MODELING OF GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER WITH

BIOMIMETIC TURBINE BASED ON PERMANENT MAGNETS

1st Kevin Jhonatan Camayo
Huamanculi
Facultad de Ingeniería Eléctrica
Universidad Continental
Huancayo Perú
47678125@continental.edu.pe
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Abstract— The objective of the work is to model the power
generated by a biomimetic turbine when it is installed in
irrigation channels of 0.8 x 0.8 m2, as a proposal for a
hydroelectric power station and as alternative of generation
with an renewable source as well, whose flow is at least 4 m3
/s.
The methodology is based on energy conservation equations
to find useful and electrical power as well as formulas based
on electromagnetic theory for generation with permanent
magnets. The speed of the axis and the torque were obtained
by computer simulation of the turbine and by the percentage
of pressure that exists in each “Bell” in which the power
generated in the whole system was determined.
We found in the results a method to determine the power of a
biomimetic immersion turbine designed virtually, showing the
equations that will indicate the minimum amount of
generation, being the useful power of 6770.5W for a inimum
speed when the flow is 6.25 m / s . In this way, the electrical
power it will generate will be 6431.8W with an efficiency of
95% for the generator.
Finally, it was possible to model the amount of useful and
electrical power for different types of speeds. For the
minimum speed, a permanent magnet generator was designed,
which will generate 6420.01W with an efficiency of 71.8%.
Keywords-Biomimicry, Hydraulic generation, permanent
magnets, hydraulic micro-plants.
I. INTRODUCTION
The power of an electric machine is the final evaluation to
know the capacity of generation that has these elements, this
information helps us to evaluate the operation of a
hydroelectric power plant. The turbine was developed
through a design based on biomimetic technology that is the
science that copies nature that allows the development of eco
designs [1]. The design was achieved by an algorithm known
as the Fibonacci sequence, whose quotient of any term of the
sequence and its antecedent generates a number close to Φ
(golden number), a relationship present in designs of nature
[2].
Engineers of the technological institute "Asturias" have
developed "Hidrotor", a micro hydraulic turbine that with the
help of small waterfalls allows the generation of electricity
[3]. This research and design that was carried out in Spain,
this one is very associated with the investigation, because
they use the screw of Archimedes helical infinite, for the
production of electricity through the mechanical work that
makes the water. This system was used in the third century,
and was invented by Archimedes, now used to generate
energy, it can be seen in Fig. 01 that this design has not
modified its form to improve its use.
Countries with great hydraulic potential obtain most of the
electricity in hydroelectric plants due to their great
advantages [4]. Since power plants are based on the use of
renewable energy resources, the development of power plants
of these types must be promoted because of their advantages:
being inexhaustible, it is one of the greatest qualities that this
resource possesses compared to the energy resources derived
from oil, coal or gas. The resources used by the thermal
power plants are only used once, the energy flow of the
natural resource of this power plant is not renewable. Many
of the hydroelectric plants have a constant flow of this
resource, so it can be used at any time of the day. The
inconvenience happens in times of low water where the dams
of the power plants are fed by small rivers because of the low
amounts of rainfall, the production of resources decreases,
therefore, the generation of electricity decreases. This is a
problem where the use of the design of this research gives
solution and is proposed as an alternative.
Figure No. 1 shows the "Hidrotor", alternative to a
hydroelectric power plant, in other countries, hydraulic
turbine design has been developed for the use of irrigation
canals or rivers. The future of electricity production in our
country should take into consideration this type of power
plant that is developed in the present work.

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE

 considering as front-end variables the initial velocity of 10.93
m / s, which is the speed of the torque determined in the flow
rate of 7 m3 / s in an area of 0.8x0.8 m2, having a speed in the
turbine of 10.83 m / s. The torque for these effects reached
321.68 N-m (32.79 kg-m), as shown in Figure No. 2.

Figure N ° 1: "Hidrotor" (Generation in Irrigation Channels).

