Development of Savonius Rotors Integrated into Control Valves for Energy Harvesting

Kai Lv, Yudong Xie, Xinbiao Zhang and Yong Wang
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Kai Lv: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Yudong Xie: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Xinbiao Zhang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Yong Wang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: Integrating vertical-axis runners into ball valves for energy harvesting from pressurized pipes in water supply systems has become a promising scheme of self-supplying power (referred to as the “GreenValve” scheme). In addition to energy harvesting, the GreenValve configuration also has the function of fluid regulating, which makes a qualitative breakthrough in both structure and function. However, the runner specially used to match the ball valve has not been fully studied and designed. Hence, based on the traditional Savonius rotor, a modified semi-elliptical runner is proposed in this study. To better match the ball valve structurally, the roundness of the runner at blade tip position is improved and, thus, the initial runner configuration is obtained. Moreover, research on blade profile flatness and runner aspect ratio is conducted in FLUENT software to be more functionally compatible with the ball valve. Numerical results indicate that the GreenValve always performs best in terms of shaft power at 25% opening regardless of the aspect ratio and the flatness. When the flatness value is equal to 0.7, the GreenValve presents the maximum shaft power and the second highest flow coefficient which is only 1.9% lower than the maximum value. Comparison results of three models with different aspect ratios reveal that the model with the smallest aspect ratio has a slight reduction in flow capacity while a significant improvement in shaft power, reaching a maximum shaft power of 78.6W.

Keywords: water supply system; hydraulic turbine; energy harvesting; Savonius rotor; control valve (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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