Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Availableonline
Available onlineatatwww.sciencedirect.com
www.sciencedirect.com
Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

Energy
EnergyProcedia
Procedia138 (2017) 000–000
00 (2017) 811–816
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

2017 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
2017 AEDCEE, 25-26 May 2017, Bangkok, Thailand

Effect of blade
The 15thangle on turbine
International efficiency
Symposium of a Spiral
on District Heating Horizontal
and Cooling
Axis Hydro Turbine
Assessing the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor
temperature function for a long-term
Wiroon Monatrakul district
and Ratchaphon heat demand
Suntivarakorn * forecast
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
I. Andrića,b,c*, A. Pinaa, P. Ferrãoa, J. Fournierb., B. Lacarrièrec, O. Le Correc
a
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract b
Veolia Recherche & Innovation, 291 Avenue Dreyfous Daniel, 78520 Limay, France
c
Département Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement - IMT Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France
This paper presents the effect of blade angle on turbine efficiency for a spiral horizontal axis hydro turbine. Modeling and a
computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis were performed in order to determine the maximum torque of the turbine. The
turbine blade angle was varied to 15, 18, 21, and 30 degrees at water velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s. Findings from the
calculations
Abstract were compared with a conventional 3-bladed axial turbine under conditions with and without a collection chamber.
Findings from the study reveal that turbine efficiency with a collection chamber is higher than that of free-flow, and blade angle
has a significant
District heatingeffect on turbine
networks efficiency.addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the
are commonly
©greenhouse gas emissions
2017 The Authors. fromby
Published theElsevier
building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat
Ltd.
©sales.
2017 Due
The Authors. Published
to theresponsibility
changed by Elsevier
climate Ltd. and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease,
Peer-review under of theconditions
scientific committee of the 2017 International Conference on Alternative Energy in
Peer-review the
under responsibility
returnofperiod.
the Organizing Committee of 2017 AEDCEE
­Dprolonging investment
eveloping Countries and Emerging Economies.
The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand – outdoor temperature function for heat demand
Keywords:
forecast. Horizontal spiral
The district ofturbine, Computational
Alvalade, located influid dynamic,
Lisbon Hydro-turbine,
(Portugal), Torqueasand
was used a power calculations,
case study. Turbine efficiency
The district is consisted of 665
buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district
renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were
compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors.
The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications
(the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the
decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and
renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the
coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and
improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 (0) 4320 2845
Cooling.
E-mail address: ratchaphon@kku.ac.th
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of 2017 AEDCEE.

1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2017 International Conference on Alternative Energy in
­Developing Countries and Emerging Economies.
10.1016/j.egypro.2017.10.075
812 Wiroon Monatrakul et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 811–816
2 Wiroon Monatrakul and Ratchaphon Suntivarakorn / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

