynamics; pipe flow; intake systems (machines); water supply; hydraulic turbines; pipes; valves

Other keywords: water pipelines; network monitoring equipment; power 59.01 W; electrical power generation capacity; pressure loss; numerical simulation; over-pressured network; excess energy; renewable energy; energy waste; Ansys Fluent software; water supply network pipes; water microturbine; inlet flow rate; water supply networks; inline low-head microhydroturbine; low flow rate water supply system; network safety; post-microturbine heads; pressure reducing valves; hydraulic pressure

Subjects: Power and plant engineering (mechanical engineering); Numerical analysis; Mechanical components; Hydroelectric power stations and plants; Fluid mechanics and aerodynamics (mechanical engineering); General fluid dynamics theory, simulation and other computational methods; Flows in ducts, channels, and conduits; Other numerical methods; Public utilities; Civil and mechanical engineering computing; Mechanical engineering applications of IT; Other numerical methods; Numerical approximation and analysis; Applied fluid mechanics; Public utility administration

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