Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Numerical Optimization Study of Archimedes Screw Turbine (AST):

A case study
K. Shahverdi a, b, *, R. Loni c, B. Ghobadian c, S. Gohari a, S. Marofi d, Evangelos Bellos e
a
Department of Water Science Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
b
Department of Water Structures Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
c
Department of Biosystems Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
d
Water Research Institute, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
e
Thermal Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of renewable energies including hydropower energy is growing throughout the world. Among
Received 8 November 2018 the existing hydropower technologies, small-scale hydropower technologies are popular due to easy
Received in revised form accessibility and availability in different locations. Recently, Archimedes Screw Turbines (ASTs) as a new
12 March 2019
technology have been considered. The main objective of this research is the structural optimization of an
Accepted 27 July 2019
Available online 29 July 2019
AST for substituting in irrigation canals instead of existing check structures. For this purpose, the AST
performance model was numerically developed for screw performance optimization in MATLAB 2013a
environment. The developed model was validated using experimental data. Different structural pa-
Keywords:
Archimedes screw turbine
rameters were optimized to design an appropriate AST for replacing instead of check drop-1 in the east
Numerical optimization Aghili canal in Khuzestan province (Iran). The canal was simulated using the ICSS hydrodynamic model.
Power generation The results of the developed model showed a good agreement with reported experimental data. The
East Aghili canal highest efficiency was obtained 90.83% for the screw length of 6 m, the inclination angle of 20
, and the
flight number of 1 at the design flow rate. Based on the findings, the suggested system can be used
instead of the canal structures without considerable change in the hydraulic and performance of the
canal.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of these resources are small rivers, irrigation systems, drinking

Nowadays, producing sustainable energy is one of the main
challenges throughout the world. The fossil fuel resources
decreasing, CO2 increasing, environmental pollution and global
warming cause researchers to find other resources of energies
([1,2]). Renewable energies such as solar, wind, geothermal and
hydropower energies as popular kinds of renewable energy re-
sources can be found throughout the world ([3e6]). Among the
mentioned resources, hydropower energies have been used
widely as large-scale hydropower plants in large dams. Although
almost all of the large-scale hydropower opportunities have
already been exhausted, there is a strong potential for small-scale
hydropower (micro hydropower) resources to be exploited. Some
* Corresponding author. Department of Water Science Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina
University, Hamedan, Iran.
E-mail address: shahverdi2006@gmail.com (K. Shahverdi).
water networks, wastewater networks, cooling systems, etc. In
hydropower plants, the hydraulic power of water is converted to
mechanical power using a turbine in order to electricity genera-
tion. Recently, inverse use of the conventional Archimedes screw
pump is considered as a popular technology to be used as a tur-
bine for electricity generation from flowing water, named Archi-
medes Screw Turbine (AST). Traditionally, the Archimedes screw
was used for pumping water from a lower to a higher level or
conveying liquid or solid materials in a horizontal or inclined
plane [7].
There are different types of turbine for electricity generation
including Kaplan, Pelton, etc. Comparing the relative costs of an AST
and the more common Kaplan turbine for a small-scale hydro-
power site showed that for an energy output of about 15% more, the
AST cost is about 10% less, and its annual capital cost 22% cheaper
[8]. In addition, the AST is an environmental and fish friendly
structure which needs low civil works for installation in even
existing structures [9]. Previous researches showed screw

