Abstract
This project involves the design of a novel coreless hydrokinetic turbine. The goal was to develop a power plant that could harvest energy from a river or tidal basin to meet the energy needs of remote regions. The hydraulic turbine was designed as a rotating tube with turbine blades extending inwards in contrast with a traditional design in which blades extend radially outwards from the axis of rotation. This turbine is enclosed in an outer casing, similar to that of a jet engine, which contains three generators driven by the turbine. Performance optimization was conducted through simulations using ANSYS Fluent. Blade profiles were refined using blade element momentum theory in MATLAB with airfoil characteristic data calculated in XFOIL. An operational small-scale prototype was built for concept demonstration through physical water tunnel tests. The deliverables include design specifications for a hydroelectric power plant capable of producing electricity to meet energy demands in remote regions.