Performance Improvement of Cross-Flow type Small Hydro Turbine by Air Layer Effect

소수력발전용 횡류수차의 공기층효과에 의한 성능향상

Recently, small hydropower attracts attention because of its clean, renewable and abundant energy resources to develop. Therefore, a cross-flow hydraulic turbine is proposed for small hydropower development in this study. The turbine‘s simple structure and high possibility of applying to the sites of relatively low effective head and large flow rate can be advantages for the introduction of the small hydropower development. 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. CFD analysis for 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 in 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.