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.07.124
0960-1481/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
efficiency decreases when rotation speed increases at higher speed
because the friction forces become unexpectedly large [10].
Numeric researches on the real performance of ASTs are limited.
Rorres [11] derived relationships using analytical and numerical
analysis for the water levels, flow rates and flow leakages based on
actual Archimedes screw pump geometry with modern computing
techniques. Due to the importance of flow leakage of hydraulic
machinery on their performance, flow leakage of hydraulic ma-
chinery was investigated experimentally and numerically in
Refs. [12,13], and [14]. The design and optimization of hydraulic
machinery were investigated in Ref. [15] based on the flow rate,
head and rotational speed, and in Ref. [16] based on experimental
and numerical analysis.
Müller and Senior [17] presented a simple two-dimensional
theory of the Archimedes screw. They developed a model based
on the geometry parameters of the Archimedes screw. They
assumed the hydrostatic pressure creates torque and causes the
screw rotation. Questionnaire investigation on about 400 installed
ASTs in Europe showed that outer diameter is equal to pitch, and
the inner diameter is half the outer diameter in most of the
installed screws. Also, the mean and max electrical efficiencies of
ASTs were calculated as 69% and 80%, respectively [18]. The effect of
the upstream canal water level on the screw diameter was
considerable, and for the screw inclination angle of 34.8ᵒ, the AST
electrical efficiency has reported 84% [19] which is a high efficiency.
C Zafirah and Nurul Suraya [20] investigated the helix turns and a
number of flights to optimize the AST performance using CFD
(Computational Fluid Dynamic) method. The results showed that
the highest performance of 81% could be obtained for a screw with
flights number of 3 and the helix turns of 3. Also, the screw with
flights number of 2 has higher performance than flights number of
3 for any helix turns.
Stergiopoulos et al. [21] studied screw performance with hori-
zontal, vertical and inclined axes using CFD and explained the
methodology, but they did not present any results about screw
performance. Lashofer et al. [22] tested both screws with rotating
trough meaning the trough is fixed to the flights and screw with the
fixed trough. They found that the screw with fixed trough has
higher efficiency than that of for rotating trough. They investigated
screw efficiency for a wide range of geometry parameters and re-
ported the efficiency of up to 90%. Also, the Ritz-Atro company in
Germany reported the screw efficiency of up to 90% (www.ritz-atro.
de). However, increasing AST efficiency is being studied.
Dellinger et al. [23] developed a theoretical model in which
screw performance was investigated as a function of screw geom-
etry and flow condition. The flow leakage, friction, and outlet
submersion losses were all included and the fill factor was variable.
They installed an experimental device in the laboratory and con-
ducted some experiments on the screw used in the theoretical
model investigation. The results of the theoretical and experi-
mental models showed good agreements for the calculated torque
and efficiency with those of in the experiment. Since flow motion in
ASTs are three-dimensional and occurred phenomena are complex,
Dellinger et al. investigated screw performance using CFD method,
OpenFOAM software, in different flow conditions and rotation
speeds of the screw. The validation data for the OpenFOAM simu-
lations were collected using a laboratory set up. The screw
computational domain grids were defined about 5 million meshes
used for the calculations. Initial and boundary conditions were
defined and simulations were then performed. They resulted in
that a three-dimensional simulation is a powerful tool in order to
investigate the ASTs performance. However, they suggested more
studies for the different inclination angle of the screw and various
flow condition [24].
A more complete performance model of ASTs was described in
2131
Refs. [25,26]. In the first work, the ideal model of an AST was
numerically developed. Also, the screw performance was investi-
gated experimentally. The numeric developed model was validated
using experimental data. The validated model was used for screw
efficiency prediction. The predicted mechanical power and effi-
ciency showed good agreements with associated experimental re-
sults. Moreover, the maximum efficiency was approximately 80%.
Kozyn and Lubitz [26] developed a complete power losses
model to real screw efficiency prediction. The complete model was
implemented in MATLAB. In that research, the ideal power and
efficiency were predicted using Lubitz et al. [25] ideal model, and
then real mechanical power and efficiency experimentally esti-
mated. Using ideal and real mechanical power and efficiency dif-
ference, all power losses were calculated. Finally, each power loss
was estimated using the developed power losses model. This model
validated using an installed AST in Waterfored, Ontario, Canada.
Most of the studies until now, on the screw performance, are
experimentally, and in some cases both numerically and experi-
mentally, but they are not in a real case study and in micro hy-
dropower resources like irrigation canals.
Irrigation canals are one of the best micro hydropower resources
because they have many energy dissipater structures to reduce the
hydraulic energy of flowing water. Some of these structures are
drops, chutes, settling basin, etc. which dissipate excess energy of
water as usually heat losses. The excess energy of flowing water in
such structures can be converted to electricity. Considering ASTs
are an efficient, fish friendly, environmentally friendly device, and
have low civil works for substituting in existing structures, they
could be a good candidate for this purpose. East Aghili canal in
Khuzestan province (Iran) is a good case for studying and opti-
mizing an AST performance because it has many check structures
which may be substituted with appropriate ASTs. Also, its hydraulic
and physical data exist due to previous studies [27,28].
Although, the use of the AST to generate electricity is growing,
there are no references dealing with their optimum design and
application in irrigation canals throughout the world. It is necessary
to exploit these energy sources by designing and applying an
appropriate AST instead of irrigation canal structures. The main
objectives of this paper are to recognize places which have po-
tential hydraulic energy in the east Aghili canal by ICSS (Irrigation
Canal System Simulation) hydrodynamic simulation, and to
develop a numerical model of ASTs. Finally, an optimum AST
instead of the first check structure (check drop-1) in east Aghili
canal was designed using developed model.
2. Modeling and methodology
2.1. General modeling description
In this research, a numerical model of an AST system was
developed for the estimation of power generation in irrigation
canals. This research was conducted for the optimization of the AST
for the east Aghili canal as a case study. For this goal, in the first
stage, ICSS hydrodynamic model was used for simulating the east
Aghili canal and then available head and hydraulic power of water
flow in the canal were calculated. In this software, experimental
data of the east Aghili canal were used. In the next stage, an
advance hydraulic model was developed using hydraulic relation-
ships in the AST systems. All of the codes were written in the
MATLAB 2013a. It should be mentioned that all of the hydraulic
losses were assumed in the developed model and the results of the
modeling were validated using the reported experimental data.
Finally, the optimum structural parameters of the AST including the
flight numbers, screw length, and screw inclination angle, as well as
the performance parameters including water depth and flow were
2132 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143

optimized for the east Aghili canal. A summary of the investigated

methodology in the current study is presented in Fig. 1.

