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Performance investigation of the immersed depth effects on a water wheel using experimental and numerical analyses.

1. Introduction

2. numerical simulation method, 2.1. simulation model, 2.2. grid division and sensitivity analysis, 2.3. equation discretization and boundary conditions, 3. reliability verification, 4. results and discussion, 4.1. evaluation of water wheel performance, 4.2. analysis of the flow fields and velocity triangles, 5. conclusion and future work, author contributions, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest, nomenclature.

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Zhao, M.; Zheng, Y.; Yang, C.; Zhang, Y.; Tang, Q. Performance Investigation of the Immersed Depth Effects on a Water Wheel Using Experimental and Numerical Analyses. Water 2020 , 12 , 982. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12040982

Zhao M, Zheng Y, Yang C, Zhang Y, Tang Q. Performance Investigation of the Immersed Depth Effects on a Water Wheel Using Experimental and Numerical Analyses. Water . 2020; 12(4):982. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12040982

Zhao, Mengshang, Yuan Zheng, Chunxia Yang, Yuquan Zhang, and Qinghong Tang. 2020. "Performance Investigation of the Immersed Depth Effects on a Water Wheel Using Experimental and Numerical Analyses" Water 12, no. 4: 982. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12040982

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Water Wheel

• First Online: 15 December 2020

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• Xing Huang 3 &
• Baichun Zhang 3  

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A water wheel is a device that converts the kinetic energy or potential energy of water flow into rotating mechanical energy. In ancient China, water wheels were used as the prime motor of shui dui (water power trip-hammer for husking rice), scoop waterwheel, waterpower roller (for grinding grain), waterpower grinder, boat mill, drainage machinery, water transport astronomical instrument, and so on.

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Huang, X., Zhang, B. (2020). Water Wheel. In: Hua, J., Feng, L. (eds) Thirty Great Inventions of China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6525-0_11

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• DOI: 10.1080/00221686.2004.9641215
• Corpus ID: 123296852

Performance characteristics of water wheels

• G. Müller , K. Kauppert
• Published 1 January 2004
• Engineering, Environmental Science
• Journal of Hydraulic Research

95 Citations

Investigation and optimization of the performance of gravity water wheels.

• Highly Influenced
• 20 Excerpts

Gravity water wheels as a micro hydropower energy source: A review based on historic data, design methods, efficiencies and modern optimizations

Overshot water wheel efficiency measurements for low heads and low flowrates, the breastshot waterwheel: design and model tests, stream water wheels as renewable energy supply in flowing water: theoretical considerations, performance assessment and design recommendations, dethridge wheel for pico-scale hydropower generation: an experimental and numerical study, stream wheels for applications in shallow and deep water, hydraulic behavior and performance of breastshot water wheels for different numbers of blades, hydraulic behavior and performance of breastshot water wheels for different blades numbers, sagebien and zuppinger water wheels for very low head hydropower applications, 20 references, an outline of the development and application of the energy of flowing water, small scale water power, powering up the river thames, die wasserräder als hydraulische kraftmaschinen.

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Old watermills?Britain's new source of energy?

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IAHR Document Library

Performance characteristics of water wheels.

Author(s) : Gerald Müller; Klemens Kauppert

Linked Author(s) :

Keywords : Low head hydropower; micro-hydropower; water wheels; history of hydraulics

Abstract : During the eighteenth, nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, water wheels were important hydraulic energy converters. It is estimated that in England 25,000–30,000 wheels were in operation around 1850; in Germany 33,500 water wheels were recorded as late as 1925. Today, only very few water wheels are still in use. Low head hydropower is seldom exploited, since cost-effective energy converters for these conditions are not available. A small number of companies are currently again manufacturing apparently economically attractive over- and undershot water wheels; the performance characteristics of these wheels are however unclear so that the assessment of the potential of a site as well as their design and efficient operation relies on estimates. A number of engineering textbooks and three detailed experimental studies of water wheel design and performance were published between 1850 and 1935, but nowadays appear to be virtually unknown. A detailed study of these reports was conducted, and the performance characteristics of overshot water wheels were analysed in order to assess the application of such wheels for electricity generation. It was found that water wheels have to be designed for a given flow rate, head difference and intended operating regime. Properly designed overshot wheels have an efficiency of 85%, undershot wheels of approximately 75% for 0.2 < Q/Qmax < 1.0, making this type of energy converter suitable for the exploitation of highly variable flows.Water wheels must, however, be operated within certain parameter ranges in order to be able to perform efficiently; they appear to offer an efficient and cost-effective solution for the exploitation of low head hydropower sources.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2004.9641215

Year : 2004

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