1. Introduction

Hydro energy is a potentially clean and environmentally friendly energy resource. Water circulation results
in maximum energy relative to other kinds of energy resource circulation. The amount of energy produced can be
controlled by adjusting the head and flow rate, which can be managed through calculations and the assignable
design principle. Currently in many countries, the development of hydropower plants through dam construction is
not so simple due to the high cost of investment, impacts on the ecosystem, community opposition, and many other
constraints. Lago, et al. [1] has reviewed a number of alternative energy technologies, including transforming the
kinetic energy of hydropower. This research has investigated different concepts of hydropower energy use, such as
from canals, rivers, oceans, and the flow of irrigation canals. The difficulties of dam construction have led to a trend
of utilizing hydro energy from small water resources or streams for electricity generation by developing turbines for
simple implementation at irrigation canals. However, a canal’s flow rate and slope are generally low. Hence, there is
a need to design a turbine appropriate for slow velocity and very low head. Williamson, et al. [2] explained that the
most effective way to choose a type of turbine for electricity generation with small-sized water resources and low
turning speeds is to consider the last user. This method can determine the optimal type of usage pattern and can be
applied to remote areas that have different levels of water. Then, the flow rate can be changed to select the optimal
turbine pattern. This explanation corresponds with research by Behrouzi, et al. [3], which states that hydro energy is
the optimal alternative energy resource that can be transformed into electricity, and it can be further developed with
a more effective design if there is a focus on increasing the output of turbines using minimal force.
Due to the need for hydro energy design development, the number of researchers interested in turbine
design for irrigation canals has increased, and much of their research has focused on designing and developing
turbines with various patterns in order to catch more energy from water flow and to generate maximum electricity.
Aubin, et al. [4] found that a horizontal spiral pattern turbine was able to efficiently intercept kinetic energy from
fluid. This kind of turbine is also safe for marine animals, and it blends well with the original ecosystem.
Additionally, having a small radius creates little traction force. In their research, the water receiving area and the
well-connected blades were suitable for low velocity, so this type of turbine was stronger and more suitable than the
other types tested with a small-sized water receiving area. There is very little subsequent research related to the
horizontal spiral turbine. Ratchaphon Suntivarakorn, et al. [5] found that the horizontal spiral pattern turbine
designed by applying the Golden Ratio [6] as a function of blade radius expansion had optimal performance
compared to a turbine with 3 blades and a turbine diameter to turbine length (D/L) ratio of 2/3. Such a turbine was
able to generate electricity efficiently with a water velocity range of 0.5 – 2 m/s. Therefore, the current study aimed
to compute torque generation from spiral horizontal turbines in comparison with that of an ordinary 3-bladed axial
turbine. The efficiency ratios of the turbines were analyzed, and a comparison was done between using a free-flow
water resource versus having a collection chamber with low velocity water flow.

2. Turbine design

2.1 Designing Spiral Turbines Using Blade Angle

The horizontal spiral turbines were designed to whirl around the core using the blade width angle, with the
width of the blades expanded at angles of 15, 18, 21, and 30 degrees. The number of turbine blades used for the
axial type turbine was 3 blades [5]. The width and length of the horizontal spiral turbine blades were determined by
when the blades turned around the axle one full round, or 360 degrees, with a stable pitch length, as this is when the
best turbine torque and turbine efficiency is possible. Spiral angle blade turbines featuring 15-, 18-, 21-, and 30-
degree angles with width as a function and the 3-bladed axial turbine are shown in Figure 1.

2.2 The Collection Chamber

The inlet velocity ratio was most improved by the collection chamber featuring an inlet nozzle and brim
[7]. The proposed turbine applies the principle of a diffuser wind turbine [8] with an attached brim and attempts to
improve the output by catching and accelerating the flow using a collection chamber with a diffuser section. The
design for the collection chamber is shown in Figure 2.
 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 3

Wiroon Monatrakul et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 811–816 813

15 degree-blade type 18 degree-blade type 21 degree-blade type 30 degree-blade type 3-bladed axial type

Fig.1. Turbines tested for flow, including 4 spiral turbines and a 3-bladed axial type turbine

Fig.2. The collection chamber

2.3 Turbine Torque and Efficiency

Turbine torque ( τ ) can be calculated using the equation [9]

τ = ωr (1)

where ω is the speed of turbine rotation and r is the length of the blade from the center point of the turbine. If
( Pt ) is the maximum power that the turbine can intercept, it can be calculated from the formula

1 (2)
Pt = 0.5926   ρ AV 3
2

where ρ and V are density and water velocity, respectively, A is the cross-sectional area, and the invariant
0.5926 is the coefficient variation of maximum power (CPmax) or Betz Coefficient [10]. Efficiency of the turbine ( η )
can be calculated by

η = P / Pt (3)
4 Wiroon Monatrakul and Ratchaphon Suntivarakorn / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
814 Wiroon Monatrakul et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 811–816

where P is the actual turbine output.

