Standard module hydraulic technology: A novel geometrical design methodology and analysis for a low-head hydraulic turbine system, part II: Turbine stator-blade and runner-blade geometry, and off-design considerations

Low-head hydropower has the potential to generate a significant amount of electricity from rivers that traditionally were unsuitable for developing hydraulic power plants. To effectively and eco-friendly utilizing those renewable energy resources, a Standard Modular Hydropower Technology was proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2017. This new concept offers a new paradigm for small hydropower technology development based on the premise of standardization, modularity, and preservation of stream functionality. This technology has three primary modules: Generation Module, Passage Modules, Foundation Modules, and this series of papers presents a general design methodology for the generation module. The first part of this series of papers covered the basic development of the design methodology and some fundamental geometrical considerations. This second part of the papers presents additional numerical simulation contents on several blade configurations, including stator blade inlet angle, runner blade solidity, and runner blade thickness considerations, and how those geometrical configurations affect the overall performance and fluid behaviors. Additionally, how those geometrical configurations influence the overall off-design performance is also investigated with comprehensive performance maps analysis. With improved blade geometrical configurations, the test models have a vast off-design potential with 23%-1220% operating range and over 75% hydraulic efficiency. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.