Performance investigations of a control valve with the function of energy harvesting

Kai Lv, Yudong Xie, Yong Wang and Guang Sun

Energy, 2021, vol. 214, issue C

Abstract: Solving the problem of continuous and stable power supply for the water leakage monitoring equipment is challenging in water supply system. Due to the excess water pressure existing in the water supply pipes, the hydropower inside the pipes becomes an effective renewable energy for supplying power to water leakage monitoring equipment. In this paper, a vertical drag-type runner is integrated into the ball valve to harvest the potential hydropower while regulating the fluid. Numerical investigation of the novel ball valve (referred to as GreenValve) is carried out using the software FLUENT. According to different performance requirements, the best working parameters at the average flow rate of 15.7 × 10−3 m3/s are obtained: when working at the optimal tip speed ratio, the GreenValve performs best within the relative opening range of 25%–39%, in which it can harvest considerable energy (>80 W) with the highest efficiency (>11.5%) while the water head loss is only 4–12 m. For the water supply system, the water head loss due to the impact of energy harvesting by the GreenValve can be used to offset the excess pressure in pipes which can easily cause leakage of the pipe network system.

Keywords: Control valve; Water supply system; Hydraulic turbine; Energy harvesting; Dynamic performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:214:y:2021:i:c:s0360544220321083

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.119001

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