Project data

Project name:	Development of a blade profile and performance-optimised flow water turbine
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Employee:	Editing: Matthias Haenecke, Claudia Langlotz, Holger Langlotz, Thomas Link, Rio M. Rathje
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Third-party donors:	Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Central innovation programme for SMEs

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Collaborative R&D project between companies and research institutions

Summary of the project

The flowing water turbine developed as part of this project is designed for a head of 1 to 8 metres and a volume flow of 0.3 m³/s to 2 m³/s. This places the turbine in a classic working area of old mill wheels. On the one hand, the design has a high degree of efficiency and, on the other hand, can still be manufactured cheaply thanks to new production techniques. For this reason, it is possible to refurbish or redevelop abandoned sites of small hydropower plants.

In the project, in.RET is responsible for the preliminary development and simulation as well as the design of the turbine. The fish-friendliness factor was also taken into account in the design and layout of the machine in order to simplify approval by the water authorities and possibly dispense with a fine screen. The hydraulic design was optimised using CFD simulation calculations, as a result of which the turbine is characterised by a comparatively high level of efficiency.

The overall design has a generator integrated directly into the turbine. Inverter operation of the generator allows the turbine to operate at variable speeds. The converter has an MPP tracker so that the system automatically adjusts itself to an optimum operating point.

The project will be finalised with the construction and operation of a prototype system. Three test sites are being planned for this. In Beiseförth (Hesse), a functional model of the turbine is to be installed in September 2017 based on an existing water right. The corresponding official approval procedures have been initiated for the sites in Radeburg (Saxony) and Mecklar (Hesse). The project partners are the companies KD Stahl- und Maschinenbau from Breitenworbis and RSV GmbH from Rotenburg/Fulda.