Evolution of Simple Reaction Type Turbines for Pico-Hydro Applications

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the history and development of eight types of reaction water turbines, namely Hero’s turbine, Barker’s mill, Pupil’s turbine, Whitlaw’s mill, Quek’s turbine, the cross pipe turbine, the split reaction turbine and the Z-Blade turbine. These water turbines are discussed in terms of the complexity of the designs, the manufacturing processes involved, and the applications. It has been observed that even though most reaction type water turbines, except for the split reaction turbine and Z-blade turbine, have undergone different levels of design-related modifications and manufacturing processes, they are considered as being unsuitable for low-head and low-flow water resources in pico-hydro systems.

Performance Analysis of Z-Blade Reaction Type Turbine for Low-Head Low Flowrate Pico Hydro

“…Among the turbine technologies used for hydropower generation worldwide is the reaction-type water turbine [1][2][3]. The gardening water sprinkler is one of the simplest examples of a reaction water turbine that illustrates its working principle [4,5].…”

“…Among the turbine technologies used for hydropower generation worldwide is the reaction-type water turbine [1][2][3]. The gardening water sprinkler is one of the simplest examples of a reaction water turbine that illustrates its working principle [4,5]. In reaction turbine, liquid is pressurised, and it flows through the guiding mechanism to rotate the moving blades or moving nozzle [6][7][8].…”

Pico-hydro Electrification from Rainwater’s Gravitational Force for Urban Area

“…As a result, this opens for an opportunity for a new research in renewable energy and energy conversion field. Pico-hydro technology with a capacity less than 5kW has become popular recently due to its flexibility and cost effective to be applied in small -scale power generation [3]- [5]. Still, an appropriate and effective setup is essential to produce higher efficiency of energy conversion.…”

Estimated Power Output from a Simplified Pico Hydropower System

“…Pico-hydro power provides a very good option. It suits the general characteristics of smarter, smaller decentralized systems which can be utilized in locations where larger conventional systems cannot be optimally located [66][67][68][69][70]. It has become a very useful option in the Asian developing countries where the topography has imposed great natural barriers to the uptake of conventional gridconnected energy systems [71][72][73][74][75][76].…”