Performance Optimization of Overshot Water Wheels at High Rotational Speeds for Hydropower Applications
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 9
Abstract
Overshot water wheels are hydropower converters generally employed for head differences up to 6 m and maximum flow rates of per meter width. The maximum hydraulic efficiency (80%–85%) is constant for rotational speeds below the critical speed, whereas the efficiency linearly decreases at higher rotational speeds due to the increase of water losses at the inflow. To improve the efficiency when the rotational speed is above the critical speed, an improved geometric design was investigated by implementing a theoretical model validated using experimental results. The new geometry consists of a circular wall around the periphery of overshot water wheels. The wall redirects into the buckets the water flow that is lost at the inflow, improving the efficiency up to 1.5 times at high rotational speeds.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results has received funding from Orme (Energy optimization of traditional water wheels) granted by Regione Piemonte via the ERDF (#0186000275) 2007–2013 (Gatta srl, BCE srl, Rigamonti Ghisa srl, Promec Elettronica srl, and Politecnico di Torino). Thanks are extended to Martin Eillebrecht, Gratia Hydro [Fig. 1(a)], Marco Gatta [Fig. 1(b)], Helmut Mitterfellner [Fig. 1(c)], and Emanuela Genre and Jane Atkinson, Mulino di Bobbio staff [Fig. 1(d)], for their pictures.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2019
Accepted: Apr 15, 2020
Published online: Jun 26, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Nov 26, 2020
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