Preliminary Design of Micro Hydro Portable Screw Archimedes with

Transmission System in Small Irrigation Channel

I Kadek Ervan Hadi Wiryanta

and Achmad Wibolo

Politeknik Negeri Bali Badung, Bali, Indonesia

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indonesia

Keywords: Design, Micro Hydro, Screw Archimedes, Transmission.

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to find an optimum design of micro hydro screw Archimedes for use in small

irrigation channel. This type of turbine has advantages including low head, easy maintenance and friendly to

fish. From the design, the screw Archimedes turbines made with three screw blades, the thread range is 492

mm, the outer blade radius (Ro) is 112.5 mm and the inner radius (Ri) is 55 mm and uses materials from

stainless and has an inclination of 20°. The frame has a dimension of 1m long, 30cm wide, and 30cm high

using aluminium. The generators with an output of 0 – 24V, 3Ah battery capacity, and inverters with 500W.

The rotation speed and the power generate from screw Archimedes turbines will observed with the variation.

The test result showed that the screw Archimedes turbines work properly. The average rotation of turbine was

about 259.4 rpm and the average generator rotation are about 768.6 rpm. The power output that produces from

the system was about 27.37 Watt at 0.443 m

/s water debit.

1 INTRODUCTION

The development of new and renewable energy is

currently quite rapid. This is based on the awareness

of the fact that the main energy source so far, namely

fossil fuels is increasingly becoming scarce. New

sources of fossil energy such as petroleum, coal was

increasingly difficult to obtain. Some of the new and

renewable energy sources that are quite widely used

include solar energy, wind energy, water energy,

biomass, and so on, all of which are energy that will

never run out because they can be renewed naturally

and more importantly energy. The energy is

environmentally friendly because it produces low

emissions and produces fewer waste products that can

have a negative impact on the environment. (Garg

H.P, 1995).

Hydropower system was one of the commonly

renewable energy developed to produces electricity.

Hydropower has a different type of turbines that used

to generate electric power from the generator. A small

hydropower system usually known as micro hydro.

Micro hydro turbines also had many types of turbines,

which the most recently studied were the screw

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1501-569X

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7721-4037

turbines (screw Archimedes). Screw turbines have an

advantage of low head operated screw turbine (H

<10m) (Okot, 2013). Several studies on the

development of screw turbines (screw Archimedes

turbine) as a driving force for the generation of

electrical energy have been carried out. Other

experimental studies to optimize the design and

performance of the screw Archimedes turbine were

also carried out by optimizing the inner radius of the

turbine and the pitch ratio of the screw (Rorres, 2000).

Another method was carried out by Saroinsong, et al,

2016, by making a laboratory-scale screw turbine

from acrylic material with three turbine blades, a

blade tilt angle of 30° and a radius ratio of 0.54. The

results showed that the screw turbine performance

was maximized at low turbine shaft tilt, which

automatically resulted in a better turbine when

operating at low head and rotation. Many others

research about development of screw Archimedes

turbines also have been done, Lyon, M., 2013 made

experimental results report examining the

relationship between torque, rotation speed and

power. The laboratory screw maintained reasonable

efficiency over wide ranges of operating conditions,

Wiryanta, I. and Wibolo, A.

Preliminary Design of Micro Hydro Portable Screw Archimedes with Transmission System in Small Irrigation Channel.

DOI: 10.5220/0010942400003260

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science (iCAST-ES 2021), pages 207-212

ISBN: 978-989-758-615-6; ISSN: 2975-8246

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

207

although distinct efficiency peaks were found to

occur. The screw Archimedes generator power output

identified changes over the varying of water level

outlet. Kumar, U., 2016 also had research about screw

Archimedes for used in India. The screw Archimedes

generator in Micro-hydro power plant At Kabitkhedi,

Indore, India was observed and the result showed that

The results show that significant potential exists for

energy recovery in the water industry, The water will

run straight through the turbine and back into the river

or stream to use it for the other purposes. This has a

minimal environmental impact on the local

ecosystem.

Another study on Archimedes screw turbines is

also carried out numerically. (Kotronis, 2016) has

carried out numerical model of the Archimedes screw

turbine by developing a mathematical model using

CFD by varying the geometry of the turbine, water

flow velocity, upstream and downstream water levels

of the turbine, and the efficiency of devices such as

gearboxes and so on. Waters S, et al, 2015 conducted

a review of the parameters for the optimization of the

Archimedes turbine screw using CFD. Various types

of applications (submerged, inclined and horizontal),

were investigated, because each application method

will generate electrical energy potential in different

ways. The ideal conditions for micro hydro power are

geographically an area that has river flows that flow

throughout the year with a slope angle that is not too

high, for example mountainous areas. Another

requirement is high rainfall throughout the year and

island areas with a maritime climate with high

humidity levels. Thus, Indonesia can be said to be

ideal to be a place for the development of this micro

hydro power.

