Author(s)

Stefan Runge, Thorsten Stoesser, Emily Morris, Madeleine White

Hydro-Environmental Research Centre, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK.

In this paper, the development of a vertical axis hydrokinetic twin turbine for harvesting energy from flowing water in man-made channels is described. The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessment procedure, developed by NASA and modified by the US Department of Energy, is followed and it is shown that the hydrokinetic turbine successfully reaches TRL 7, which is a full-scale, similar (prototypical) system demonstrated in a relevant environment. The concept of the twin turbine (TRL 1 - 3) is first validated and tested using a 1:10 scale laboratory model at Cardiff University and efficiencies of up to 75% are achieved (TRL 4 - 5). In order to justify system functionality and performance in a relevant environment as well as up-scalability, a 1:3 scale model of the twin turbine is implemented and tested in a discharge channel of a water treatment plant in Atlanta, thereby achieving TRL6. This paved the way for an application in the form of an array of ten full-scale twin turbine prototypes, including all relevant components such as housing, drive-train, gear-box and generator. Successful deployment and testing in the South Boulder Canal near Denver means that the hydrokinetic twin turbine system reached TRL7.

Hydro-Turbine, Vertical-Axis, VAT, Micro-Hydro, TRL, Technology Readiness Level

Runge, S. , Stoesser, T. , Morris, E. and White, M. (2018) Technology Readiness of a Vertical-Axis Hydro-Kinetic Turbine. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 6, 63-85. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2018.68004.