3. Equipment and Methodology

Numerical Analysis Method

The general-purpose thermal fluid analysis code ANSYS fluent 14.5 was used for numerical analysis. The
basic equations involved were the conservation of mass and conservation of momentum equations, and the SST
(Shear Stress Transport) model was used as the turbulence model. The boundary conditions for the spiral turbines
and 3-bladed axial turbine were modeled and applied to actual conditions along with the rotor. The rotor was placed
in a rotating fluid domain with stationary inlet and outlet. The fluid was water maintained at 30Co. The morphology
of the domain was set as a constant. The external region was cylindrical with a diameter 10 times the outer diameter
of the runner. Furthermore, for the analysis of the runner, as well as for the runner and the collection chamber
together, the boundaries of the rotation and static systems were joined using the frozen rotor technique [11]. Effects
of free surface and velocity distribution in the open channel were not considered. The detail of the equation, that was
used, were in with the results of the study by Triputtarat [12].

Fig. 3. CFD setting conditions for analysis; under conditions of free-flow water and using collection chamber

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 4. Static pressure distributions from CFD findings; (a) under condition of free-flow water (b) under condition of using collection chamber
(c) free-flow and using collection chamber with the 3-bladed axial turbine
 Wiroon Monatrakul et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 811–816 815
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 5

4. Results and Discussion

4.1 Turbine Torque and Efficiency

The results from turbine testing and numerical analysis to determine the optimal spiral turbine blade angle
showed that under the condition of free flow, blades were most suitably set at 21 degrees, with maximum torque at a
water velocity of 2 m/s, equivalent to 21.58 Nm. Under the condition of using the collection chamber, maximum
torque was at a water velocity of 2 m/s, equivalent to 24.22 Nm. Torque increased as the velocity of the water
increased from 0.5 to 1 and 2 m/s. Calculations of the torque generation for all horizontal spiral turbine models and
for the 3-bladed axial turbine (with 0.4-meter diameter) were conducted to find the optimal efficiency and to test
torque generation at free flow water velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s, as well as to make a comparison with using the
collection chamber at the water flow velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s. For all spiral turbines, the 30-degree blade-type
turbine contributed a maximum efficiency generation increase of 37.89%, 37.48%, and 36.37% for the water flow
velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s, respectively. The 3-bladed axial turbine contributed a high efficiency generation
increase of 385.71%, 341.43%, and 343.31% for the water flow velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s, respectively. These
findings show that spiral turbines generate more torque than a 3-bladed axial turbine when calculated with water
velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s. All of the results from torque testing are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 5.

Table 1 Torque of the turbines at water velocities of 1.0, 1.5, and 2 m/s according to computer calculations

Water Torque (N.m x 100)

Velocity 15-degree blade 18-degree blade 21-degree blade 30-degree blade 3-bladed axial
(m/s) Free flow Chamber Free flow Chamber Free flow Chamber Free flow Chamber Free flow Chamber
1.0 376.91 449.39 506.25 580.90 535.99 617.20 254.87 351.43 0.28 1.36
1.5 847.24 1016.15 1147.63 1311.69 1211.65 1347.48 574.98 790.48 0.70 3.09
2.0 1511.19 1813.65 2047.72 2336.82 2158.33 2422.05 1029.22 1403.5 1.27 5.63

(a) (b)

Fig 5. Comparison of turbine efficiency increasing at given water velocities with (a) horizontal spiral blade and (b) 3-bladed axial type

