In the present paper the prototypes of small axial hydro-kinetic turbines are designed, built and tested in laboratory conditions in order to demonstrate their operability. The hydrokinetic turbine prototypes have a 0.2 m tip diameter, three blades and are meant to be used in a free water stream flowing with 1 m/s velocity. Two geometries of the turbine runner are studied in order to determine the best correlation between the water flow velocity and the cross-sectional area of the turbine. The 3D designs of the turbine are used for the prototype printing in order to obtain a lightweight compact assembly of reduced dimensions. The experimental measurements are conducted in a closed-loop laboratory setup, specially designed for hydro-kinetic turbines prototypes testing. The flow velocity, runner speed and shaft torque are measured. The aim of the experimental testing is to determine the characteristic parameters for the tested turbines as power coefficient and mechanical power output.
The renewable energy policy strongly encourages the use of all renewable sources of energy. The authors started to develop a new hydrokinetic turbine to be implemented in small rivers or water channels with a low investment cost. This paper presents velocity map distribution around a hydrokinetic turbine prototype. Experimental measurements were performed using a Particle Image Velocimetry system in a water channel, while the water velocity and turbine rotation speed were variated. Images are presented in the same rotor position and the rotational flow is captured downstream of the blades, at different turbine operating modes. This paper is part of a larger study on developing an innovative axial hydrokinetic turbine. The resulting velocity distribution will be used to validate the numerical model.
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