Development of a Simple Impulse Turbine for Nano Hydropower

The aim of this work is to provide an impulse type hydraulic turbine to utilize unexploited water resources as nano hydropower in the mountainous area. The turbine is simplified to make cheap energy and uses inexpensive components for widespread utilization. The turbine model is tested experimentally to reveal the power characteristics. The flow visualization and numerical simulation are conducted to clarify the behavior of free surface flow in the runner with different nozzle positions. The experimental results show that the maximum runner efficiency of the prototype turbine is 0.56. Numerical simulation shows that the output power depends on the nozzle positions with the impingement of the tail of the jet portion to the backside of the blade. This study gives the fundamental information of the turbine performance to acquire a guideline for future practical applications.