Reactive lift-type Spherical Turbine Design for the Disi-Station Pipes in Jordan -Study Case

Specific design for turbines that can generate electrical power from the hydro energy that is generated inside pipes is becoming more and more needed, as a result of transporting liquids for long distances. This paper proposes a design of a lift-type spherical turbine that is recommended to be installed in the Disi-Station Pipes (DSP) in Jordan. The designed turbine achieved by Solid Works software and inspired from the turbine of Lucid Energy Company with taking into consideration the shear stress, strain, and deformation force applied on the turbine. The adopted system installs two turbines in series with a small distance between them, where the two turbines are implemented in horizontal and oblique systems separately, and then the generated power for each turbine is measured in both systems. The simulation results obtained by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), show that the oblique system turbines outperform the horizontal one, at the same turbine's boundary conditions, which is expected as a result of the gravity effect. However, the interesting outcome that the first turbine in the horizontal generates more power than the second one, though they are installed in the same line, which is because of the first turbine consumes the liquid's pressure and increases the liquid velocity before feeding the liquid to the second turbine. Unlike the horizontally fixed turbines, the second turbine in the oblique system produces more energy than the first one at a slope angle of 30 degrees, which is justified by the gained liquid pressure by the gravity. Finally, this paper recommends installing both systems in DSP, as the horizontal system is needed in the areas suffer from unwanted extra pressure, on the other hand, the oblique system is advised to be implemented in the areas where the extra liquid pressure resulted from the gravity's force is not needed.