Source: https://www.renovablesverdes.com [1]

II. METHODOLOGY
In the investigation the useful power of a turbine was
determined by the percentage of pressure that each turbine
has and the useful power of the first "bell". Figure No. 2: Simulation of the turbine in CFD Autodesk®
software to find the speed.
We worked with 8 turbine combinations, which are detailed
in Table No.1. As a result we chose the turbine A1-C2-E2
whose torque is the highest concentration in all combinations. The angular velocity of the turbine is given by:
ω=10,83/0,2169=49,93 rad/s
Table N ° 1: Data in the table of the Methodology for the
Experimental design.
The pressure percentage of the turbine A1-C2-E2 for each
“bell” is given by:
• Average pressure C1 = 100%
• Average pressure C2 = 30.08%
• Average pressure C3 = 26.34%
• Average pressure C4 = 62.9%

The power of the turbine A1-C2-E2 for each “bell” is as

follows:
• Power C1 = 16061.5 W
• Power C2 = 4831.3 W
• Power C1 = 4230.6 W
• Power C2 = 10102.7 W
• Total power of the turbine A1-C2-E2 = 35226.1W
B. Estimated power generated
To find the Useful Power that this machine will have, it is done
by means of the following equation:

𝑃𝑈𝑡𝑖𝑙(10.83) = 𝜔10.83 ∙ 𝑀 (1)

The average pressure was determined by a CFD analysis of
Then the Useful Power will be:
the biomimetic turbine A1-C2-E2, for the bell 1, 2, 3, 4 were
obtained 427.68Pa, 128.65Pa, 112.65Pa, 269Pa respectively.
Based on the amount of electrical power it will generate for 𝑃𝑈𝑡𝑖𝑙(10.83) = 35226.1 𝑊
an efficiency of 95%, a permanent magnet generator was
designed, in order to propose an alternative to generate
renewable electric power. Where:
It was considered a generator alternative with permanent  M: Torque (N-m)
magnets for this type of turbine, because this turbine does not  𝜔: Angular velocity (rad/s)
have a speed gearbox.
A. Determination of the power in each “bell” The power for a speed, height and torque [5] is given by:
In the AUTODESK CFD® software, the fluid dynamics of the  P: Torque (N-m)
pressure and the velocity of the axis were evaluated,  n: Speed (m/s)
 H: Net height (m)
 Ƞgen: Generator efficiency 2𝑝 ∙ 𝑛𝑠
𝑓= (5)
120
1⁄ 3⁄
n2 H 2 P2 H 2
= ( 2) ; = ( 2) (2)
n1 H1 P1 H1
2/3
n2 2 P2 Where,
( ) =( ) f: Frequency (Hertz)
n1 P1
ns: angular speed (rpm)
6,25 2 P6,25 2/3 2p: Pair of poles
( ) =( )
10.83 P10.83 Figure 3 shows that to determine the average distance of the
2/3
generator, the number of poles of the generator and the
6,25 2 P𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙(6,25) number of phases are parameterized.
( ) =( )
10.83 Putil(9,49) In Figure No. 4 it can be seen that the desired power of the
generator is considered to be 5kW, because it is a smaller
P𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙(6,25) = 6770.5 W amount than the electrical power found in item B, so when
developing the design the power generated, for a magnet of
P𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐(6,25) = 6770.5 ∙ η𝐺𝑒𝑛 (3) magnets permanent will be lower, than found with generator
efficiency.
According to [6] the generator efficiency level η𝐺𝑒𝑛 is given
by:

0.95 < η𝐺𝑒𝑛 < 0.98 [6]

Finally,
P𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐(6,25) = 6431.8 W
C. Diseño de generador con imanes permanentes

After converting the minimum flow of 4m3 / s, 6.25m / s was
obtained for an area of 0.64m2. Converting 6.25m / s, in
angular speed you get 275.2 is rpm for a radius of 21.69 cm
of the turbine. The power generation of electric with based on
permanent magnets [7] given by:
𝑃 = 𝜋 ∙ B ∙ K ∙ 𝑅2 𝑚 ∙ ∆𝑟 ∙ 𝜔 ∙ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑 (4)
Where:
P: Power (Watts)
Figure No 4: Dimensions of the design finding rm
The internal and external diameters of the coils are then
considered, which will have the following four possibilities,
since the coils will withstand the induced voltage at their
terminals, due to the effect of the internal diameter (Di) and
external diameter (Do), and the number of turns, as shown in
table No. 2.
Table No. 2: Combination of different internal and external
diameters to find the inductive coupling of the coils

The voltage induced in each coil is calculated from the flux

density of the first harmonic, using the following formulas:
Figure No 3: Input data for the generator
𝜆 = 𝜆̂ ∙ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 (6)
B: Magnetic Induction (Teslas)
K: Specific Linear Load (A / cm) Being:
Δr: Diameter of magnets (meter) λ: Inductive Coupling (Weber)
𝜔: Angular Speed (RPM) ω: Angular Speed (RPM)
t: Time (seconds)
The frequency of the generator was calculated by the
following formula: Then the Induced Electromotive Force (F.E.M.) will be:
 Table No 3: Combination of the characteristics of the coils to obtain the best result.

