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Final Project: Hydrodynamic Turbine

Team 1, April 5 2010

Kyle Chen
Jake Tufano
Eric Yurinko

Executive Summary:

With the ever increasing desire to become environmentally friendly, homeowners are doing
whatever possible to aid in the cause. By designing a small water turbine that will conveniently
attach to the end of a faucet to generate electrical energy, we will satisfy that aspiration. This
product will be a compact electricity generating device that will be readily available for use in
the home with a minimum output of 1.5 volts. By generating useable power from a task that is
done throughout the day (i.e. hand washing, dishwashing, etc.) the turbine will be able to power
a small appliance with no added costs.
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Table of Contents:

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………..1

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3

Customer Needs and Product Specifications……………………………………………….4

Concept Development……………………………………………………………………....6

System level design……………………………………………………………………...….10

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..…12

Reference……………………………………………………………………………………13

Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………….…14

Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………….…15

Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………….…18
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Section 1 Introduction:

Section 1.1 Problem Statement:

To design a water turbine that will attach to a sink faucet which will generate enough power to
run a small appliance?

Section 1.2 Backgrounds:

Throughout the years a variety of turbine designs have been developed. Each one has its own
strengths and weaknesses in various applications. Every design has the same basic driving
principle: run water through the chosen model of water turbine in order to produce the maximum
possible power output. The use and further development of water turbines is driven by the ever
increasing need for “green” energy alternatives. In most situations turbines are large and used to
create massive amounts of power by utilizing rivers and dams. But recently there has been a push
to integrate hydrodynamic power generation into everyday living. This has started to become a
reality with products that attach to a common sink faucet and produce power to run devices such
as a light or power outlet. These products utilize a very small water turbine and an equally small
motor to convert the mechanical energy into useful electrical energy.

Section 1.3 Project Planning:

The first step our team has taken to successfully complete the given task was to thoroughly
research turbine designs and applications in order to gain a complete understanding of the scope
of the project. We will utilize the resources provided on angel and also the Fluid Mechanics
book( Cimbala) to decide upon the turbine design that will meet our needs in the most efficient
manner. Calculations for head loss, HP, flow rate, and specific flow speed will be used to direct
our attention to one specific design. The problem is broken down into three parts; the turbine, the
gearing interface and the generator. Once research and calculations are completed we will begin
to decide on the most efficient interface between the turbine and the motor. The detailed design
of the actual turbine will be done in SolidWorks after sufficient specifications and dimensions
are decided upon. The drawing will then be submitted to the Learning Factory for Rapid
Prototyping. While the turbine is constructed via the rapid prototyping machine, our focus will
then be turned to designing a suitable enclosure for the product and finalize gear designs. Using
these basic guidelines the tasks will be distributed and the design will commence. A Gantt Chart
is shown in Appendix A to give a more complete picture of our estimated schedule. The
responsibilities of each team member will be allocated as follows. Eric will be doing the detailed
design CAD solid models. Kyle will be doing the detailed drawings of the final solid model. Jake
will take care of the scoping calculations and patent searches. Future tasks will be split up as
needed.
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Section 2 Customer Needs and Engineering Specifications:

Section 2.1 Summary:

In order for this product to be successful on the market it has to appeal to the consumer in a
variety of different areas. It must first and foremost produce the most power possible so it will
be a worthwhile investment for the homeowner. This will be accomplished by choosing the most
efficient turbine and integrate it into the faucet in an unobtrusive manner. See table 1 below.

Table 1 – Needs/Metrics
Metric Importanc
Number Need Metric Value e (1-3)
High > 1.5 V @
1 Performance Volts/Ω 10 Ω 1
2 Low Cost Dollars < 50.00 2
3 Efficient Output/Input % 1
4 Aesthetics appearance subjective 2
5 Convenience attachment 3/8" threads 2
6 Dimensions inches < 4" length 3
7 Reliability lifespan > 6 years 1
8 Containment self contained subjective 2
Water
9 Discharge direction vertical 1

These values were derived from the project need statements and turned into metrics based on our
current knowledge of the topic.

