Preliminary Testing and Modification

Upon setting up the model of Multi-Jet Vertical Pelton Turbine, it follows a series

of simulation from which each simulation is used to determine the effects of

different scenario in the efficiency of the turbine. This model is brought to a flow

environment with the use of the Flow simulation wizard as shown on the Figure.

Testing Procedure

The simulation testing starts with inserting the input parameters in the general

settings of the solid works flow simulation software that will serve as an initial

condition as in the Figure.

The analysis type is basically determined by the user itself. The simulation was

based on the internal analysis type since the fluid flow is bound by a pipe wall.

Those without flow condition were serve as an excluded cavity. The input data

includes physical feature such as heat conduction in solids, radiation, time

dependent, gravity and rotation.

The fluid use in this simulation is water(liquids) since it focuses on the water from

the waterfalls. The flow characteristics are selected as laminar and turbulent flow.

The default wall thermal condition was adiabatic.

After the selection of wall conditions, the initial condition was set. For

thermodynamic parameters, the pressure was set to 101325 Pa and standard

temperature of 293.2 K. For water flow simulation, each pipe and nozzles must

have its end sealed so that the software would know what is the contained
volume. This can be done through the use of lids which closes the end of the

selected part as in the Figure. The lids does not participate in the analysis but

serves as a reference to define boundary conditions.

Upon setting up the input condition, the model requires boundary conditions to

define the inlets and outlets. With the use of check geometry command, the

model’s geometry will be check if it is valid to proceed the analysis. The

boundary condition referred to as the computational domain, in this case, it

corresponds to the fluid volume.

By clicking the Boundary condition, it will lead to a dialog box where inlet volume

flow is assigned. The flow rate is initially set with respect to the volume flow rate

of the water in Binaytuan waterfalls which is 0.546 m 3/s operating at a height of

200 meters head.

After defining the boundary conditions, establishing goals is necessary in able to

determine the data to be gathered in the simulation. Goals give the solver

guidance on our solution objective. In this case, we add the mass flow rate and

average velocity as a goal inserting a surface goal on the inlet lid face.
The final stage is meshing the fluid volume to proceed in the analysis. Most flow

simulation problems work on automatic mesh settings, however, this setting

gives a refinement option which is in scale of 1 to 7. The refinement level in

meshing indicates speed of calculation of result in the simulation. In this case the

refinement level is at 3. Figure 13 shows the dialog for setting mesh refinement

from a scale of 1 to 7.

With the problem properly defined and bound, simulation can be run. The time

allotted for the calculation would be longer depending to how large the boundary

condition is and the number of iterations. In this case, the calculation time is

about 3-4 hours. Figure shows the dialog box upon running the simulation.
By selecting the goals plot, the goals analysis can be monitored. Different

variables can be plotted in to graph for the purpose of analyzing the changes due

to different scenarios.

Preliminary Testing Results

In SolidWorks Flow Simulation, increasing the mesh refinement level would

consume a much larger amount of RAM and increase the calculation time. The

ideal RAM for small project is about 8-12 gigabytes of RAM but if it is for a

serious job, the suitable RAM should be upgraded for about 16-32 gigabytes.

According to SolidWorks Flow Simulation Support, in running Solidworks Flow

Simulation studies, mesh is good enough if the solution is reached both fully

converged and mesh independent. If the goal is fully converged, running through

a series of iterations isn’t going to calculate a much different solution. On the

other hand, adding a delay after convergence helps in ensuring goals have fully

converged before starting the next mesh refinement. On a similar note, setting a
relaxation interval of iterations after the final mesh refinement can ensure the

solution has run for long enough to fully converge. In our case, the delay is set of

20 iterations and a relaxation interval of 50.

Turbine Efficiency in terms of Nozzle Angle

This section presents the performance of the Multi-jet Vertical Pelton turbine with

various nozzle angle setup and its corresponding effect to the turbine efficiency.

The results were obtained through the following conditions and parameters

tabulated below:

PHYSICAL FEATURES DESCRIPTION

Analysis Type Internal
Total Analysis Time 2 seconds
Output times step 0.1 seconds
Gravity 9.81 m/s2
Fluid Water
Type of fLow Laminar and Turbulent
Thermal wall condition Adiabatic wall

PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
Computational Domain 3D simulation
Angular Velocity 77RPM
Head 200 m
Environment Pressure 101.325 KPa
Outlet Volume Flow 0.546 m3 / s
Maximum channel refinement level 3
Single simulation total time 2-3 hours
Number of iterations 300-500

Table display the different paramaters that were used to analyze the effects of

different nozzle angle setup to the turbine. Initially, the input volume flow rate was
set to 0.546 m3 /s which is the actual volume flow rate of the Binaytuan

waterfalls. The head is based on the height of the falls which is about 200

meters. The value for environment pressure was based on the standard

atmospheric pressure since the setup of the turbine is in open area. The mesh

refinement used was level 3 and therefore, a simulation time of 2-3 hours can be

observed.