Bali as a developed province in Indonesia with a

lot of rice field with traditional irrigation system

called “subak” has a great potential for micro hydro

system. Due to this situation in this research, there

will be develop an optimal design for micro hydro

screw Archimedes using small irrigational water

system that suit in Bali.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology in this research were divided into

two sections, the first was calculate and designing the

prototype model of screw Archimedes turbines based

on the topography of the irrigation channel, and the

second was build and test the screw Archimedes

turbines to find the performances.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The Archimedes screw type hydro power generator,

as described in the background, has advantages

compared to other turbine types. The working

principle of the Archimedes screw turbine is:

a. Water from the top end flows into the space

between the blade range (bucket)and out

from the bottom end

b. The gravity of the water and the difference in

hydrostatic pressure in the bucket along the

rotor pushes the screw blade and rotates the

rotor about its axis

c. The turbine rotor rotates an electric generator

which is connected to the top end of the screw

turbine shaft.

Before designing the optimum model for the

micro hydro, the first step was measuring the average

size of the irrigation channel.

Yes

Start

Design prototype of Micro

dro Power Model

Desi

n of screw Archimedes turbines

Build and fabrication of micro hydro power

screw Archimedes turbines

Experimental report

Testing of micro

hydro screw

Archimedes

Finish

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208

Figure 1: Irrigation water channel in Gianyar, Bali.

Figure 2: Schematic of water irrigation.

The irrigation channel has a rectangular shape. The

dimension of the irrigation channel shown in table 1

below.

Table 1: Dimension of the irrigation channel.

No Irrigation

channel

𝒍



𝒎)

𝒘

(𝒎)

𝒕



𝒔



𝒅



𝒎



1 Banjar Sawan 0.42 0.09 4.46 5

2 Banjar Sawan 0.38 0.05 4.44 5

3 Banjar Taruna 0.48 0.07 5.12 5

From the measure of the water velocities, can be

obtain the debit of the water flow in the irrigation

channel.

I. Irrigation channel 1

𝑄𝐴 .𝑣

𝑄  0.038 𝑚



. 1.121 𝑚/𝑠

𝑄  0.043 𝑚



/𝑠

II. Irrigation channel 2

𝑄𝐴 .𝑣

𝑄  0.019 𝑚



. 1.126 𝑚/𝑠

𝑄  0.021 𝑚



/𝑠

III. Irrigation channel 3

𝑄𝐴 .𝑣

𝑄  0.034 𝑚



. 0.977 𝑚/𝑠

𝑄  0.033 𝑚



/𝑠

3.1 Design of Screw Archimedes

Turbines

The design of the screw Archimedes turbine was

developed using the optimal design by rores. Figure 3

shown two blade turbines made by rores

Figure 3: Two blade turbine.

The screw turbine which is designed based on the

potential of available water energy sources is as

follows:

• Head = 24 cm

• Debit = 0.043 𝑚



/𝑠

The tilt angle of the screw turbine that will be made

variable is from an angle of 20°, turbine shaft length

used are measure by:

𝐿 =





𝐿

24 cm

0.363970234

𝐿  65.939 cm 𝐿  660 𝑚𝑚

In determining the dimensions of this turbine blade,

the number of threads N is 3. Referring to table 2 for

N=3 is selected:

𝑁 = 3

𝜐

∗

= 0.2697

𝜌

∗

= 0.5357

𝜆

∗

= 0.2217

Preliminary Design of Micro Hydro Portable Screw Archimedes with Transmission System in Small Irrigation Channel

209

For the outer radius of the screw turbine Ro in the

design selected 10 cm, which is 20 cm in diameter.

As for the radius in the screw turbine Ri, the design is

based on equation:

𝑅



ρ

∗

𝑅



𝑅



 0.5357 𝑥 10 cm

𝑅



 5.35 𝑐𝑚

The range of the blade 𝛬 can be calculated. Because

the angle uses below 30 then the 𝛬 is:

𝛬  2.4𝑅



𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝜃  30

𝛬  2.4𝑅



𝛬  2.4 𝑥 10 𝑐𝑚

𝛬  24 𝑐𝑚

Table 2: Optimal Ratio Parameters of Archimedes Screw

for Various Numbers of Blades.