Realizing that performance was of the utmost importance, we will employ the most efficient
turbine possible along with an appropriate gearing interface between the turbine shaft and the
motor. Some possible ideas to help boost this performance would be to add a nozzle to the outlet,
and experiment with several different types of gear ratios. With all of these power boosting
features the turbine will be able to produce sufficient amounts of electricity to run a small
appliance.

While the success of the product depends largely on the effectiveness of the turbine, it is also
dependent on its price. There would be no benefit to utilizing this device for power output if it
would be much cheaper for the homeowner to pay for electric. It will therefore be designed in a
very price conscious manner. The turbine will be small enough that the cost of materials will be
very low and when producing large quantities, very inexpensive to manufacture. The motor used
for collecting the generated power is also just a standard issue small D/C variety, purchased for
several dollars each. The containing apparatus will be constructed of PVC piping, which is both
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very cost effective and virtually indestructible. The remaining components of gears, bearings and
shafts are very low priced when purchased in bulk.

This product will also take up very little room, leaving the sink area unobstructed. The length
will be approximately 4 inches straight downward so the sink will still function in its original
fashion. The entry end of the product will have a 3/8” standard thread to easily attach to any
common faucet. Clear Lexan glass will also be used on the ends as to allow the user to see how
the device works to generate the power. As a whole this product will intrude a minimal amount
on the normal operating functions of the sink, and will also be aesthetically pleasing to fit into
the common kitchen décor with ease.
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Section 3 Concept Development:

Section 3.1 External Search:
In today’s society, alternative energy powered appliance will always have a strong selling point.
In this case, we convert hydro power into electrical power. The Electrical power produced by the
device will be used to run a house appliance. Currently, a similar product on the market uses
water flow through shower head to power up a shower light. Another product applies the same
technology to the facet. A temperature sensor outputs to LED, which indicated the water
temperature. Both of those devices have patents and are on the market for a long time. We did a
reverse engineering analysis for both products, and some of the design concepts can be modified
to fit our needs. Along with this a patent search was done to help in the concept generating
process. They can be found in Appendix B.

Section 3.2 Problem Decomposition:

Block Diagram (Drew in AutoCAD):

Form the diagram, water flows into a nozzle and flows out with greater velocity. The outlet flow
will shoot at one of the turbine blades. A ball bearing and output shaft is at the center of the
turbine. The flow will cause the turbine to rotate; and output shaft will rotate at the same angular
velocity. A step-up gearing stage amplifies the output rotational velocity and input amplified
velocity onto the shaft of the motor. The rotational motion in the motor will generate output
voltage at the other end. The output voltage is then put through a testing circuit which consists of
a 10Ω resistor.

Section 3.3 Ideation Method:

We planned out the basic block diagram first and decided which stage should be done. After
finishing the project timetable, we worked on the turbine first because the faster we run our
turbine the higher output voltage we will get. Therefore, we started with turbine first. We
searched online and literatures such as Professor Cimbala’s fluid mechanics textbook. With the
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help of other resources, we brainstormed together as a group and used a selection matrix to
evaluate all of the concepts we generated. A lot of ideas were generated during this process, and
a few of them were actually selected. We wrote our ideas on note cards and grouped similar ones
together. After some discussion and voting, we picked the ones we thought were best suited to
this application. They are presented in the next section.

Section 3.4 Description of the design concept:

Design #1 Pelton Wheel:

The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving

water, as opposed to its weight like traditional overshot water
wheel. Although many variations of impulse turbines existed prior
to Pelton's design, they were less efficient than Pelton's design; the
water leaving these wheels typically still had high speed, and
carried away much of the energy. Pelton's paddle geometry was
designed so that when the rim runs at ½ the speed of the water jet,
the water leaves the wheel with very little speed, extracting almost
all of its energy, and allowing for a very efficient turbine. (Durrant,

Design #2 Francis Turbine @50 RPM:

The Francis turbine is a reaction turbine, which means that the
working fluid changes pressure as it moves through the turbine,
giving up its energy. A casement is needed to contain the water flow.
The turbine is located between the high pressure water source and the
low pressure water exit, usually at the base of a dam.

