Abstract
Hydropower is a reliable and low-emission source of renewable energy generation. Most of the economically and technically feasible hydropower potential is already harnessed in industrialized countries. But the sites with smaller head drop remain mostly underutilized. These sites (with head differences below 5m) abundantly exist in small streams, rivers, irrigation networks and at the outlets of wastewater treatment plants. Such sites would require economically unjustifiable large diameter turbines (such as Kaplan, cross-flow) to allow larger flow volumes and are not considered economically sustainable and environmentally sound. In Germany, there is a remaining technically realisable potential of 750 MW from low-head sites across small rivers and streams.
Water wheels could be an alternative solution for very low-head hydropower applications, particularly because of their ecological and economic advantages. Waterwheels are the primitive technology for harnessing water power. Various types of water wheels are evolved throughout the history for application in a different range of head and flow rates. As the technological advancement continued, water wheels were slowly replaced by the highly efficient turbine technology. Today, researchers are again interested to optimise these technologies for application in very low-head sites for hydropower generation.
At the hydraulics laboratory of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, different low-head hydropower technologies are investigated. Physical models of a conventional Zuppinger water wheel, hydraulic pressure machine (HPM) and Dethridge water wheel were tested.
The Zuppinger water wheel is one of the most efficient technologies developed in the 1850s with high efficiencies of around 75 % over a wide operating range. HPM and Dethridge water wheels are distinct from conventional water wheels with a big hub acting as a dam to create the head difference by itself. HPM is a recently developed technology with model tests showing maximum efficiencies of around 60 %. Even though the Dethridge wheel is originally invented for flow measurement at the outlet of irrigation canals, it resembles similar characteristics as the HPM and also has efficiencies of around 60%.
These technologies could serve as promising low-tech and environmentally friendly solutions for producing low-head hydropower. Slow rotation and large blade cells of these devices are advantageous in maintaining the continuity of sediment transport and the ecological quality of water bodies while maximising the renewable energy generation.
Water wheels could be an alternative solution for very low-head hydropower applications, particularly because of their ecological and economic advantages. Waterwheels are the primitive technology for harnessing water power. Various types of water wheels are evolved throughout the history for application in a different range of head and flow rates. As the technological advancement continued, water wheels were slowly replaced by the highly efficient turbine technology. Today, researchers are again interested to optimise these technologies for application in very low-head sites for hydropower generation.
At the hydraulics laboratory of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, different low-head hydropower technologies are investigated. Physical models of a conventional Zuppinger water wheel, hydraulic pressure machine (HPM) and Dethridge water wheel were tested.
The Zuppinger water wheel is one of the most efficient technologies developed in the 1850s with high efficiencies of around 75 % over a wide operating range. HPM and Dethridge water wheels are distinct from conventional water wheels with a big hub acting as a dam to create the head difference by itself. HPM is a recently developed technology with model tests showing maximum efficiencies of around 60 %. Even though the Dethridge wheel is originally invented for flow measurement at the outlet of irrigation canals, it resembles similar characteristics as the HPM and also has efficiencies of around 60%.
These technologies could serve as promising low-tech and environmentally friendly solutions for producing low-head hydropower. Slow rotation and large blade cells of these devices are advantageous in maintaining the continuity of sediment transport and the ecological quality of water bodies while maximising the renewable energy generation.
Translated title of the contribution | Waterwheels for low-head hydropower applications |
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Original language | Russian |
Title of host publication | ОДИННАДЦАТАЯ НАУЧНО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКАЯ КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ «ГИДРОЭНЕРГЕТИКА. ГИДРОТЕХНИКА. НОВЫЕ РАЗРАБОТКИ И ТЕХНОЛОГИИ.» |
Editors | R.N. Orishchuk, V.B. Glagovsky, V.I. Klimovich |
Place of Publication | St. Petersburg |
Publisher | Vedeneev VNIIG |
Pages | 269-270 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Water
- Water wheel
- Low-head hydropower