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Design and Analysis of Inline Pipe Turbine: Muhammad Talha
Design and Analysis of Inline Pipe Turbine: Muhammad Talha
Atif Saeed
Faculty, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, SZABIST, (Pakistan).
E-mail: m.atif@szabist.edu.pk ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1551-4314
Mustafa Jaffer
Student, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, SZABIST, (Pakistan).
E-mail: mustafa.jafferxp@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8364-8619
Ali Haider
Student, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, SZABIST, (Pakistan).
E-mail: alihyder10005.ah@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4961-4882
Wajahat Ali
Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, QUEST, (Pakistan).
E-mail: wajahatqureshi281@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3345-6461
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ABSTRACT
In this current smart era, electricity is considered a necessity for development as almost
all of machinery and circuitry runs on electrical power. Therefore, the production of
electricity is a must for attaining progress. But nowadays, there is a constant struggle for
access to large fossil reservoirs and the development for renewable resources is slow. There
have been innovative inventions such as the wind turbines, water turbines, solar cells and
many other renewable sources. These resources have slowed down the depletion of fossil
fuels to a certain extent, but these inventions do have their shortcomings and most areas
where energy harnessing is possible, are left unanswered. One such area where energy
conversion is possible is in the water transportation system. To harness electrical energy
from this system, a small turbine generator can be installed onto the pipelines to harness the
kinetic energy of the flowing water in them. Hence forth by applying this research, another
renewable energy resource is developed.
KEYWORDS
Electricity, Pipe turbine, Design, Joint resistance.
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The water turbine is one of the key technologies used in producing green energy which is
beneficial to both, the environment and the society. The turbine uses the flow of water to
generate electricity. The design of the turbine is such that when water encounters the blade,
the turbine begins to rotate. The continuous force exerted by the water allows the turbine at
a tremendously high amount of speed. This rotation is then utilized by a generator, whose
rotating shaft is connected to the center of the turbine. Due to this connection the rotary
mechanical movement of the turbine is transformed into electrical energy which is used
to provide power to other areas. This turbine is only used as generating tools within large
reservoirs, but other running water systems are still unaddressed hence there is a loss of
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kinetic energy which can be utilized by transforming it into electrical energy (Bauer, Marx,
& Drück, 2014; Saeed et al., 2018a; Saeed et al, 2018b).
The utilization of this flow of water is essential, therefore projects over how it can be done
is not uncommon. There have been many experimentations of in-pipe water turbine
therefore we are taking reference from the research of Oladosu and Koya (2018) from the
Department of Mechanical engineering at Obafemi Awolowa University, Nigeria. Their
research provided us with ample numerical data on the flow within pipes showing us the
coordinates of maximum flow velocity, which is located at the center point of the pipe’s
diameter. Another research of Jiyun et al. (2018) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
China, has also been taken into consideration. This research describes the optimal turbine
design for the highest efficiency. In their research, they have performed a simulation using
a generator connected to a DN-100T-joint turbine to gather energy when placed inside a
horizontal pipe in a vertical manner. The blade designs are shown to be more cup-shaped
to allow contact with a larger volume of water. The results show that the turbine is giving a
maximum efficiency of 55% upon nozzle adjustments. Another inspiration for our design
is accredited to the research of Joel Titus and Bakthavatsalam of the National Institute of
Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. Their semi-submerged design is considerably easier to
construct and install in remote locations and is extremely viable in irrigation systems (Jiyun,
2017). However their simplistic design the turbine itself hinders the efficiency of energy
production. By further widening and cupping the blades of the turbine, a larger volume of
water can encounter the blades thus giving a higher angular acceleration and producing
more electrical power. The research performs by Jiyun et al. (2018) of The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University has also helped in designing our project. Their work on the outer
angle of the turbine blade shows that the blade must be curved enough so that the inner
wall of the turbine blade is parallel to the flow of water, but the outer wall of the blade does
not receive first contact with the flowing water. This will allow the water to apply a larger
force onto the blade of the turbine while decreasing the velocity of the water for short
period of time to allow the other blade to sink into the water.
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2. METHODOLOGY
We have divided this research into three phases:
1. Designing
2. Construction
3. Testing
For the designing phase, we make our design on the SolidWorks software. On it we created
the parts necessary for the construction of the turbine. We created a metal disk of thickness
0.5 inches and a diameter of 6 inches. We then constructed the spoon for the turbine. The
outer diameter of the cup of the spoons is of 0.47 inches whereas the inner diameter is of
0.4 inches. These spoons will act as the blades of the turbine and the cup of these spoons
will be placed at the center of the pipe where the fluid velocity is at its highest. The two
parts, disk and spoons are then assembled together after the spacing for the spoons is cut
into the turbine disk. We then constructed and attached a shaft of 0.3 inches diameter
into the center of the turbine disk. This shaft is a part of the DC output motor that will be
connected to the turbine for electricity production. We then created a prototype pipeline of
three parts which’s center piece is cut halfway. We then placed the turbine on to the pipeline
accordingly in the assembly. Finally, we then constructed a cover box for the turbine so that
water may not leak from the system out into the surrounding.
For the construction phase, we decided on using a thin metal sheet for the disk because if
turbine becomes too heavy, much larger force will be required to rotate the turbine at high
speed, thus hampering the efficiency of the output. This sheet is then mechanically cut into
a circular shape of a diameter 6 inches. Small cuts for the joining of the spoons are applied
onto the metallic disk at 45˚ intervals.
For the testing phase we will apply a certain amount of external loading through simulations
using SolidWorks onto the cup of the spoon while keeping the handle of the spoon fixed
as it will be joined with the turbine disk. By applying a distributed loading on the cup of
the spoon we can mimic the effects of the water pressure exerted onto the spoon. Motion
analysis of the assembly will also be performed on the software to understand the movement
output of the assembled turbine (Song, Ni, & Tan, 2011).
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The angular acceleration graph of the turbine displays ecstatic as there is a small amount of
resistance in the joints of the cover therefore there is a reverse acceleration. This resistance
may be due to the changes in the applied pressure of the water flowing within the pipes or
if the spoon is touching the edges of the wall.
4. CONCLUSION
The turbine shows a good amount of electrical output but can further be improved if the
joint resistance is addressed by adding a ball bearing that will increase the motion. A better
design of the turbine can also be achieved by fully submerging the turbine instead of partial
submersion without the detriment of ease in installation and maintenance.
The design can further be implemented on other flowing bodies of water such as rivers and
canals by increasing and decreasing the size respectively of the turbine as this design can be
applied over multiple flowing bodies of water.
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