2.2. AST components

An AST exploits the kinetic and potential energies of a liquid in

places with very low head or nearly zero head. The kinetic and the
potential energy of a liquid are transformed into mechanical work
for rotating the screw and generating a torque. A coupled generator
to the screw converts the mechanical energy into the electrical one.
The potential sites for AST installing like rivers, irrigation systems
such as canals and conduits, stormwater systems and water dis-
Fig. 2. Schematic of AST components.
tribution systems, drinking water networks, wastewater networks,
cooling systems and even a desalination plant, etc. with nearly zero
to 6.5 m head and flow rate of fewer than 6.5 m3/s are the most
common places. The schematic of AST components is shown in
Fig. 2.
Based on Fig. 2, an AST system consists of different parts
including screw, trough, upstream canal and downstream canal.
Water inflows from upstream canal to the screw inlet and causes
the screw to rotate and a torque is generated. As the water reaches
to the screw end, it inters to the downstream canal which has a
constant water level.
In the AST system, water is supplied by an upper resource to the
inlet of the inclined AST. Water moving down from upstream of the
screw to the downstream is entrapped between two adjacent screw
flights. Water level difference between the upstream and down-
stream elevation of either side of the flights creates pressure force
acting on the flights and creating a torque that causes mechanical
rotation of the screw. Finally, flow is entered into the lower reser-
Fig. 3. Geometrical parameters of an AST.
voir. The hydraulic and mechanical parameters can be used for
computing the mechanical power and efficiency. It should be
mentioned, a bucket is a volume of water trapped between two 2.3. AST model developing
successive flights. There is a gap between the flights and the fixed
trough, named as Gap width (Gw ). The gap width allows the screw As shown in Fig. 4, consider an AST with an inclination angle of b
to rotate freely within the trough, and it causes a gap leakages. (related to the horizontal axis and in a cylindrical coordinate sys-
The geometrical parameters of an AST are shown in Fig. 3. They tem) in which w is aligned with screw centerline, r is the radial
are outer diameter (Do ), inner diameter (Di ), the pitch of the screw position of the considered element from the centerline and q is the
(S), total length (L), number of flights (N), and screw inclination angular position of the element from the centerline in the w axis.
angle (b). These parameters should be optimized for any values of Steady-state flow condition (constant rotation speed u and volume
the net water head (H) and the total volume flow rate flowing flow rate Qt ) was assumed for hydraulic modeling. An individual
through the system (Qt ). bucket was considered to calculate its torque (Tb ) and volume (Vb )
using numerical integration. All buckets were assumed to have the
same behavior; therefore, total torque and volume flow rate can be
calculated using single bucket torque and volume. The flow chart of
the mechanical power and efficiency calculation is shown in Fig. 5
described as follow.

Fig. 1. A summary of the investigated methodology in the current study. Fig. 4. Coordinate system of a rotating screw.
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143 2133

2.3.1. Geometric parameters calculation

According to the geometry of the screw, geometric parameters
are defined as below [26]:

wðrÞ ¼ r (1)

w
qðwÞ ¼ 2p (2)
S

Sq
z1 ¼ r cosðqÞcosðbÞ  sinðbÞ (3)
2p

Sq S Fig. 6. Position of the minimum (zmin ) and maximum (zmax ) value of the vertical point.
z2 ¼ r cosðqÞcosðbÞ  ð  ÞsinðbÞ (4)
2p N

in which z1 and z2 are the vertical positions of any point (r q) on the

0 z2 > zwl ; z1 > zwl
downstream and upstream surfaces of the flights, respectively.
Also, the minimum (zmin ) and maximum (zmax ) value of vertical z  z1 S
ð wl Þ rdrdq z2 > zwl ; z1
point occur at the downstream and upstream surfaces of the flights, dV ¼ f z2  z1 N (8)
respectively (Fig. 6). S
For a bucket, q ranges between 0 and 2p, and r ranges between rdrdq z2 < zwl ; z1 > zwl
N
Di =2 andDo =2; therefore, by substituting q ¼ p , r ¼ Do = 2 in
Equation (3), and q ¼ 2p, r ¼ Di =2 in Equation (4), zmin and zmax can
be calculated as following Equations:
2.3.2. Ideal power calculation
Do S The geometric parameters are used for calculating ideal power
zmin ¼  cosðbÞ  sinðbÞ (5) (no flow leakages or power losses) generated within an AST. The
2 2
hydrostatic pressure created at points z1 and z2 due to the weight of
water within a bucket are calculated using Equations (9) and (10),
Do S respectively, as follow:
zmax ¼ cosðbÞ  sinðbÞ (6)
2 2
0 z1 > zwl
Introducing fill factor f as relative depth in the screw section, the p1 ¼ f (9)
rgðzwl  z1 Þ z1 < zwl
actual water level can be defined as follows:
0 z2 > zwl
p2 ¼ f (10)
zwl ¼ zmin þ f ðzmax  zmin Þ (7) rgðzwl  z2 Þ z2 < zwl

If f ¼ 0 then z ¼ zmin and the bucket is empty. Whenf ¼ 1, water in which p1 and p2 are the hydrostatic pressure downstream and
level reaches to the top point of the central shaft of the screw and upstream surfaces of the flights, respectively. The bucket torque
z ¼ zmax . (Tb ) and total generated torque (T) due to the hydrostatic pressure
The volume of water in a bucket (Vb ) can be calculated by nu- are calculated using Equations (11) and (12), respectively:
merical integration of dV, Equation (8), for q between 0 and 2p, and
r between Di =2 andDo =2. ð q¼2
r¼Do=2 ðp
S
Tb ¼ ðp1  p2 Þ rdrdq (11)
2p
r¼Di=2 q¼0

NL
T ¼ Tb ð Þ (12)
S
Given a constant rotation speed (u), ideal power (Pideal ) in which
there are no flow leakages or power losses is calculated by Equation
(13):

Pideal ¼ u:T (13)

When water enters the AST, some flow leakages and some po-
wer losses are occurred reducing ideal power. The flow leakages are
gap leakage and overflow leakage, and the power losses are bearing
power loss, outlet expansion power loss, hydraulic friction power
loss and outlet submersion power loss.

