การศึกษาวาล์วควบคุมการไหลของน้ำที่เหมาะสมต่อการผลิตไฟฟ้าของโรงไฟฟ้าพลังงานน้ำขนาดจิ๋วด้วยแบบจำลองพลศาสตร์ของไหลเชิงคำนวณ

Abstract

Micro-power plants are hydropower plants that can be easily developed in communal areas. It can operate with low hydropower potential and less impactful on the environment. The suitable water turbine of micro-power plants is an impact turbine. Water is injected into the turbine blade controlled by water pipes and water valve. The aim of this research was to study the effect of water valve types, the distance of the nozzles to the blades, and water flow rate to power generation of microturbine. The study was done by using the computational fluid dynamics studies and actually power generation by 5kW Pelton type of water turbine. The study showed that the ball valve is a suitable type for control water flow rate, it can provide stable water flow characteristics with minimal flow turbulence. In the actually power generation experiment, it was found that the average power generation was 4.82 kW, representing 96.4% of the performance of the water turbine. The suitable distance between the valve and the impeller of the turbine is 200 mm. Water flows at 80% of the maximum flow through the valve is optimal. From this study it can be seen that the water valve does not need to be fully opened (100%) to generate electricity, meaning it can improve to save the water.