Single-Factor Analysis of Variance on the Effect of Blade's Number on Rotor Drag-Type Performance

Abstract

The State Electricity Company supports 59% of the national electricity supply in Indonesia. The electricity supply from hydro energy is only 8.17%, so this value must be increased to reduce the supply of power plants sourced from fossil fuels. A water turbine is one of the main components in converting hydropower to electrical energy. A cross-flow type water turbine is one of the popular rotors in research in recent years. Several methods are used in turbine development research, including computational fluid dynamics and experimental methods. This research has been done using two methods: the experimental and CFD methods. The study was conducted on variations in the number of blades on the rotor, with variations in blades 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. This study aims to determine the effect of the number of blades on turbine performance. This study was carried out for five repetitions for each rotor. CFD analysis was performed using the Ansys Student version with the CFX solver. The meshing method is tetrahedral, with a speed limit of 4.91 m/s and outlet pressure according to room pressure. This study uses CFD to know the pressure contours and velocity streamlines. The results of this study were analyzed using a single-factor DOE. The most optimal number of blades is 3-blades producing 9.38 Watt of power, and the Coefficient of power is 0.0748. Analysis of Variance for the Single-Factor shows that the number of blades significantly affects the energy produced. Cross-flow rotor design with 3-blades is a good design alternative for hydro turbines.