• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.25-32
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• 2014

The main objective of this study is to validate the performance characteristics of newly developed micro propeller turbine based on experimental model test. For this purpose, Measurements of efficiency and cavitation tests with variations on the guide vane opening, blade rotational speed, head and load are carried out according to the IEC standard for model testing. From the tests and scale up calculation, the maximum prototype and model efficiency of the runner blade reaches as high as 90.87 % and 90.27 % respectively. Test results show that good cavitation behavior is covered in the range of output 50kW and 100 kW.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.19-29
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• 2014

In addition to the development of micro hydro turbine, the challenge in micro hydro turbine design as sustainable hydro devices is focused on the optimization of turbine runner blade which have decisive effect on the turbine performance to reach higher efficiency. A multi-objective optimization method to optimize the performance of runner blade of propeller turbine for micro turbine has been studied. For the initial design of planar blade cascade, singularity distribution method and the combination of the Bezier curve parametric technology is used. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II(NSGA II) is developed based on the multi-objective optimization design method. The comparision with model test show that the blade charachteristics is optimized by NSGA-II has a good efficiency and load distribution. From model test and scale up calculation, the maximum prototype efficiency of the runner blade reaches as high as 90.87%.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.314-321
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• 2020

In this work, a preliminary design of an inlet guide vane and runner for developing a 2.5 kW hydraulic turbine was conducted by using computational fluid dynamic analysis. Three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with shear stress transport turbulence model were used to analyze the fluid flow in the hydraulic turbine. The hexahedral grid system was used to construct computational domain, and the grid dependency test was performed to obtain the optimal grid system. Velocity triangle diagram considering the flow angles of the inlet guide vane and runner was analyzed to obtain a basic geometry of the inlet guide vane and runner. Through modification of the preliminary design, the hydraulic performances of the turbine have improved under overall drop conditions. Especially, the efficiency and power of the turbine increased by 0.95% and 1.45%, respectively, compared to those of the reference model.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.387-394
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• 2020

A parametric study of a 2.5 kW class propeller type micro hydraulic turbine was performed. In order to analyze the internal flow characteristics in the hydraulic turbine, three dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with shear stress transport turbulence model were used and the hexahedral grid system was used to construct computational domain. To secure the reliability of the numerical analysis, the grid dependency test was performed using the grid convergence index method based on the Richardson extrapolation, and the grid dependency was removed when about 1.7 million nodes were used. For the parametric study, the axial distance at shroud span (L) between the inlet guide vane and the runner, and the inlet and outlet blade angles (β₁, β₂) of the runner were selected as the geometric parameters. The inlet and outlet angles of the runner were defined in the 3 spans from the hub to tip, and a total of 7 geometric parameters were investigated. It was confirmed that the outlet angles of the runner had the most sensitive effect on the power and efficiency of the micro hydraulic turbine.