5. Conclusion

This study developed a horizontal spiral turbine model featuring a spiral blade angled around a turning axle. The
turning axle was placed parallel to the direction of the water flow. The blades’ radius expansion was designed by
applying blade angle expansion. The study analyzed the optimal spiral blade angle for the turbine by developing 4
models (at 15, 18, 21, and 30 degrees) to test with 1 m/s, 1.5 m/s, and 2.0 m/s water velocities under 2 different
conditions: free flow and with a collection chamber. Results from the different velocities and calculations showed
that the optimal angle for the blades was 21 degrees (resulting in 21.58 Nm at free flow and 24.22 Nm with a
collection chamber). In the case of using the collection chamber, however, the maximum turbine efficiency increase
were at 30 degrees (37.89%, 37.48%, and 36.37% at water velocities of 1 m/s, 1.5 m/s, and 2.0, respectively).
Moreover, under this condition, the 3-bladed axial turbine was able to perform with efficiency increase that were
816 Wiroon Monatrakul et al. / Energy Procedia 138 (2017) 811–816
6 Wiroon Monatrakul and Ratchaphon Suntivarakorn / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

more than 3 times higher than under the free flow condition (385.71%, 341.43% and 343.31% at water velocities of
1 m/s, 1.5 m/s, and 2.0, respectively). This study found that horizontal spiral turbines were suitable for low-speed
water flows. The strand-shape of the turbine is capable of generating torque to produce energy from a low water
velocity. Additionally, the collection chamber produced a significantly higher turbine torque than under the free
flow condition; therefore, it is appropriate to utilize a collection chamber with water resources or irrigation canals
that have a water velocity of less than 2 m/s.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Doctorate Graduate Fund, Energy Management and Renewable Energy
Development, National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for its financial support, and the Farm Engineering
and Automation Technology Research Group (FEAT), Khon Kaen University, Thailand for its support in providing
the tools and equipment for this research.

References

[1] Lago LI, Ponta FL, Chen L. Advance and trends in hydrokinetic turbine system. ELSEVIRE online Energy for Sustainable Development,
Department of Mechanical Engineering - Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA.
[2] Williamson SJ, Stark BH, Brooker JD. Low Head hydro turbine selection using a multi-criteria analysis. ELSEVIER online : Renewable
Energy, Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, UK , 2012.
[3] Behrouzi F, Maimun A, Nakisa M. Review of Various Designs and Development in Hydropower Turbines. World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology International Journal of Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial and Mechatronics Engineering 2014; 8 :2.
[4] Aubin J, Naude I, Bertrand J, Xueres C. Blending of Newtonian and shear-thinning fluid in a tank stirred with a helical screw agitator. Ichem
online ; Laboratoire de Genie Chimique UMR CNR 5503 - INPT ENSIGC, Toulouse Cedex, France, November 2012.
[5] Ratchaphon S, Sujate W and Wiroon M. An Experimental Study of Electricity Generation Using a Horizontal Spiral Turbine Spira M. On the
Golden Ratio. CPESE 2016, 2016 3rd International Conference on Power and Energy Systems Engineering September 8-12, 2016 Kitakyushu,
Japan
[6] Spira M. On the Golden Ratio. ICME-12, 2012 : 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education 8 July – 15 July, 2012, COEX,
Seoul, Korea.
[7] Yasuyuki N,Terumi I, Kaoru O, and Norio K. Study on an Axial Flow Hydraulic Turbine with Collection Device. Hindawi Publishing
Corporation International Journal of Rotating Machinery Volume 2014, 22 July 2014
[8] M. Inoue, A. Sakurai, and Y. Ohya, “A simple theory of wind turibine with Brimmed diffuser,” Turbomachinery, vol. 30, no.8, pp. 497–502,
2002.
[9] R.W. Fox, A.T. Mcdonald. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics. 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
[10] M. Ragheb, A.M. Ragheb. Wind Turbines Theory - The Betz Equation and Optimal Rotor Tip Speed Ratio. Fundamental and Advanced 20
Topics in Wind Power, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 216 Talbot Laboratory, USA
[11] ANSYS, ANSYS CFX-SolverModeling Guide, ANSYS, Inc., Canonsburg, Pa, USA, 2010.
[12] Triputtarat J. A Finite Element Method for Viscous Incompressible Flow Analysis. KKU Engineering Journal 2010; 37: 83-92.