2.3.3. Flow leakages calculation

Fig. 5. Flow chart of the mechanical power and efficiency calculation. The gap leakage (Qgl ) is not contributed to the screw torque
2134 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143

generation. Nagel (1968) suggested an empirical model as Equation
(14) to estimate gap leakage when f ¼ 1. This model has been used
widely in previous researches. Note that the optimal performance
of the screw occurs when f ¼ 1; therefore, this model is used for
screw design. Nagel model was used in this research to estimate
gap leakage.
water passing through it. These contacts produce some frictions in
the transport direction and rotational direction.
In the transport direction, the screw flights produce no torque.
The shear stresses of the trough (tt ) and central shaft (tcsh ) due to
the fluid viscosity can be calculated using Equations (21) and (22),
respectively:

Qgl ¼ 2:5Gw D1:5 (14) rv2t

o tt ¼ lt (21)
8
When fill factor becomes greater than 1, an overflow leakage
(Qo ) will occur. This leakage is estimated based on the relation of V-
rv2t
notch overflow defined by Equation (15) [10]. tcsh ¼ lcsh (22)
8
4 pffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
Qo ¼ m 2gð þ tanðbÞÞðzwl  zmax Þ2:5 (15) Where lt and lcsh are Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for the trough
15 tanðbÞ
and central shaft, respectively. Note that the relationship between
the two mentioned friction factor coefficients can be driven using
in which m is the flow coefficient and is equal to 0.537 according to
Darcy-Weisbach and Manning equilibrium easily. Shear forces (F)
Nuernbergk and Rorres [10].
on the wetted area of the trough (Awt ) and central shaft (Awcsh ) can
be calculated by Equation (23):
2.3.4. Power losses calculation
2.3.4.1. Bearing friction power loss. The bearing friction power loss F ¼ tt BAwt þ tcsh BAwcsh (23)
occurs due to screw rotation. At this point, it is important to state
that higher rotation speed leads to higher bearing power loss. In which, Bis number of buckets. Finally, overall head loss (hl;ht )
Typically, bearing power loss (Pl;b ) is a function of rotation speed and power loss (Pl;ht ) due to hydraulic friction in the transport di-
given by bearing manufacture. In this research, the screw material rection are given by Equations (24) and (25), respectively:
was considered as smooth steel with power loss equation as
Equation (16): rBVb g
hl;ht ¼ (24)
FL
Pl;b ¼ 0:0003u þ 0:0082 (16)
Pl;ht ¼ rgQhl;ht (25)

Hydraulic friction power loss in the rotational direction has two

2.3.4.2. Outlet expansion power loss. When water flows between
two different cross-section areas, a power loss occurs, named outlet
expansion power loss. Moving water from trough with a lower
cross-section area to the receiving outlet canal with a greater cross-
section area faces cross-section expansion power loss. The overall
outlet expansion power loss (Pl;OE ) can be calculated using Borda-
Carnot relation defined as Equation (17).
components including friction between water and central shaft and
friction between water and flights. The shaft relative velocity
(vshaft ), generated shear stress (tshaft ) and power loss (Pl;hshaft ) can
be calculated using Equations (26)e(28), respectively:
Di
vshaft ¼ u (26)
2

v2t rv2shaft
Pl;OE ¼ rgQt :ðzo Þ (17) tshaft ¼ lchs (27)
2g 8
in which ris water density, g is gravitational acceleration, zo is the
rv2shaft
Borda-Carnot coefficient and vt is the transport velocity of the Pl;hshaft ¼ lchst BAshaft (28)
buckets along the screw length defined as Equations (18) and (19), 8
respectively:
in which Ashaft is the shaft wetted area.
A Determining shear stress between water and flights are rather
zo ¼ ð1  Q Þ2 (18) complex. Relative moving of water has two components; the radial
Ao
component which is orthogonal to the shaft axis and the compo-
nent parallel to the shaft which causes no friction loss. The relative
Su
vt ¼ (19) velocity between water and flights, related shear stress and power
2p
loss depend on the radial position of the considered element;
Where Ao is the cross-section area of the downstream canal, and therefore, to calculate the power loss due to flights friction
AQ is the average cross-section area within the AST calculated using (Pl;hflight ), Equation (29) must be integrated from D2i to D2o and radial
Equation (20): position from 0 to 2p.

Do Do
N ð 2ðp ð 2ðp
lf 1 r lf 2 r
2 2
AQ ¼ Vb (20)
S Pl;hflight ¼ B r 3 u3 dAf 1 þ B r 3 u3 dAf 2 (29)
8 8
Di
2
0 Di
2
0

