Abstract
The concept of this research, derived from the energy saving ideas for faucets or water-saving sprinkler systems, is applied to the water flowing through the turbine at any moment or from the height difference of surface flows. The turbine is expected to absorb part of the energy from the high-pressure water flow, which will drive the turbine rotor and the rotor blades and consequently power on the built-in LED lights of the micro-generators. In emergencies, such as fires, earthquakes or heavy rains, it could be used as the power source for emergency lights and the backup power recharging station, which could increase the chance for victims to escape. This project, through simulation and testing, is to design a rotor for a 100W micro-hydraulic turbogenerator. Taking advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), we found out what the performance effects are when the blade geometry or blade number is changed. After taking all the CFD and simulation results into account, we figured out which rotor blade design is the best for making a blade prototype. Finally, after making the rotor and blade system, we started rotor testing and compared the testing results with the simulation ones. As a result, we produce a baseline design for the micro-hydraulic turbogenerator used in fire sprinkler systems.