Micro hydro power generation from water supply system in high rise buildings using pump as turbines

Du, Jianjun; Yang, Hongxing; Shen, Zhicheng; Chen, Jian

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.03.023

Cited by 83 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…A branch of the WDN located in the municipality of Laives in South-Tyrol (Italy) was chosen because of its high flow-rate variability that allowed to test possible management strategies aimed at increasing energy-recovery potential. The daily trend of flow rates inside the analyzed WDN branch was constant all week long, as also found in other case studies on similar networks of small municipalities [26,32]. In this section, the test site and flow rates obtained in the measurement campaign are presented and discussed.…”

Section: Case Studysupporting

confidence: 71%

“…The use of PaTs as energy-recovery units has mainly been applied in WDNs [25]. WDNs constitute typical case studies where the control of pressure inside network branches through PRVs is crucial, as previously reported [26][27][28][29][30]. De Marchis et al [31] developed a dynamic mathematical model for intermittent WDNs in the city of Palermo located in Sicily (Italy): they integrated PaTs in the model and demonstrated their effectiveness to recover energy that would otherwise be wasted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Speed and Pressure Controls of Pumps-as-Turbines Installed in Branch of Water-Distribution Network Subjected to Highly Variable Flow Rates

et al. 2019

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The use of Pumps-as-Turbines (PaTs) to replace hydraulic turbines as energy-recovery units in industrial and civil applications is widening the penetration of hydropower in small-scale plants. PaTs show advantages in terms of installation costs and the availability of solutions. Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) represent a potential application where PaTs can be installed to recover water-pressure energy. In this work, a MATLAB©-Simulink model of a WDN branch located in South-Tyrol (Italy) was developed. The flow rate of the WDN was assessed though a measurement campaign showing high daily variability, which negatively affect PaT performance. To let the machine operate close to the Best Efficiency Point (BEP), four different operating strategies were studied to meet the constraint of a fixed pressure equal to 4 bar downstream the WDN branch, required to supply water to users. A PaT speed control strategy was implemented, granting better exploitation of flow rates even in the presence of high daily fluctuations. Energy recovery was 23% higher than that of the reference thanks to an advanced strategy based on controlling PaT rotational speed when the flow rate is smaller than that of the design, and operating in off-design conditions when flow rate is higher than that of the BEP.

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Section: Case Studysupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speed and Pressure Controls of Pumps-as-Turbines Installed in Branch of Water-Distribution Network Subjected to Highly Variable Flow Rates

et al. 2019

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“…Finally, the mechanical power could be further converted into electricity by means of a generator [29]. During the experimental tests, the feed pump, located in the upstream part of the plant, enabled us to vary the flow discharge in the range Q = 5-9 L/s, while the available pressure head was H = 4.8-33.9 m. Two different series were conducted.…”

Section: Experimental Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydropower Generation Through Pump as Turbine: Experimental Study and Potential Application to Small-Scale WDN

Postacchini

Darvini

Finizio

et al. 2020

Water

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Pump-As-Turbine (PAT) technology is a smart solution to produce energy in a sustainable way at small scale, e.g., through its exploitation in classical Water Distribution Networks (WDNs). PAT application may actually represent a suitable solution to obtain both pressure regulation and electrical energy production. This technology enables one to significantly reduce both design and maintenance costs if compared to traditional turbine applications. In this work, the potential hydropower generation was evaluated through laboratory tests focused on the characterization of a pump working in reverse mode, i.e., as a PAT. Both hydrodynamic (pressure and discharge) and mechanical (rotational speed and torque) conditions were varied during the tests, with the aim to identify the most efficient PAT configurations and provide useful hints for possible real-world applications. The experimental findings confirm the good performances of the PAT system, especially when rotational speed and water demand are, respectively, larger than 850 rpm and 8 L/s, thus leading to efficiencies greater than 50%. Such findings were applied to a small municipality, where daily distribution of pressure and discharge were recorded upstream of the local WDN, where a Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) is installed. Under the hypothesis of PRV replacement with the tested PAT, three different scenarios were studied, based on the mean recorded water demand and each characterized by specific values of PAT rotational speed. The best performances were observed for the largest tested speeds (1050 and 1250 rpm), which lead to pressure drops smaller than those actually due to the PRV, thus guaranteeing the minimum pressure for users, but also to mechanical powers smaller than 100 W. When a larger mean water demand is assumed, much better performances are reached, especially for large speeds (1250 rpm) that lead to mechanical powers larger than 1 kW combined to head drops a bit larger than those observed using the PRV. A suitable design is thus fundamental for the real-world PAT application.

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“…A turbine integrates a shaft, and a motor has the advantages of a simple structure, convenient disassembly and assembly, low initial investment, little operation and maintenance cost, small space occupation, various types and specifications, large water head and flow rate, and wide application range. It is widely used in industrial liquid pressure energy recovery and development of small hydropower (less than 100 kW) [Du, Yang, Shen et al (2017); Nautiyal, Varun, Kumar et al (2011); Okot (2013); Elbatran, Yaakob, Ahmed et al (2015); Singh and Nestmann (2011); Buono, Frosina, Mazzone et al (2015); Jing and Lin (2017)]. The factors that affect the hydraulic performance of a turbine include blade wrap angle, impeller outlet diameter, and impeller outlet width.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of a Centrifugal Pump Used as a Turbine Impeller By Means of an Orthogonal Test Approach

Tian

Huang²,

Shi³

et al. 2019

Fluid Dynamics &Amp; Materials Processing

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A prototype centrifugal pump with a specific speed of 110 is used to investigate and optimize the performances of a turbine for power generation. Particular attention is given to the design of the internal impeller. The internal flow field is simulated in the framework of a commercial computational fluid dynamics software (ANSYS). Four geometrical parameters of the impeller are considered, i.e., the inlet diameter, the inlet width, the blade number, and the blade angle. The optimization is carried out on the basis of a three-level approach relying on an orthogonal test method. The results of the numerical simulations show good agreement with the experimental tests under different flow conditions. In accordance with the L9 (3 4) design table, the head and efficiency under the rated flow rate of the nine designed schemes are calculated and processed with the method of range analysis to obtain an optimized model.

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Micro hydro power generation from water supply system in high rise buildings using pump as turbines

Cited by 83 publications

References 37 publications

Speed and Pressure Controls of Pumps-as-Turbines Installed in Branch of Water-Distribution Network Subjected to Highly Variable Flow Rates

Speed and Pressure Controls of Pumps-as-Turbines Installed in Branch of Water-Distribution Network Subjected to Highly Variable Flow Rates

Hydropower Generation Through Pump as Turbine: Experimental Study and Potential Application to Small-Scale WDN

Optimization of a Centrifugal Pump Used as a Turbine Impeller By Means of an Orthogonal Test Approach

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