• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2022

A design method for a propeller type rim-driven axial-flow turbine for a micro-hydropower system is presented. The turbine consists of pre-stator, impeller and post-stator, where the pre-stator plays a role as a guide vane to provide circumferential velocity to the on-coming flow, and the impeller as a rotational power generator by absorbing angular momentum of the flow. BEM(Blade Element Method), which is based on the turbine Euler equation, is employed to design the pre-stator and impeller blades. NACA 66 thickness form and a=0.8 mean camber line, which is widely accepted as a marine propeller blade section, is used for the pre-stator and turbine blade section. A CFD method, derived from the discretization of the RANS equations, is applied for the analysis of the designed turbine system. The design conditions of the turbine is confirmed by the CFD calculation. Turbine characteristic curve is calculated by the CFD method, in order to provide the performance characteristics at off-design operation conditions. The proposed procedures for the design of a propeller type rim-driven axial-flow turbine are established and confirmed by the CFD analysis.