DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF HYBRID HORIZONTAL TURBINE

Abstract

This thesis is intended to describe the theoretical solution to our final year project, Design and Analysis of a Horizontal Hybrid Turbine. The project was aimed at giving the proof of concept for a hybrid turbine, i.e., a turbine that is capable of operating in both air and water, so that it can be used to harness power from both media (air and water) throughout the year without any interruption. The power goal was set to 500-1000 watt, enough to power a typical household. The main issue we faced during our project was the lack of availability of previously existing literature and design content. We had to combine calculations and design concepts of air and water turbine to get the required variables. Our main concern was the blade design. Turbine model is created using SolidWorks. Turbine blade parameters calculations are performed using MATLAB and QBlade. For analysis of structural integrity and power production capacity, ANSYS was used. During the design phase, the portability of the turbine was kept in mind. However, the generator selection, transmission system design and reconfiguration mechanism were also a part of our project. Some work was done on the hydrokinetic turbine by a group last year which was capable of producing 80-90 watts. Our goal was not only to scale up the power capacity of the turbine but also to make it work in air as well. Our target was to design and optimize the turbine for the northern areas of the Pakistan where there are lots of rivers and streams which could be utilized to produce power. Also, to ensure the uninterrupted power supply in winters when water if usually frozen or limited, we had to make the turbine operable in air as well. We had to ensure significant power generation for both air and water, while keeping the blade length minimum to ensure portability. We achieved quite reasonable results: two-fold of targeted power production in case of water and around 90% of the targeted power production in case of air medium, while keeping size and strength constraints in check.