2.3.4.3. Hydraulic friction power loss. Hydraulic friction power loss in which lf 1 and lf 2 are Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for the
(Pl;h ) occurs due to fluid motion and its viscosity when it contacts upstream surface and downstream surface of the flights, and sub-
with the screw and trough. In an AST system, a portion of the scriptions 1 and 2 are corresponding to the upstream surface and
trough, central shaft and flights are directly in contact with the downstream surface of the flights, respectively. The values of the
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
wetted surfaces area of the flights (dAf 1 and dAf 2 ) are calculated
using Equations (30) and (31), respectively:
0 ; z1 > zwl
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
dAf 1 ¼ f 4p r þ S
2 2 2 (30)
rdrdq; z1  zwl
2pr
0 ; z2 > zwl
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
dAf 2 ¼ f 4p2 r 2 þ S2
rdrdq; z2  zwl
2pr
The total hydraulic friction power loss is calculated using
Equation (32)
Pl;h ¼ Pl;ht þ Pl;hshaft þ Pl;hflight
2.3.4.4. Submersion power loss. To calculate the submersion power
loss (Pl;S ), an empirical equation derived from experimental results
by Kozyn and Lubitz [26] was used in this research for our allowed
submersion ranges defined by Equation (33).
Pl;S ¼ ð0:01765Qnd  0:1397Qnd þ 0:1989Þ:Pideal
in which Qnd is the non-dimensional flow calculated using Equation
(34)
uS
Qnd ¼ ðD2  D2i Þ
2pQt o
2.3.5. Mechanical power calculation
Considering the flow leakages and power losses in the ideal
power, mechanical power can be calculated by Equation (35).
Qgl þ Qo Pl;b þ Pl;OE þ Pl;h þ Pl;S
Pmech ¼ Pideal :ð1  Þ:ð1  Þ (35)
Qt Pideal
Note that generator power loss is not included in the above
equation as well as in this research. Finally, screw mechanical ef-
ficiency (hmech ) is calculated using Equation (36):
Pmech
hmech ¼
Pideal
Based on the described Equations above, a mathematical model
of AST was implemented in MATLAB 2013a environment to design
appropriate AST for any condition. As hydraulic parameters like
water depths and volume flow rate are calculated using the ICSS
model, the AST mathematical model is started to run.
To find the optimum values of the radial element (dr) and
angular element (dq) for numerical integration, the angular
element was first assumed to be 3602p , and several radial elements
were then investigated. The model convergence results showed
that the volume and torque of a single bucket remain constant for
dr  0:0075 ; therefore, dr ¼ 0:0075 was selected to the calcula-
tions. About ten dr values larger than the optimum value were
investigated.
2.4. East Aghili canal specification and its simulation
Irrigation canals are conveying water from places with a higher
height to those of with a lower height. Water is transformed due to
its potential and kinetic energies. There are some energy dissipater
2135
structures to lose the extra energy of flowing water in some places.
These losses are usually as heat losses. Here, this hydraulic energy is
used for electricity generation. The ASTs can be used for this pur-
pose, but the existing conditions of the canal must keep without
any change. In an irrigation canal, water depth should be controlled
at a dead band in order to deliver a constant volume flow rate to the
turnouts. The dead band is a margin around target depth (usually
±10%) within which water level variations are accepted. Therefore,
substituting existing structures with an AST, water depth must
(31) remain within the dead band as much as possible, and an AST in
such a condition must be designed.
The east Aghili canal, located in Aghili district in Khuzestan
province in southwest Iran (Fig. 7) was used in this study. It has 20
rectangular turnouts and 11 check structures. The canal length is
16.215 km, Manning's roughness coefficient is 0.017 and trape-
(32)
zoidal cross-section side slopes is 1:1. The base width of the canal is
1.5 m from 0 to 9.485 km and 1 m from 9.485 to 16.215 km. The bed
slope varies along the canal between 0.0001 and 0.0004. The
turnouts are rectangular gates with width and height of 0.6 m and
0.6 m, respectively. Also, the width of all check structures are equal
to the canal width and their heights are 0.8 m in the first reaches
and 0.6 m in the last reaches.
A check structure controls water depth within the dead band at
(33) the target depth. At least one turnout is located between two
successive check structures in this canal. According to the capacity
of the turnouts, a fraction of water exists from canal to each turnout
for supplying the farmers need; therefore, the volume flow rate
decreases along the canal. The volume of water which passes from
each check structure is contributed to a corresponding check
(34)
structure power generation. In some check structures location,
there is a drop from which water falls to the next reach to dissipate
extra energy of passing water.
A view of the investigated canal is shown in Fig. 8. The main
parameters of the structures except turnouts are given in Table 1. To
exactly deliver water to the turnouts, water depth at upstream of
the check structures must remain within the dead band and as
much as possible at the target depth. In this research, the first check
structure (check drop-1) is only examined to design an appropriate
AST for a better explanation of the methodology.
In the design stage, water depth at upstream of the check
structure is designed exactly at the target depth (design depth);
therefore, the total energy value upstream of the check drop-1 is
the sum of water height and water depth at this point. To calculate
water depth downstream of the check structures at the specified
(36) volume flow rate, the ICSS simulations on the canal are needed. The
net head H is the difference between the energy at upstream and
downstream of the check structure.
2.5. ICSS hydrodynamic model
The ICSS 4 (ICSS version 4) software was used in this research as
an irrigation canal simulation model for simulating the east Aghili
canal. Using the ICSS outputs, available head and hydraulic power
can be calculated. This model is a fully hydrodynamic model [29]. It
solves partial differential Saint-Venant Equations and simulates an
open canal water conveyance system with various structures.
Various hydraulic and hydrologic conditions are the model inputs
as boundary and initial conditions. This model was widely used in
many studies. The inputs to the ICSS model are physical and hy-
draulic parameters, described in the second paragraph of the pre-
vious section as well as Table 1. The ICSS outputs are water depth
profile along the canal and volume flow rate of the structures.
2136 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143

Fig. 7. Location of the east Aghili canal in Aghili district [27].

2.6. Validation

To validate the developed Archimedes screw model, Lubitz et al.

[25] experimental data was used. The screw specification used in
Lubitz et al. [25] model is given in Table 2. The results of the Lubitz
et al. [25] experimental model and the developed model in this
research are illustrated in Fig. 9. As shown, the model results have
good agreement with the experimental data, and could accurately

Fig. 8. A view of the east Aghili canal, a) downstream and b) upstream.

