Abstract:
Many parts of sub-Saharan Africa have small streams and rivers that have a potential to produce hydropower on
small scale for rural and off-grid applications. However, the high cost of commercially designed micro-hydro turbines limits
the exploitation of the available hydropower. Thus any efforts to improve the understanding of the fundamental principles
involved in the design, manufacture, and operation of simple micro-hydro turbines that could be constructed from readily
available low cost materials and construction methods would be invaluable. This paper presents the fundamental theory and
the methodology for design of a single arm centrifugal reaction water turbine that would allow efficient extraction of
hydro-power. Continuum mechanics approach was adopted where the design of the turbine was derived from a mathematical
model that was based on the balance equations formulated in a rotating control volume. The model showed that the theoretical
power output is equivalent to the product of the following: density of water, volume flow rate, angular velocity of the turbine,
radial length of the turbine arm and the absolute velocity of water as they exit the turbine. Further, the analysis showed that
the theoretical efficiency of the turbine is directly proportional to the ratio of angular acceleration to the gravitational
acceleration. The experimental test results of the model turbine are presented in our subsequent work (Part 2).