At constant outlet volume flow rate of 0.546 m 3 /s, water flowing to the nozzles

with 100% opening valve from different setup of pipes, square piping

arrangement, circular setup and converging pipes obtained its peaking efficiency

at 4.14% increased from 92 and 90 degrees angle. In any of the given angles,

converging piping arrangement gives the highest efficiency followed by circular

piping arrangement then square piping arrangement. Hence, a relation between

nozzle angle and piping arrangement is proven since increasing the angle of

nozzle speedup the flow of nozzle and arranging the piping increases the flow of

water to be deliver to the nozzle increasing its efficiency.

Turbine Efficiency in terms of Opening Valve

Upon testing the effects of nozzle angle in the efficiency of turbine, the simulation

goes to the effects of varying the nozzle opening in the efficiency of turbine.

These would help in optimizing the Multi-jet Pelton Turbine. The opening of the

nozzle valve varies from 50% to 100% opening.

Nozzle Angle Opening % Pout Pin Efficiency

88% 50%
60%
 80%
100%
50%
60%
90%
80%
100%
50%
60%
92%
80%
100%

At constant volume flow rate of 0.546 m3/s,

Evaluation of Measured Variables

Selection of guide vane angle for each geometrical configuration was made according to the

highest efficiency obtained through simulation. From the results, 28o was used for airfoil-like

and hyperbola, whereas 30o for triangular. For the evaluation of measured variables in the three

designs, boundary conditions such as environment pressure and volume flow rate were used as

input parameters where the environment pressure was remained constant while the input

volume flow rate ranged from 25 to 100 m3 /s. The environment pressure was maintained at

125.850 KPa, obtained by incorporating atmospheric pressure to the tidal range of the chosen

location. Proof of results for each measured variable is shown in the form of screen shots using

30 m3 /s volume flow rate only. For further notice, see Appendix A for the results of the

remaining volume flow rate.

Effects of Brake Power

To assess the effect of volume flow rate on brake power output of the Bulb turbine in different

geometry of conducting channels, glimpse of results in rotational torque using 30 m3 /s volume

flow rate are shown in Figures 45 to 47.

Using the average value of rotational torque obtained from various volume flow rate, brake

power was obtained by relating it to the angular speed of the turbine (BP = 2πTN). The values

are presented in graphical form as shown in Figure 48.

Figure 48 shows the relation between volume flow rate and brake power for the three designs

of the channels which are the airfoil-like, hyperbola and 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000

30000 2 5 3 0 3 5 4 0 4 5 5 0 5 5 6 0 6 5 7 0 7 5 8 0 8 5 9 0 9 5 100 POWER OUTPUT ( 𝑘𝑊)

VOLUME FLOW RATE (𝑚^3/𝑠) AIRFOIL HYPERBOLA TRIANGULAR Figure 48. Power output at

volume flow rate from 25 to100 m3 /s Figure 47. Rotational torque in Triangular channel 86

triangular. It can be seen that for an increasing volume flow rate, a greater brake power is being

generated. Generally, a reaction turbine chiefly depends on the pressure differences acting

between the fronts and back faces of the turbine blades as water flows past them. With this, it

can be said that when the water passes through the turbine blades and forces the shaft to

rotate, the generator will produce power which is proportional to the flow rate of water.

However, generating larger amount of brake power does not result to a greater efficiency due to

the presence of pressure drop. The figure also shows that among the geometric design of the

channels, the triangular design was considered to have the lowest value of brake power for the

entire volumetric flow rate given. In addition, the figure shows that for the first three points, the

values for the brake power for the three designs of channels were close to each other. However,

as the flow rate continues to increase, the figure shows that the increase in the generation of

brake power for triangular channel is lower than that of airfoil-like and hyperbola channels due

to several factors.

Turbine Efficiency in terms of Pressure Drop

Alongside with brake power, the pressure difference from the inlet to the outlet of the channel

was determined using average value as well. Figures 52 to 54 show the actual values of pressure

in the inlet and outlet of the channel under 30 m3 /s volume flow rate.

To further understand the variations of pressure drop in the three geometries with increasing

volume flow rate, data are presented through line graph as shown in Figure 55.