 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143 2137

Table 1
The main parameters of the east Aghili canal structures except turnouts.

Structure name Water height at upstream of the structure (m) Water height at downstream of the structure (m) Target depth (m) Passing flow

inlet (reservoir) 195.642 195.642 - 1.47

Check Drop-1 192.304 191.194 1.25 1.22
Check-1 188.945 188.937 1.25 1.07
Check-2 188.205 188.25 1.15 0.94
Check-3 187.263 187.22 1.15 0.79
Check Drop-2 185.804 183.844 1.05 0.67
Check-4 183.164 182.964 1.05 0.61
Check-5 182.404 182.254 1.05 0.55
Check-6 181.714 181.604 0.95 0.48
Check-7 180.992 180.904 0.85 0.36
Check Drop-3 179.646 179.244 0.75 0.25
Check-8 178.184 178.024 0.75 0.15

Table 2 predict the screw power specifically around optimum point, i.e. for
Lubitz et al. (2014) experimental screw specification used for validation. rotation speeds of 7e14 rad/s.
Parameter variable unit value

Outer diameter Do cm 14.6 3. Results and discussion

Inner diameter Di cm 8.03
Screw length L cm 0.584
Pitch S cm 0.146
In this section, the results of the ICSS hydrodynamic model for
Flights Number N - 3 prediction of the depth and hydropower potential are first pre-
Rotation speed u rad/s 10 sented. In the next step, the results of the screw performance under
Volume flow rate Qt l/s 1.13 variation of screw length, flight number and inclination angle are
head H cm 25
presented. Finally, the effect of canal volume flow rate and depth
Inclination angle b ᵒ 24.9
Gap width Gw cm 0.0762 are investigated on the screw efficiency.

3.1. ICSS hydrodynamic results

In this section, the results of the ICSS hydrodynamic simulation

Fig. 9. Model validation using Lubitz et al. (2014) experimental data.
are presented. As mentioned, when the existing structures are
replaced with the desired AST, it must be tried to do this without
any considerable changes in the existing conditions of the canal as
well as with low civil works. Designed water depths upstream of
the check structures were target depths. Water depth downstream
of the check structures was simulated for the inlet volume flow rate
of 1.47 m3/s which is the design flow of the canal inlet. The design
volume flow rate for the check drop-1 is 1.22 m3/s. Available head
and hydraulic power in different locations of the east Aghili canal
were calculated (Table 3).
As seen in Table 3, the overall hydraulic power can be produced
in the east Aghili canal is 65.9 kW. In this research, only the check
drop-1 have been considered to design an optimum AST using the
developed model. The accumulative hydraulic power in the first
five reaches of the east Aghili canal is about 77.8% of the total hy-
draulic power due to large volume flow rates passing the corre-
sponding check structures.

Table 3
Water depths at upstream and downstream of each check structure, available head and hydraulic power.

Structure name Water depth at upstream of the structures (m) Water depth at downstream of the structures (m) Available head (m) Hydraulic power (kW)

