Numerical Study on Impeller Performance of Mini Hydro Turbine
The aim of this paper is to numerically explore the feasibility of designing a Mini-Hydro turbine. The interest for this kind of horizontal axis turbine relies on its versatility. In the present study, the numerical solution of the discredited three-dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations over an unstructured grid is accomplished with an ANSYS program. In this study, a mini hydro turbine (3kW) has been considered for utilization of horizontal axis impeller. The turbine performance and flow behavior have been evaluated by means of numerical simulations. Moreover, the performance of the impeller varied in the pressure distribution, torque, rotational speed and power generated by the different number of blades and angles. The results trends are similar between the highest pressure distributions at the impeller also produced highest power outputs on 6 numbers of blades at impeller. The model has been validated, comparing numerical results with available experimental data.