Case Study: Application of TURBOdesign1 by Kubota Corporation of Japan to the Development of an In-line Type Hydraulic Turbine for Micro Power Generation

With the growing concern of global warming and the need for clean power generation, small-scale hydraulic turbines, solar cells and wind power generation is attracting growing attention.

Among them, the small-scale hydraulic turbine power generator which provides power from mostly waste water is something we will see increasingly in the future. It provides a practical and simple solution as a source of energy.

Kubota have been developing reverse running pump turbines for the small-scale hydraulic turbine power generation for a number of years. They have delivered the machines to one hundred or more power plants in developing countries. The systems are based on pump technology such as the fluid dynamics, the manufacturing and engineering techniques which have been developed over many years at Kubota.

In-line hydraulic turbine

Fig. 2. In-Line Hydraulic Turbine - in situ.

“We appreciate TURBOdesign1 for the development of our new machines which were previously not part of our product range.”

Kubota’s experience with reversed running axial pumps showed that the turbine efficiency can be quite low. So Kubota used TURBOdesign1, the inverse design software from Advanced Design Technology, to develop new types of mixed and axial flow impellers and guide vanes which can cover a large range of specific speeds (Ns=130-350 (m, kW)).