Hydropower turbine
AssigneeMesa Associates, Inc.
InventorsBoualem Hadjerioua, Kevin Polak, Thomas V. Eldredge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydropower generation system includes a hydropower turbine with both adjustable wicket gates and adjustable runner blades. The hydropower turbine can receive water flow with a head of up to 110 feet. The runner hub of the hydropower turbine can have 8 runner blades that can rotate at a speed of at least 700 revolutions per minute to produce about 500 kW of power from the corresponding generator of the hydropower generation system. In addition, the hydropower turbine can be coupled to the generator with a belt drive that transfers the torque from the hydropower turbine to the generator.
Claims20
A hydropower turbine comprising:
- a turbine case assembly having an inlet to receive water and outlet to discharge water, wherein the inlet has a larger diameter than the outlet;
- a runner assembly positioned inside the turbine case assembly and extending between the inlet and the outlet, the runner assembly comprising:
- a runner hub positioned near the outlet;
- a plurality of adjustable runner blades mounted on the runner hub, wherein the plurality of adjustable runner blades comprises 8 runner blades;
- and
- a spindle shaft extending from the runner hub;
- a bulb assembly connected to the runner assembly, the bulb assembly comprising:
- a housing configured to enclose at least a portion of the spindle shaft;
- and
- a pulley mounted on the spindle shaft and configured to receive a belt configured to couple the turbine to a generator;
- a plurality of adjustable wicket gates positioned inside the turbine case assembly and configured to direct water flow to the plurality of runner blades;
- and
- wherein the 8 runner blades of the runner assembly are configured to rotate at a speed of at least 700 revolutions per minute upon water flowing over the 8 runner blades from a head of between 45 and 110 feet.
A hydropower generation system comprising:
- a hydropower turbine, the hydropower turbine comprising:
- a turbine case assembly having an inlet to receive water and outlet to discharge water, wherein the inlet has a larger diameter than the outlet;
- a runner assembly positioned inside the turbine case assembly and extending between the inlet and the outlet, the runner assembly comprising:
- a runner hub positioned near the outlet;
- a plurality of adjustable runner blades mounted on the runner hub, wherein the plurality of adjustable runner blades comprises 8 runner blades;
- and
- a spindle shaft extending from the runner hub;
- a bulb assembly connected to the turbine case assembly with at least one support, the bulb assembly comprising:
- a housing configured to enclose at least a portion of the spindle shaft;
- and
- a pulley mounted on the spindle shaft;
- and
- a plurality of adjustable wicket gates positioned inside the turbine case assembly and configured to direct water flow to the plurality of runner blades;
- a generator;
- and
- a transfer assembly configured to transfer torque from the hydropower turbine to the generator, the transfer assembly comprising a belt drive having a belt coupled to the pulley on the spindle shaft;
- and
- wherein the 8 runner blades of the runner assembly are configured to rotate at a speed of at least 700 revolutions per minute upon about 60 cfs of water flowing over the 8 runner blades from a head of between 45 and 110 feet and the generator is configured to output a power of about 500 kilowatts when the runner assembly is rotated at the speed of at least 700 revolutions per minute.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.