Study on the effects of runner geometries on the performance of inline cross-flow turbine used in water pipelines

To supply continuous and reliable power to the water monitoring systems and motorized control valves in urban water supply networks, the inline cross-flow turbine has been developed. This study aims to investigate the effects of different runner geometries on the performance of inline cross-flow turbines and to determine the optimal runner geometrical parameters. In this paper, a theoretical analysis of the working mechanism of a cross-flow runner is first performed to study the impacts of the runner geometry on turbine performance. Thereafter, several turbine models with different runner geometries are built and simulated to analyse the output power, water head reduction and torque generation at each runner stage. The results indicate that a good match between the flow inlet angle and blade outer angle notably enhances the turbine performance. Based on the results, the recommended optimal blade outer angle in this research is 30°. In addition, the results also show that the runner diameter ratio has a major impact on torque generation at the runner first stage. A lower runner diameter ratio leads to a higher output power, but the water head reduction is also higher. Based on the results, the suggested runner diameter ratio is 0.68. A numerical study on the number of blades indicates that when the number of blades increases from 20 to 24, the turbine output power considerably rises, and the maximum output power reaches 2285 W. However, if the blade number is further increased, the variation in output power is very slight. Thus, the proposed optimal blade number is 24. Based on the research results, the maximum turbine efficiency can reach 50.9% after runner optimization.