Water Current Velocity Intensification by Momentum Diffusion Method

Abstract

Investigations on methods to intensify flow velocity have been conducted. The results show that flow velocity can be improved using momentum diffusion method by installing non porous channel in the flow. In this work, the investigated flow velocity increased 1.6 times using a 100 mm semicircular channel on a flowing shallow river.

The implication of the work could be that renewable energy from low velocity flowing sources can now be used to generate more power than would have been possible in low velocity flow conditions. However, it is noted that further testing will be required to investigate the implications of increasing the width of the channel. It is also noted that method of design and installation of the technique into flow system for such power generation improvement will need to be examined.