EXPERIMENTAL OPTIMIZATION OF DESIGN AND ENERGY PARAMETERS OF A GARLAND- TURBINE MOBILE MICRO HYDROPOWER PLANT FOR FREE-FLOWING WATER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23312648Abstract
The study experimentally evaluates the effects of free-stream velocity, turbine length, number of blades, and number of hydro turbines in a garland on the energy performance of a mobile micro-hydropower plant. A floating physical prototype was tested under laboratory and field conditions at flow velocities of 1.0–3.0 m/s, while rotational speed, current, voltage, power, and torque were recorded. A Hartley design was applied with b = 1–2 m, ϑ = 2–3 m/s, and z = 6–12; model adequacy was assessed using Cochran’s, Student’s, and Fisher’s criteria. Increasing the flow velocity from 1 to 3 m/s raised the output power from 15.2 to 340.5 W and the rotational speed from 40 to 129 rpm. The relationship P = 12.93·ϑ²·⁸⁸⁴ was obtained with R² = 0.981. In the multi-turbine tests, the maximum power was achieved with four turbines arranged in a single garland. The multifactor model identified b = 1.7 m, ϑ = 2.9 m/s, and z = 12 as a rational combination, corresponding to a calculated power output of 345.1 W at an efficiency of 24%. The maximum experimentally measured efficiency reached 36.2% at a turbine length of 1.5 m and a flow velocity of 1.5 m/s. The results can support the selection of design and energy parameters for mobile micro-hydropower plants intended for autonomous consumers in mountainous and foothill areas.Keywords
micro-hydropower plant, garland turbine, hydrokinetic energy, free stream, experiment, optimization, output powerReferences
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