Design and 3D printing of controllable-pitch archimedean screw for pico-hydropower generation

• Published in: Journal of mechanical science and technology Vol. 29; no. 11; pp. 4851 - 4857
• Main Authors: Lee, Kyung Tae, Kim, Eun-Seob, Chu, Won-Shik, Ahn, Sung-Hoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers 01.11.2015; Springer Nature B.V; 대한기계학회
• Subjects: 3D printing; Coatings; Control; Design; Design engineering; Design theory; Distributed generation; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Fused deposition modeling; Hydroelectric power; Hydroelectric power generation; Industrial and Production Engineering; Maintenance; Mechanical Engineering; Performance evaluation; Pitch (inclination); Polylactic acid; Power efficiency; Screws; Small scale; Three dimensional models; Three dimensional printing; Vibration; 기계공학; Pico hydro turbine; Hydro turbine design theory; Archimedean screw; Hydro turbine fabrication
• ISSN: 1738-494X; 1976-3824
• DOI: 10.1007/s12206-015-1032-y

Renewable energy has attracted considerable attention because the energy problem has become a worldwide issue. The development of pico-hydropower generation, as a component of distributed generation, has been a subject of concern. In particular, the Archimedean screw generator (ASG) has more benefits, such as low cost, easy maintenance, and fish-friendly characteristic, compared with other types of hydro turbine. Despite these advantages, no appropriate design theory of ASG and Controllable-pitch Archimedean screw (CPAS) exists. Hence, a design theory of ASG and CPAS was theoretically investigated and designed in this study. CPAS was designed for a small-scale hydro-power generation system. With a 3D printer, fused deposition modeling was used to fabricate the blade of CPAS with polylactic acid and epoxy surface coating. A performance evaluation was conducted and analyzed. Results indicate a similar trend with the proposed theory. The power generation was 123 W and efficiency was 71% in 0.04 m 3 /s.