The length of the threaded blade (L) is calculated

using the Inventor engineering drawing software,

resulting in a blade span length of 43.2718 cm.

3.2 Design of Transmission System

In the designing of this micro hydro turbine, it was

decided to transfer the rotation from the turbine shaft

to the generator shaft using pulleys and belts. The belt

used is a V-belt, one of the choices for this belt is

because the V-belt has a smaller slip factor than a

rotating belt, the price is cheaper than a rotating belt

Figure 4: he length of the threaded blade, made with

Inventor.

and it is easier to find in the market. The ratio of

pulley was 1:3 in order to increasing the generator

rotation. The frame of the turbine designed based on

field surveys, most irrigation have a minimum width

of 35 cm and a depth of ±12 cm, the turbine design is

made as follows: length 1 m, height 30 cm, and width

30 cm.

3.3 Build and Test of the Micro Hydro

Screw Archimedes

Due to the detail geometry of turbine and screw that

has been calculated, then a design of micro hydro

system created using CAD. Detail of the CAD system

shown in Figure 5 below:

1. Screw 6. Pulley

2. Battery 7. V-belt

3. Bearing 8. Bucket

4. Generator 9. Chasing

5. Inverter

Figure 5: Design of micro hydro screw Archimedes.

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210

From the geometry and design using CAD in Figure 5,

then the prototype of micro hydro power screw

Archimedes turbines was built and developed. The

rotor construction has 3 screw blades, the thread range

is 492 mm, the outer blade radius (Ro) is 112.5 mm and

the inner radius (Ri) is 55 mm and uses materials from

stainless. The frame has a dimension of 1m long, 30cm

wide, and 30cm high using aluminium. The generators

with an output of 0 – 24V, 3Ah battery capacity, and

inverters with 500 W power. The prototype of the

turbine shown in Figure 6 below:

Figure 6: Screw Archimedes micro hydro.

The micro hydro power that has been built then tested

in irrigation channel Voltage and current data were

measured using an AVO meter, the turbine and

generator rotation and were obtained using

tachometer. The result shown in table 3 below:

Table 3: Micro hydro test result (Q = 0.043 m

/s).

Time

(min)

Rotation (rpm) Output

Turbine Generator V

(Volt)

(A)

(watt)

5 258.3 769.5 25.6 1.8 27.65

10 269.2 783.6 26.31 1.13 29.73

15 257.9 762.4 25.42 1.08 27.45

20 249.9 753.9 24.1 0.99 23.86

25 261.7 773.8 25.84 1.09 28.17

Figure 7: Turbine rotation by time.

Figure 8: Power output by time.

Figure 7 and Figure 8 above showed that the micro

hydro screw Archimedes that has designed and build

can work properly. The micro hydro turbine can

rotate in the irrigation channel and produce enough

electricity. The rotation from turbine to generator

increased by the transmission system. It is significant

to increase the power output that generate by the

generator. The average rotation of turbine was about

259.4 rpm and the average generator rotation are

about 768.6 rpm. The power output that produces

from the system was about 27.37 Watt.

4 CONCLUSIONS

From the discussion above about the optimal design

of micro hydro screw Archimedes turbine for used in

irrigation channel has a 3 screw blades, the thread

range is 492 mm, the outer blade radius (Ro) is 112.5

mm and the inner radius (Ri) is 55 mm and uses

materials from stainless. The frame has a dimension

of 1m long, 30cm wide, and 30cm high using

aluminium. The generators with an output of 0 – 24V,

3Ah battery capacity, and inverters with 500 W.

From the test result, we can conclude that the micro

hydro screw Archimedes that has been build can work

properly and had an efficiency about 30%.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge The Director

and Head of P3M State Polytechnic of Bali for

funding this research. Authors also likes to thanks full

to the research team and all the staff of Mechanical

Engineering Department of Bali State Polytechnic for

the support.

258,3

269,2

257,9

249,9

261,7

100

150

200

250

300

5 10152025

Rotation (rpm)

Time (min)

Q = 0.443 m^3/s

27,65

29,73

27,45

23,86

28,17

5 10152025

Power output

Waktu (menit)

0.043 m^3/s

Preliminary Design of Micro Hydro Portable Screw Archimedes with Transmission System in Small Irrigation Channel

211

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