The inlet is spiral shaped. Guide vanes direct the water tangentially to
the turbine wheel, known as a runner. This radial flow acts on the
runner's vanes, causing the runner to spin. The guide vanes may be
Design #3 Francis Turbine @70RPM: adjustable to allow efficient turbine operation for a range of water
flow conditions.

As the water moves through the runner its spinning radius decreases,
further acting on the runner. For an analogy, imagine swinging a ball
on a string around in a circle; if the string is pulled short, the ball
spins faster due to the conservation of angular momentum. This
property, in addition to the water's pressure, helps Francis and other
inward-flow turbines harness water energy efficiently.
The Kaplan turbine is an inward flow reaction turbine, which means
At the exit, water acts on cup shaped runner features, leaving with no
that the working fluid changes pressure as it moves through the
swirl and very little kinetic or potential energy. The turbine's exit tube
turbine and gives up its energy. The design combines radial and axial
Design #4 Kaplan Turbine: is shaped to help decelerate the water flow and recover the pressure.
features.
(Doble, 1999)
The inlet is a scroll-shaped tube that wraps around the turbine's
wicket gate. Water is directed tangentially through the wicket gate
and spirals on to a propeller shaped runner, causing it to spin.

The outlet is a specially shaped draft tube that helps decelerate the
water and recover kinetic energy. (Cline, 1989)
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Section 3.5 Concept Selection:

Design #1 Pelton Wheel:

After listing all of the criteria and selecting the most important ones, we used a selection matrix
and scoping calculations to decide which turbine design is the best for our application. The result
is recorded below. During the selection process, we put all of our ideas on index cards first. After
having all of the ideas on paper, we grouped all of them together. We summarized each group
into a word or two so our selection matrix is concise. After determining all of the criteria, we
discussed the importance of each criterion. Since the Pelton Wheel is clearly the winner of the
selection matrix, we did not go into more detailed discussion on which design to choose. In
section 4 the scoping calculations to support our choice are explained.

Table 2: Selection Matrix:

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Selection Criteria Pelton Francis Turbine Francis Turbine Kaplan Turbine Reference
Wheel @50 RPM @70 RPM
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high performance + 0 + 0 0

low cost 0 + 0 0 0

attractive + + - 0 0
appearance

ergonomics + 0 - 0 0

ease to attach + 0 0 - 0

reliable + + + + 0

discharge water + 0 - 0 0
vertically

orientation of + - - - 0
output shaft

Plus 7 3 2 1 0

Minus 0 1 4 2 0

Same 1 4 2 5 0

Rank 1 2 4 3 0

Continue Yes No No No 0

From the descriptions of each turbine type above along with Professor Cimbala’s book we
ranked each of the turbines against the zero reference. After carefully rating every criterion, the
ranking is shown above. As the table indicated, the Pelton Wheel would become our turbine
selection. One of the top reason we selected the Pelton Wheel is that the output shaft orientated
perpendicular to the vertically discharged water. The orientation allowed us to connect DC
generator to the output shaft horizontally. In this case, our generator would be less likely to
become wet.

