OBJECTIVES:
- Development of design and manufacturing procedures of Francis turbines for micro hydropower projects in context of Nepal.
- Local manufacturing and installation of Francis turbine at one micro hydropower station in Nepal.
- Technology transfer to Nepalese turbine manufacturer for design and manufacturing of Francis turbine
project Team
Project Leader | Dr. Biraj Singh Thapa | KU |
Activity Leader | Mr. Atmaram Kayastha | KU |
Researcher | Mr. Amul Ghimire | KU |
Technical Support | Mr. Bhuwan Prasad Bhattarai | KU |
Supporting Researchers | Dr. Ram Lama | KU |
Mr. Dadi Ram Dahal | ||
Mr. Nischal Pokharel | ||
Project Date | December 2018 to December 2022 (Expected) – | |
Funding Agency | Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nepal (RNE) | |
Partner Agencies | Turbine Testing Lab, Nepal (TTL) Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Korea (KMOU) Mokpo National University, Korea (MKU) Thapa Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Nepal (TEI) Shinhan Precision Co. Ltd., Korea | |
Summary
Manufacturing of Francis turbine has been a bottleneck for the turbine manufacturing industries in Ne-pal, mostly due to lack of design knowledge and manufacturing techniques. In order to address the issue and to develop the capacity and competence of the Nepalese industries to start manufacturing Francis turbines for micro hydro power and subsequently larger hydropower, this project was envisioned. From the very start of the project, the project team has worked on the development of a simplified Francis tur-bine that can be manufactured without sophisticated manufacturing equipment and techniques. The de-sign developed is open source and is published in IOP Science Journal of Physics, with the title: “Design of Francis turbine for Micro hydropower applications”.
Chauri Khola II MHP, a micro hydro located in Kavre district, was selected as a reference site for the installation of the Francis turbine. The local community benefitting from the project agreed to contribute on the development of the micro hydro. The civil structure and generator for the project are being con-tributed, while the turbine shall be manufactured through the project budget. A simplified Francis turbine was designed for the reference site, at Turbine Testing Laboratory in Kathmandu University. The turbine was manufactured and installed by the Thapa Engineering Industries Pvt. Ltd., a partner agency of the project, using the locally available technology. The support for construction of civil structure was assisted by the local community contributing through labor and finance. Despite the completion of all the activities within the scope of the project, the turbine could not be operated due to lack of Electric Load Controllers at the site. Upon the request of the local community, an ELC is being procured through the TTL-NTIC project at Kathmandu University. The project shall commence soon after the installation of the ELC at site.
