Students Develop Innovation in Hydropower Generation

Students Develop Innovation in Hydropower Generation by Catherine Ortega Klett, NM WRRI Program Manager NMSU students in the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr. Nadipuram Prasad, recently completed a project entitled, Hydro-Weir: A technology for low-head hydropower generation. The project was funded by a NM WRRI Student Water Research Grant. The students were able to use 3D printing technology to show the feasibility of manufacturing functional hydropower harvester prototypes for laboratory testing. This was a first step toward full-scale prototype manufacturing. The project aimed to develop a 200W hydropower harvester to harness energy from weir-flow systems. A weir is a barrier across a river designed to alter the flow characteristics, usually a horizontal barrier across the width of a river that pools water behind it while still allowing steady flow over the top. The objective of this project was to design and fabricate a laboratory scale prototype at the lowest cost. The size and shape had to conform to simulated weir-flow characteristics in the NMSU hydraulics laboratory. The students were successful at showing for the very first time that a scale model hydropower harvester prototype can be fabricated using 3D printing technology. Not only does this technology lower the generation cost, but it also minimizes environmental impacts of hydropower development. Results from tests will be published in water power journals. In addition to being a successful Senior Design Capstone project in the undergraduate program of the Klipsch School, funding allowed Juan R. González, to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering. Juan worked with Dr. Prasad in preparing the final report, which is available by clicking here.