Section 4 System level design

Section 4.1 Chosen design/ Section 4.2 Scoping Calculations:

For further support selecting a Pelton design, scoping calculations were completed. To start the
calculations we began with what we already knew. This included the Pressure upstream of the
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faucet (50 psig), the velocity upstream in the faucet (0 ft/s), the pressure at the outlet (O psig),
and the vertical change in distance (9 in). From this we could use the Bernoulli equation to
calculate the outlet velocity. From there the head of the faucet and the break horse power (BHP)
of the water flow could be calculated. From the known values along with and estimation for the
angular velocity the N(st) chart could be utilized to help decide upon which specific type of
turbine to design. So with a value of 50 rpm for the angular velocity the chart revealed that we
should use a Francis turbine. However as discussed previously, if a Francis turbine is used the
water exit would have to be in line with the motor. This would cause problems with sealing the
motor away from the water. Based upon this we decide to modify our outflow velocity in order
to utilize a Pelton turbine. This is because a Pelton turbine is more like a water wheel with the
axis of rotation perpendicular to the water flow, thus eliminating the possibility of corrosion. To
properly use a Pelton turbine a nozzle needs must be implemented. The nozzle chosen goes from
3/8’’ to 1/8’’ causing the outlet flow to increase by a factor of nine. When the calculations were
done taking this into consideration a value of 0.2766 was acquired for the chart. This lies in the
range of the Pelton turbine on the N(st) chart. Therefore the turbine design selected is a Pelton
turbine with a 3/8” to 1/8” nozzle. The scoping calculations in full can be found in Appendix C.
Detailed drawings of the potential product are shown below.

Section 4.3
Bill of
material:

Table 3: BOM
with part
number

Part # Name Description Manufacturer Quantity

7 motor metal-brush motor Jameco 1

7 wire wires Tyco 2

2 turbine turbine assembly Team 1 1

5 gear 1 tooth gears Rushgear 1

1(Sub- nozzle nozzle Team 1 1

component
)

6 gear 2 tooth gear Rushgear 1

4 axle rod Team 1 1

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3 Bearing 1 Ball Bearing Dynaroll 2

1 Casing Turbine casing Team 1 1

Table 4: Estimate Cost

Note: Most of the estimated costs were taken from the price listed on manufacture’s online store
such as McMaster Carr and MSC Supply. A certain percent reduction in price was estimated
based on 100k in quantities.

Unit Cost ($) Part # Name Quantity

2 7 motor 1

.1 7 wire 2

5 2 turbine 1

1 5 gear 1 1

3 1 nozzle 1

(Sub-component)

1 6 gear 2 1

3 4 axle 1

1 3 Bearing 2

5 1 Casing 1

Total Cost: $22.2

Section 5 Conclusion:
The development of faucet attached power generating device will allow the common consumer
to contribute to the ever increasing popularity of “green” energy. This product will be readily
available, low priced and easy to use for any homeowner. It will also produce enough power to
run a small electronic device without any added costs. Being constructed in an aesthetically
pleasing manner, it will have little impact on the overall look of the sink area. This product will
help the population save precious dollars and facilitate the movement toward a more
environmentally friendly society.
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Section 6 Reference:

1). A.B. Wilson 1995, pp. 507f.; Wikander 2000, p. 377; Donners, Waelkens & Deckers 2002, p.
13

2). Arnold Pacey (1991), Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history, MIT Press,
p. 10, ISBN 0262660725

3). Cline, Roger:Mechanical Overhaul Procedures for Hydroelectric Units (Facilities

Instructions, Standards, and Techniques, Volume 2-7); United States Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado, July 1994 (800KB pdf).

4). Cimbala, John M.. Essentials of Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications (McGraw-
Hill Series in Mechanical Engineering). Boston: Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print.

5). Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", Scientific
American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)

6). United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation; Duncan, William (revised
April 1989): Turbine Repair (Facilities Instructions, Standards & Techniques, Volume 2-5) (1.5
MB pdf).

7). W. A. Doble, The Tangential Water Wheel, Transactions of the American Institute of Mining
Engineers, Vol. XXIX, 1999.

8). W. F. Durrand, The Pelton Water Wheel, Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering,
1989.
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Appendix A: Gannt Chart

Appendix B: Patent Search

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Appendix C: Scope Calculation

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Table 5: Updated Gantt Chart