inlet (reservoir) 0.584 0.584 - -

Check Drop-1 1.25 0.529 1.831 21.9
Check-1 1.25 0.717 0.541 5.7
Check-2 1.15 0.82 0.285 2.6
Check-3 1.15 0.528 0.665 5.2
Check Drop-2 1.05 0.588 2.422 15.9
Check-4 1.05 0.622 0.628 3.8
Check-5 1.05 0.59 0.61 3.3
Check-6 0.95 0.529 0.531 2.5
Check-7 0.85 0.388 0.550 1.9
Check Drop-3 0.75 0.295 0.857 2.1
Check-8 0.75 0.249 0.661 1.0
Sum 65.9
2138 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
Fig. 10. Volume flow rate and water depth variations in check drop-1 during the third month of the winter season.
Table 4
The screw specifications for the check drop-1 in the east Aghili canal.
Parameter variable unit
Outer diameter Do m 1.5
Inner diameter Di m 0.75
Pitch S m
Gap width Gw mm
Fill factor f -
Volume flow rate Qt m2/s
Head H m
Water density r kg/m3
Gravitational constant g m/s2
Volume flow rate changes during the cultivation season because
of different water requests of the farmers. According to the Author
investigation and simulations by ICSS, these variations are impor-
tant in the third month of the winter season, 2011 (Fig. 10), in which
crop water requirement and consequently flow variations in the
check drop-1 is high. As shown, water depth is always within the
dead band by regulating check drop-1 while flow is varying.
3.2. Design criteria
To design an appropriate AST for substituting instead of the
check drop-1, some considerations were made. Since the canal
geometry changes must remain minimum, the outer diameter of
the canal was set to be equal to the base width of the canal, i.e.
Do ¼ 1.5 m. Based on [18] questionnaire survey on almost 400
installed commercial screws in Europe, the pitch and the outer
diameter of the investigated screws were nearly equal, and the
inner diameters were half the outer diameters. So, this accepted
values for the commercial structures were used for the pitch and
inner diameter values. The last ratios, i.e. S ¼ 1.5 m and Di ¼ 0.75 m,
were taken in this research. Also, the optimum performance of the
ASTs in term of fill factor reported f ¼ 1 was used [25]. The screw
parameters for the check drop-1 in the east Aghili canal are pre-
sented in Table 4.
Several simulations were performed based on the various
inclination angles, flights number, and screw lengths to obtain the
optimum structure of an AST for using instead of the check drop-1
in the east Aghili canal. The same methodology can be used for
designing the optimum structure of an AST for generating with the
highest mechanical power in the other structures of the canal. All
power losses existed in an AST system were taken into account in
the modeling.
value
1.5
0.762
1
1.22
1.831
1000
9.81
Fig. 11. The screw performance for variation of screw length, and inclination angle at
N ¼ 1.
3.3. Structural parameters
In this section, the AST performance under variation of different
structural parameters including screw length, flights number and
inclination angle was considered and optimized. Fig. 11 shows the
screw efficiency variation under the screw length and inclination
angle variations with the flight number of 1.
As shown, with an increase of the inclination angle, the screw
efficiency increases for all lengths until it reaches the peak point
and then it decreases quickly. Since the volume flow rate is con-
stant, the screw rotation speed must increase with the increase of
inclination angle and consequently mechanical power will be
increased as well as efficiency. After peak point, both hydrostatic
pressure and therefore generated torque decrease and friction po-
wer losses increase which cause efficiency decreases quickly. Since
upstream and downstream water depths are constant, the mini-
mum value of the inclination angle differs for each screw length.
The minimum value of inclination angle for the shorter screw is
higher than that of for larger screw; therefore, curves move to the
left hand with a screw length increase.
In case of peak point on the curves, peak point for screw length
of 4 m is 44.3%. As screw length increases, bucket numbers and
consequently torque, mechanical power and efficiency all increase
as well as friction power losses. In screw length of 6 m produced
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
mechanical power is highest and friction power losses are not yet
dominant in the system. Increasing screw length to the 7 m, me-
chanical power is still increasing but the values of the friction po-
wer losses are very high (friction power loss in the rotational
direction is a function of rotation speed with the order of 3), and
therefore peak point falls down. As seen in Fig. 11, the highest ef-
ficiency was obtained 90.83% for the screw length of 6 m, inclina-
tion angle of 20
and flight number of 1. This is the best
performance compared to the other investigated screw lengths.
Such a high efficiency in the AST system was reported in Ref. [22]
and by Ritz-atro company in Germany (www.ritz-atro.de). Since
screw length and net head are constant during each modeling,
therefore minimum value of the inclination angle for each length is
different.
For the optimum screw length, efficiency variation under the
screw inclination angle and flights number variations were shown
in Fig. 12. Inclination angle ranges between 17O and 45O, and flight
numbers change from 1 to 5. The Archimedes screw with the flight
number of 1 resulted in the best performance of 90.83% atb ¼ 20+ .
When flights number increases at a specific screw length, friction
losses increase and cause the efficiency to be decreased.
Fig. 13 depicts a variation of the mechanical power under vari-
ation of flight numbers and inclination angles at the screw length of
6 m. The mechanical power of the point with peak efficiency is
19.9 kW for N ¼ 1 and b ¼ 20+ as efficiency diagram (Fig. 12). Since
the hydraulic power is constant and is equal to 21.9 kW, values of
the efficiency and mechanical power have the same behavior.
Fig. 14 shows the variation of power losses, mechanical power,
rotational speed, and torque under variation of inclination angle at
L ¼ 6 m and N ¼ 1. It could be seen in Fig. 14 that as the inclination
angle increases the screw rotation speed also increases in order to
stay a constant volume flow rate passing under the check drop-1 at
the design value of 1.22 m3/s. Also, as the inclination angle in-
creases, the screw end is submerged within the outlet receiving
canal because screw length and water levels at the upstream canal
and downstream receiving canal are all constant. Increasing screw
rotation and screw submersion cause bearing power loss, friction
power loss and submersion power loss increase and to be dominant
in the system. Therefore, efficiency decreases after inclination angle
ofb ¼ 20+ . While power losses are increasing, the mechanical po-
wer is decreasing. At b ¼ 25:5+ , the mechanical power and sum of
all power losses are equal and then power losses are become
greater than mechanical power, meaning all powers converted to
the power losses.
Fig. 12. Efficiency variation as a function of screw inclination and flights number for
screw length of 6 m.
2139
Fig. 13. Variation of the mechanical power under variation of flight numbers, and
inclination angles at screw length of 6 m.
Fig. 15a, b, and c show variation of efficiency investigated under
variation of inclination angles, flight numbers for screw length of
4 m, screw length of 5 m, and screw length of 7 m, respectively.
Also, Fig. 16a, b, and c show those of for the mechanical power.
These behaviors are the same as those of for screw length 6 m, and
the same discussion and reasons may be presented. It may only be
noticed that for screw lengths of 4 and 5 m, efficiency corresponded
to the flight number of 3 are higher. For screw lengths 7 m, this
occurred at N ¼ 2.
3.4. Performance parameters
Effect of volume flow rate on the AST performance was
considered in this section. As said, analysis of the volume flow rate
of the canal and the ICSS simulations showed that the water flow
ranges between 1.06 and 1.35 m3/s at the check drop-1. Considering
the target depth and the dead band values, water depth deviation is
between 1.125 and 1.375 m (±10% of the target depth) which are
upper and lower limit of the dead band, respectively.
In Fig. 17, efficiency and mechanical power of the AST were
considered under volume flow rate variations. The optimized AST
have the flight number of 1, screw length of 6 m, and the inclination
angle of 20, the rotation speed of 9.54 rad/s, upstream water depth
of 1.25 m and design flow of 1.22 m3/s. The effect of the flow vari-
ations was investigated for the optimized AST (Fig. 17).
There are some important points in Fig. 17 as volume flow rate
was changed between its maximum (1.35 m3/s) and minimum
(1.06 m3/s) values. As an AST is substituted in the canal, water depth
upstream of the AST is controlled by AST mechanism. Water depth
at the downstream canal is always constant because there is a weir
at the end of the downstream canal. As volume flow rate to the
check drop-1 is increasing from the lower flow and since rotation
speed is constant, the resultant pressure and torque values in-
crease. This fact increases produced mechanical power. Also, the
volume flow rate increase causes the hydraulic power to be
increased. In this condition, efficiency decreases because the vol-
ume flow rate has more impact on the mechanical power than
hydraulic power.
For lower volume flow rate, the efficiency is higher, but the
mechanical power is 17.24 kW. The mechanical power at the opti-
mum point is 19.90 kW and corresponding efficiency is 90.83%. As
the maximum point is reached, optimum efficiency and maximum
produced mechanical power are reached. Also, the water level is
reached to the highest point of the inner cylindrical shaft means fill
factor is 1. After this point, the hydraulic power increase will
2140 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143