Figure 55 shows the relation between pressure drop and volume flow rate. It can be said that

the pressure drop is directly proportional to the volume flow rate since as the volume flow rate

increases the pressure drop also increases. For a reaction turbine like the Bulb turbine, a portion

of the power generated by the turbine is derived from the velocity of the fluid. The remainder is

obtained from the pressure differences acting between the front and the back of the turbine

blades. Thus, pressure drop plays a vital role on the efficiency of the turbine. As depicted in the

figure, triangular channel has the lowest pressure drop among the three, second being the

airfoil-like channel. The airfoil-like channel has higher pressure drop than the triangular channel

but has lower pressure drop than the hyperbola channel as the flow rate increases. Due to its

geometry, the hyperbola channel has the highest value of pressure drop and increased rapidly

as flow rate increases. Unlike air-foil like and triangular channel, hyperbola channel 0 200 400

600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 2 5 3 0 3 5 4 0 4 5 5 0 5 5 6 0 6 5 7 0 7 5 8 0 8 5 9 0 9 5 100

PRESSURE DROP (𝑘𝑃𝑎) VOLUME FLOW RATE (𝑚^3/𝑠) AIRFOIL HYPERBOLA TRIANGULAR Figure

55. Pressure drop at volume flow rate from 25 to100 m3 /s 91 has a cross-sectional area that

suddenly expands causing a higher buildup of pressure drop. With this, it is established that an

increase in pressure drop is caused by an increasing volume flow rate at constant head. Hence, it

is shown in the previous figures that an increasing volume flow rate results to a power

generation. By incorporating these interpretations, it can be said that a larger pressure drop
would result to a higher efficiency. However, applying the interpretation on the relation

between the guide vane angle and efficiency, the efficiency of the turbine will decrease as it

reaches the peak angle of the guide vanes.

Turbine Performance in terms of Efficiency

Finally, turbine performance was evaluated by means of overall efficiency. This was obtained

using the given formula from brake power, (BP) and water power, (WP) considering the

generator efficiency:

𝐵𝑃 = 2𝜋𝑇N

𝑊𝑃 = 𝑄(𝑃𝑑)

Where, T = rotational torque, N-m N = angular speed, RPM Q = volume flow rate, m3 /s Pd =

pressure drop, (Pa)

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝐵𝑃(𝑒𝑔) 𝑊𝑃 × 100% Shown below is the efficiency results of each design geometry

in various volume flow rates.

Figure 64 presents the efficiency in different values of volume flow rate. It shows that the

highest efficiency was obtained at 30 m3 /s. The efficiency at this flow rate was 94.27% in

triangular, 89.39% in airfoil-like and 84.63% in hyperbola channel. Although triangular had the

least value of power output, it still acquired the highest efficiency among the two channels. This

is basically due to its geometry with gradual changes along the outlet, allowing a uniformity of

water flow and minimizing pressure drop. Accordingly, airfoil-like channel obtained the greatest

power output and had a relative value of efficiency compared to triangular channel. This is also

because of its geometry allowing the flow to increase slowly since the cross-sectional area of the
channel is reduced gradually and that yield to lower pressure drop than the hyperbola’s

geometry. In the hyperbola channel, its brake power is much closer to the airfoil-like than that

of triangular channel but has a much greater pressure drop due to its sudden expansion of

cross-sectional, which results to its lower efficiency among the two. Based on Figure 64, the

efficiency starts to decline after reaching 30 m3 /s or the volume flow rate peak efficiency. This

is because after that point, although the brake power continues to increase, the pressure drop

also increases that affects the efficiency.

Selection of Turbine Arrangement

To determine the best option of channel to be used for various applications, summary tables

composed of all combinations used in simulation are provided.

Tables 12 to 14 depict the summary of results in terms of output parameters for all geometric

channels. The values of torque and pressure inlet and outlet were obtained from simulation. On

the other hand, the values of pressure drop, power output, water power and overall efficiency

were attained using their corresponding theoretical formula. The basis of choosing the best

option for the geometry of conducting channel was in accordance to power output and

efficiency depending on the field of applications. As observed on the three tables, the ideal

volume flow rate for the final design of the Bulb turbine operating at 2.5 meters head is 30 cubic

meters per second. From this row, the value of efficiency is at maximum. Hence, if higher

efficiency is the primary requirement, Bulb turbine installed with triangular channel should be

selected. On the other hand, if power generated is to be considered with the purpose of

relatively increasing the efficiency of the turbine, airfoil-like channel is most suitable to use.

