• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.45-56
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• 2015

This paper aims to develop a submerged propeller turbine for micro hydropower plant which allows to sustain high values of efficiency in a broad range of hydrological conditions (H=2~6 m, $Q=0.15{\sim}0.39m^3/s$). The two aspects to be considered in this development are mechanical simplicity and high-efficiency operation. Unlike conventional turbines that have spiral casing and gear box, this is directing driving and no spiral casing. A 10 kW class turbine which has the most high potential of the power generation has been developed. The most important element in the design of turbine is the runner blade. The initial blade is designed using inverse design method and then the runner geometry is modified by classical hydraulic method. The design process is carried out in two steps. First, the blade shape is fix and then other components of submerged propeller turbine are designed. Computational fluid dynamics analyses based on the Navier-Stokes equations have been used to obtain overall performance data for the blade and the full turbine, respectively. The results generated by performance parameters(head, guide vane opening angle and rotational speed) variations are theoretically analysed. The evaluation criteria for the blade and the turbine performances are the pressure distribution and flow's behavior on the runner blades and turbine. The results of simulation reveals an efficiency of 91.5% and power generation of 10.5kW at the best efficiency point at the head of 4m and a discharge of $0.3m^3/s$.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.169-182
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• 2015

When simulating the dynamic behaviour of a hydro power plant, it is essential to have a good representation of the turbine behaviour. The pressure transients in the system occurs because the flow changes, which the turbine defines. The flow through the turbine is a function of the pressure, the speed of rotation and the wicket gate opening and is, most often described in a performance diagram or Hill diagram. In the Hill diagram, the efficiency is drawn like contour lines, hence the name. A turbines Hill diagram is obtained by performance tests on scaled model in a laboratory. However, system dynamic simulations have to be performed in the early stage of a project, before the turbine manufacturer has been chosen and the Hill diagram is known. Therefore one have to rely on diagrams for a turbine with similar speed number. The Hill diagram is drawn through measured points, so for using the diagram in a simulation program, one have to iterate in the diagram based on curve fitting of the measured points. This paper describes an alternative method. By means of the Euler turbine equation, it is possible to set up two differential equations which represents the turbine performance with good enough accuracy for the dynamic simulations. The only input is the turbine's main geometry, the runner blade in- and outlet angle and the guide vane angle at best efficiency point of operation (BEP). In the paper, simulated turbine characteristics for a high head Francis turbine, and for a reversible pump turbine are compared with laboratory measured characteristics.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is not only to investigate the effects of air layer in the turbine chamber on the performance and internal flow of the cross-flow turbine, but also to suggest a newly developed air supply method. Field test is performed in order to measure the output power of the turbine by a new air supply method. CFD analysis on the performance and internal flow of the turbine is conducted by an unsteady state calculation using a two-phase flow model in order to embody the air layer effect on the turbine performance effectively. The result shows that air layer effect on the performance of the turbine is considerable. The air layer located in the turbine runner passage plays the role of preventing a shock loss at the runner axis and suppressing a recirculation flow in the runner. The location of air suction hole on the chamber wall is very important factor for the performance improvement. Moreover, the ratio between air from suction pipe and water from turbine inlet is also significant factor of the turbine performance.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2022

Micro hydropower is a readily available renewable energy source that can be harvested utilizing hydrokinetic turbines from shallow water canals, irrigation and industrial channel flows, and run-off river stream flows. These sources generally have low head (<1 m) and low velocity which makes it difficult to harvest energy using conventional turbines. A horizontal-axis screw turbine was designed and numerically tested to extract power from such low-head water sources. The 3-bladed screw-type turbine is placed horizontally perpendicular to the incoming flow, partially submerged in a narrow water channel at no-head condition. The turbine hydraulic performances were studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics models. Turbine design parameters such as the shroud diameter, the hub-to-shroud ratios, and the submerged depths were obtained through a steady-state parametric study. The resulting turbine configuration was then tested by solving the unsteady multiphase free-surface equations mimicking an actual open channel flow scenario. The turbine performance in the shallow channel were studied for various Tip Speed Ratios (TSR). The highest power coefficient was obtained at a TSR of 0.3. The turbine was then scaled-up to test its performance on a real site condition at a head of 0.3 m. The highest power coefficient obtained was 0.18. Several losses were observed in the 3-bladed turbine design and to minimize losses, the number of blades were increased to five. The power coefficient improved by 236% for a 5-bladed screw turbine. The fluid losses were minimized by increasing the blade surface area submerged in water. The turbine performance was increased by 74.4% after dipping the turbine to a bottom wall clearance of 30 cm from 60 cm. The final output of the novel horizontal-axis screw turbine showed a 2.83 kW power output at a power coefficient of 0.63. The turbine is expected to produce 18,744 kWh/year of electricity. The design feasibility test of the turbine showed promising results to harvest energy from small hydropower sources.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.874-883
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• 2009

