Development of a sustainable portable Archimedes screw turbine for hydropower generation

Portable hydropower turbines are turbines with a scale below 5 kW and which can be carried from one place to another easily by hand due to their light weight. This study was carried out to evaluate the potential of Archimedes Screw Turbine (AST) as an improved portable hydro-power turbine (PHPT) to address shortcomings in available portable turbines. The design of Archimedes screw hydro-power turbine is mainly concerned with screw geometry, which is determined by a variety of internal and external characteristics, including its length, external and internal diameter, Pitch of blades, and Number of the blades, which were 80 cm, 18 cm, 9.53 cm, 18 cm and two number of blades respectively. The turbine was manufactured from stainless steel material according to design parameters and installed in the laboratory. Experimental testing was performed at different discharges (Q) of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 ft³/s and at the angle of inclination of 22, 30, 45, and 55° of screw shaft to measure power outputs and overall efficiencies. The maximum overall efficiency obtained was 70% at a flow rate of 0.5 ft³/s and at an angle of inclination of 30°. The power output at maximum overall efficiency was 42 watts and hydraulic efficiency was 75.5%. At the flow rate of 0.3 ft³/s and an angle of inclination of 55°, the turbine produced a minimum power output of 22.8 watts and an overall efficiency of 39.4%.Experimentation revealed that the flow rate (Q) and inclination of the turbine shaft affect the turbine Power output (P_o) and overall efficiency (η_o). This study helps to manufacture small AST on a large scale, to utilize small flows of water, and to evaluate the possibilities of AST as an appropriate portable hydro-power generation turbine. Further research and experimentation are needed to assess whether 3D printing can be effectively scaled for broader implementation in low-resource areas.