Validation of Results
To prove the technical viability of the design based on the result of simulations, various past

studies and related online resources were used as the primary basis. It has been established in

the final design of the Bulb turbine with three different channeling device configurations that

the peak efficiency using 2.5 meters head is at 30 m3 /s volume flow rate. As depicted in figure

65, an ideal Bulb turbine 104 operating at 2.5 meter with minimum volume flow rate of 25 m3 /s

is capable of producing power output of 500-1000 kilowatts.

Using Figure 65, the power output of an ideal Bulb turbine operating at 2.5 meters under the

given volume flow rate can be obtained. Figure 66 shows various power output of a Bulb turbine

installed with different geometries of conducting channel compared with the power output of

an ideal design of a Bulb turbine

The behavior of power output of Bulb turbine with and without conducting channel can be

easily compared as shown in Figure 66. In an ideal Bulb turbine design, a gradual increase in

power output in an increasing volume flow rate can be observed. Optimizing the system by

installing a conducting channel, a drastic change in power output is noticeable as the volume

flow rate increases in value. This is technically due to the Venturi effect made by the geometry

of the channels. Such effect is made by the contraction in cross-sectional area of the channel

increasing the velocity of the fluid which can generate a higher amount of power. The table

below shows the power output of the Bulb turbine installed with airfoil-like, hyperbola, and

triangular channels from the result of simulation.

From Table 15, it can be observed that a higher power output can be achieved from the

increasing volume flow rate boundaries of 25 to 100 m3 /s. The maximum boundary was set

based on the tidal current velocity in the location. With a potential velocity of 4 m/s (Carvalho et

al., 2018) and considering the inlet area of 24.33 m2 , the maximum volume flow rate will be
approximately 100 m3 /s. On the other hand, the minimum boundary was established in

accordance to the result of rotational torque having an input of 125 RPM angular velocity. It is

well known that a turbine is the one which converts the kinetic energy of the water into

rotational energy. An input of volume flow rate lower than 25 m3 /s to any geometry of

conducting channel resulted to a positive torque, thus the rotational energy from turbine blades

converts it into pressure energy (Green Mechanic, 2014). This means that the volume flow rate

for this case is insufficient to match the rotational speed of the turbine. Once the input volume

flow rate is 25 m3 /s and above, negative values of rotational torque are being obtained as

depicted in the results of simulation. With this, the energy from tidal current flow forces the

turbine blades for rotation. Incorporating the results from Table 15 to Figure 65 in selecting tidal

turbine, it can be observed that the power output of the turbine with triangular channel at 30

m3 /s had conformed with the rated power in a given head. This point was considered as its

peak efficiency since upon reaching 40 m3 /s volume flow rate, although its power output

increased, its efficiency started to decline as depicted in Figure 64. Such case is similar to airfoil-

like and hyperbola at 30 m3 /s volume flow rate although their power output exceeded the

rated power output based on Figure 107 65. This is one of the factors why triangular geometry

obtained higher efficiency compared to the two geometries. Furthermore, as the volume flow

rate increases in the case of these two geometries, the accumulation of pressure here is much

bigger compared to triangular geometry which drastically affects the efficiency. For tidal barrage

operations, Bulb turbines are prominent specifically in low head application. According to Shein

(2013), Bulb turbine can have a high full load efficiency of 80%. Using channeling device to direct

the flow of water in the turbine technically affects the system’s overall efficiency as depicted in

the results of this study. It has shown that in a given head and volume flow rate and upon

installing channeling device with airfoil-like, hyperbola and triangular geometry, the turbine’s
efficiency resulted to 89.39%, 84.63% and 94.27% respectively. The adaptation of hyperbola

geometry was based on the study conducted by Wang et al. (2011) who proved the advantages

of such geometry in terms of resistance effect and fluency in line shape. Subsequently,

additional geometry such as triangular and airfoil-like were added to further evaluate the flow

aggregation and resistance effect at the same time. Making those past studies mentioned in

research literature as reference, this study has proven that the effects of channeling device have

the capability of increasing the pressure from inlet flow to the flow progressing along the tidal

turbine, drawing in additional flow and increasing the power output and efficiency of a specified

turbine structure. For the method of simulation, Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis was

performed to investigate the flow behavior in a Bulb turbine. This study used steady state

simulation using a well-known feature of SolidWorks which is Flow 108 Simulation. Instead of

using manual computation for modification of design, such fluent software was used to

troubleshoot insufficiency in system components like the ones performed in guide vane angle

modification. Based on the output parameters obtained using an acceptable level of mesh

refinement in simulation procedure, it was proven by this study that Computational Fluid

Dynamics is a feasible method to this are of application.