This paper deals with an integrated voltage and frequency (VF) controller for isolated asynchronous generators (IAG) driven by a constant power pico-hydro uncontrolled turbine feeding three-phase four-wire loads. The proposed VF controller is used to control the frequency and voltage of an IAG with load leveling. Such a VF controller is also known as an integrated electronic load controller (IELC) which is realized using an isolated star/polygon transformer with a voltage source converter (VSC) and a battery at its DC bus. The proposed generating system with a VFC is modeled and simulated in MATLAB along with Simulink and Simpower system (SPS) toolboxes. The simulated results are presented to demonstrate the performance of an isolated asynchronous generator feeding three-phase four-wire loads with neutral current compensation.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.632-638
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• 2013

In this study, we described voltage fluctuation characteristics of distribution line during starting and normal operation condition of the small hydro generators. Based on these theories, we scrutinized the starting and operating characteristics of induction generators installed in two small hydro power plants that is connected to the distribution line and researched necessary factors when selecting the generator type. The type of turbines and capacity of generators are different. One is below 1,000kW and the other is above 1,000kW. Two generators are tested during starting, and it acts as motor not generator at the instant that the machine is connected to the grid. After connecting to the grid, the machine rotates above synchronous speed before converting to the generator mode. Therefore the characteristic of the generator during starting is same as it of motor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.895-901
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• 2013

Last blades of LP turbine in nuclear power plant are the highly damaged part and suffered from nozzle steam impulses during the turbine operation. Nozzle impulse is known as a common cause of damage or failure in the turbine blade and results from steam flow distortions due to uneven steam flow patterns between the stationary blade vanes. If impulse force was continuously acting on the blade for a long time, crack or wear will occur in weak parts such as root. So, it is important to know variation of nozzle impulse during the blade moving. But there is no way to measure and estimate the magnitude and direction of nozzle impulse. Therefore, this study was performed to know the variation of nozzle impulse force according to the positions of the blade and to obtain blade equivalent force and torque. This results can be used for blade stress estimation.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.57 no.9
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• pp.1491-1499
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• 2008

This paper presents a study on reliability evaluation of a power system considering wind turbine generators (WTG) with multi-state. Renewable energy resources such as wind, wave, solar, micro hydro, tidal and biomass etc. are becoming importance stage by stage because of considering effect of the environment. Wind energy is one of the most successful sources of renewable energy for the production of electrical energy. But, reliability evaluation of generating system with wind energy resources is a complex process. While the wind turbine generators can not modelled as two-state model as like as conventional generators, they should be modelled as multi-state model due to wind speed random variation. The methodology for obtaining reliability evaluation index of wind turbine generators is different from it of the conventional generators. A method for making outage capacity probability table of WTG for reliability is proposed in this paper. The detail process is presented using case study of simple system.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.314-319
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• 2006

In this paper, the friction and wear characteristics of contact type sealing unit far a water turbine have been presented. The sealing unit for a small hydropower generation is to stop a leakage of circulating water from an outside of an impeller to an inside of a rolling bearing. The friction heating between a seal ring and a seal seat may radically increase a surface temperature in which increase a power loss and wear on the rubbing surface. The surface wear strongly affect to the seal life of a mechanical face seal. In this study, the hardness of a stainless steel in which is a heat-treated is 892.8 in Victors hardness and the hardness of silicone carbide of SiC is 714.1 in Victors hardness. The surface hardness of a heat-treated stainless steel is 25% high compared with that of a ceramic material of SiC. The contact modes of rubbing surfaces are a dry friction, a water film friction and a mixed friction that is contaminated by a dust, silt, and moistures, etc. These two factors of a contact rubbing modes and a material property are very important parameters on the tribological performance such as a friction and wear between a seal ring and a seal seat in primary sealing unit. The experimental result shows that the surface hardness of a seal material is very important on the friction coefficient and a wear volume. Thus, the results recommend higher hardness of a seal material, which may reduce a friction loss and increase a wear life of primary seal components.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.68-79
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• 2014

The type of turbine developed is based on the very low head of water potential source for the electric power production. The area of research is focused for the axial water turbine that can be applied at the simple site open channel with has a very low cost and environmental impact compared to the conventional hydro installation. High efficiency of axial turbine which applied to the very low potential head will made this type of turbine can be used at wider potential site. Existing irrigation weir and river area will be the perfect site for this turbine. This paper will compare the effects of the variation of swirl velocity criterion during the design of the blade of guide vane and rotor of the turbine. Effects of the swirl velocity criterion is wider known as a vortex conditions (free vortex, force vortex and swirl velocity constant), and the free vortex is the very popular condition that applied by most of turbine designer, therefore will be interesting to do a comparison against other criterion. ANSYS Fluent will be used for simulation and to determine the predictive performance obtained by each of design criteria.