2𝜋 • The phase voltage will be 110V

𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 = ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝜆̂ (7) • The speed of 275rpm will be maintained
√2
• The length of the coils will be 2.1cm
To determine the flow that the coil will concentrate in the • Each coil will have 116 turns
radius ra of a small circular element dx is: • The frequency will be 73,33hz
• The generator will have 32 pair of poles
𝑑𝛷 = 𝐵̂ ∙ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑢1 𝑥 ∙ (2𝜋𝑥𝑑𝑥) (8) • The generator will be a three-phase system
• The magnets will be neodymium
1 2 1 • There will be 8 coils per phase
𝛷𝑎 = 2𝜋𝐵̂1 [( ) (𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑢1 𝑟𝑎 − 1) + (𝑟𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑢1 𝑟𝑎 )] (9) • The average diameter of the generator will be
𝑢1 𝑢1 52.4cm
Then the total inductive coupling will be: The power generated by the turbine in its respective generator
will reach 6420.1W with an efficiency of 71.79%.
𝑁
𝜆̂ = (𝛷 + 𝛷𝑏 + 𝑘1 𝛷𝑐 ) (10)
3 𝑎 CONCLUSIONS
Then the length of the coils will be: Through the simulation it could be observed that the axis of
the biomimetic type is only acceptable when the flow is
𝑁 ∙ 𝐷2 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑. ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 𝐷2⁄ between 4m3 / s to 7m3 / s, but when the flow is increased
3
𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 = (11)
𝑘𝑣 ∙ (𝐷2 0 − 𝐷21 ) more this type of turbine is no longer considered the most
optimal.
To determine the electrical parameters of the coil: The disposition of the factors influence the generation of
𝑁. 2𝜋. 𝑟𝑚 energy. The angle when it is coupled has a significant
𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 = 𝜌 ∙ (12) influence on the result of the torque generated and, therefore,
𝐴𝑠
𝑢0 . 𝑁 2 . 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 on the electrical generation obtained. In the results found it is
𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 = (13) shown that the turbines of greater torque generated are as
𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
many as 4 blades. This could have happened at the time of
assembling the pieces, and not considering an angle of
𝑋𝐿 = 𝜔 ∙ 𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
separation between each blade.
Finally to determine the power:
𝐸𝑝ℎ The turbine will generate a useful power of 6770.5W,
𝐼= (14) determined by torque, angular velocity and efficiencies. A
2 minimum efficiency of 95% generation was applied
√(𝑅𝑝ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 ) + 𝑋 2 2
according to the generators of the hydroelectric plants in
𝑃 = 3 ∙ 𝐸𝑝ℎ ∙ 𝐼 (15) which a capacity of 6431.8W was obtained. Through a
theoretical simulation the design of a permanent magnet
Power in copper: generator for the turbine A1-C2-E2 was developed and a
power of 6420.054W was obtained with a generator
𝑃𝑐𝑢 = 𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 ∙ 𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 ∙ 𝐼 2 (16) efficiency of 73.06%.
It was found that the permanent magnet generator can be used
The efficiency will be: for electricity generation through renewable energies,
𝑃 because in the proposed modeling, the minimum
ƞ= ∙ 100 (17)
𝑃 + 𝑃𝑐𝑢 characteristics for its construction are found; in this way, the
traditional construction of a generator with the above-
III. RESULTS described characteristics is proposed through this method.

For the possibility of configuration of table No. 3, where the ACKNOWLEDGMENT (Heading 5)
speed is 275rpm and 110V for phase voltage, it has a The authors thank “universidad continental”.
maximum power of 6420.054W with an efficiency of
71.79%, where the combination of Di and Do correspond to REFERENCES
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