Performance of Undershot Water Wheel with Bowl-shaped Blades Model

Water power is a type of power obtained from the force created by flowing water. Energy created from flowing water can be harnessed as a form of mechanical energy that can be utilized to generate electricity. Undershot water wheels have been extensively used to take advantage of the water flowing from rivers or waterfalls. This research was conducted by using water turbines with bowl-shaped blades made of iron and acrylic. The diameter of the turbines was 30 cm, and the diameter of the blades was 9 cm. Four, six, and eight blades were used in the three water turbines for this research. The blades were discharged and loaded to turn the turbine to generate force. The results of the study showed that the highest efficiency (eta = 74.22%) was found in the six-blade turbine with a discharge of 0.01228 m(3)/s. It can be concluded that water turbines with bowl-shaped blades can be used as an alternative energy in small-scale electric generators.