Design and CFD Simulation of an Archimedes Hydro Turbine

Archimedes screw turbines have been introduced recently to the hydropower sector. They are highly efficient, low cost and are fish friendly. In applications where aqua life protection is a priority, the Archimedes screw turbine is a suitable choice because of its low-speed application and wide gaps between blades. This gives Archimedes screw turbine potential in tidal ocean energy applications as well as run-of-river micro-hydro applications. This paper presents a simple design of a low-power Archimedes screw turbine considering readily available materials and simple manufacturing processes. Moreover, a computational fluid dynamics model was developed to evaluate the performance of the designed low-cost Archimedes screw turbine. The results have shown that with the available local materials sourced in the Philippines, a low-cost Archimedes screw turbine can be designed which can provide power for off-grid communities.