The effects of blade number on the efficiency of undershot water wheel

Abstract

       The objective of this research is to study the effects of the number of blade on the efficiency of the undershot water wheel at a low water level. The research has compared effect of different number of blades, starting from 12-blades propeller and increasing every 2 blades, therefore, the maximum number of propellers is at 18 blades. The experiments were conducted to analyze for the torque, power output, and efficiency at the water flow rate of 960 liters/minute, while the height of water about 40 centimeters. The experiment results found that increasing number of water turbine blades, can increase the torque of the turbine shaft and the mechanical power output. The mechanical efficiency of the turbine will increase with number of turbine blades. The water turbine with 18 blades has maximum torque of 14.66 Nm, highest mechanical power of 33.94 Watts and highest efficiency at 50.06%.