Study of Water Flow Patterns in a Vortex Turbine with Varying Runner Height Positions and a 13-Degree Taper Angle Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

The vortex turbine is one type of micro hydro turbine because it is recorded to produce electricity not more than 100 kW. Development and research related to vortex turbines are increasingly being carried out, one of which is the development of basin and runner design parameters. This research was conducted using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation method using Ansys Fluent software by varying the height of the runner position in the basin, with a runner tapper angle of 13˚. The purpose of this research is to determine the flow pattern including velocity contours and pressure contours and turbine performance in the form of torque, output power, and vortex turbine efficiency. This study uses a constant flow rate of 10 L/s. The simulation results show that the value of the velocity contour and pressure contour are inversely proportional, where the velocity value is directly proportional to the addition of the height of the runner position, while the pressure contour is inversely proportional to the addition of the runner height in the basin. The highest efficiency value is found in the 120 mm runner position height variation of 12.28%