Fig. 14. Variation of power losses, mechanical power, rotational speed, and torque under variation of inclination angle at L ¼ 6 m and N ¼ 1.

Fig. 15. Efficiency of the screw under variation of inclination angles, flight numbers, at a) L ¼ 4 m, b) L ¼ 5 m, and c) L ¼ 7 m.
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143 2141

Fig. 16. Variation mechanical power under variation of inclination angles, flight numbers, at a) L ¼ 4 m, b) L ¼ 5 m, and c) L ¼ 7 m.

Fig. 17. The screw performance for a range of volume flow rate variations.
2142 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
Fig. 18. Water depth variation after the optimum designed AST installing.
Table 5
Optimum values of the screw for various flights number.
Inclination angle (ᵒ)
N¼1 20
N¼2 26
N¼3 22
N¼4 26
N¼5 26
continue because volume flow rate increases and contributed water
depth in hydraulic power generation is fixed; therefore, overflow
leakage will occur and mechanical power is reducing.
Design volume flow rate and design head are equal to 1.22 m3/s
and 1.25 m respectively. The maximum efficiency is expected to be
occurred at the design flow rate and design head. The maximum
mechanical power occurred at the design flow rate, but efficiency
was not maximum at this point. The reason for this phenomena is
that a dead band must be defined in irrigation canals. This causes
water depth is not fixed at the target depth exactly, but it is
established within the dead band. This causes water height
contributed to hydraulic power to be variable and between upper
and lower dead band. Depending on the water depth position
within the dead band, the hydraulic power and consequently effi-
ciency are variable. Therefore, maximum efficiency does not occur
at design flow rate necessarily. The water depth variations in Fig. 17
confirm this claim.
Water depth in the presence of the AST was added to Fig. 10 and
illustrated in Fig. 18 to have a comparison between flow and water
depth variation before and after the AST application. As seen, when
volume flow rate variation is significantly higher than design flow,
for example, 1.35 m3/s, water depth at upstream of the dead band
exceeded upper dead band limit; however, it does not have
considerable deviation. Also, water depth decreases for less volume
flow rate than design flow and vice versa regardless of the initially
established water depth.
In could be concluded that mechanical power for the designed
AST is between 17.24 kW and 19.90 kW and the canal mechanism
remain almost constant for most of the volume flow rate occurred
in the canal. There was only a small impact on the water depth for
high volume flow rate. Now, ASTs can be suggested to be applied in
the irrigation canals guarantying high efficiency.
Although N ¼ 1 was investigated as an optimum choice,
Screw length (m) Mechanical power (kW) Efficiency (%)
6 19.9 90.83
6 19.23 87.8
7 18.06 82.41
6 15.8 71.2
6 13.76 62.8
efficiency and mechanical power for other values of the flight
number were acceptable (Table 5). For example, for N ¼ 3 which is a
typical value for the flight number, the mechanical power was
obtained 18.06 kW and corresponding efficiency was 82.41%.
For real plants, financial efficiency is more important than me-
chanical efficiency, and these two do not usually occur simulta-
neously. In a study like this, it is difficult to estimate financial
efficiency, because the cost of parts and construction is difficult to
estimate. This work only was investigated mechanical power, but
not electrical power or financial efficiency.
4. Conclusions
In the current study, a numerical model of screw system was
developed in MATLAB 2013a to the optimal design of an appro-
priate AST for substituting instead of irrigation canal structures.
This optimization was conducted for a case study in east Aghili
canal, Khuzestan province, Iran. The first check structure (check
drop-1) was considered for this purpose, and an optimum AST was
designed to be substituted instead of check drop-1. The ICSS hy-
drodynamic model was used for simulating the canal condition
including water depth and flow in the structures.
To design an optimum AST, different structural parameters of
the screw turbine were considered including screw inclination
angle, number of flights, and volume flow rate of water. Available
head and hydraulic power in different locations of the canal were
calculated using ICSS. The overall hydraulic power that can be
produced in the canal was obtained 65.9 kW. Hydraulic power
existing in check drop-1 was 21.9 kW.
Due to existing conditions of the canal and for low civil works,
the outer diameter of the screw was chosen equal to the canal
width (1.5 m). Also, the inner diameter and pitch of the screw were
selected 0.75 m and 1.5 m, respectively.
 K. Shahverdi et al. / Renewable Energy 145 (2020) 2130e2143
The best screw, with the highest efficiency, which can be
substituted instead of check drop-1 was a screw with the length of
6 m, inclination angle of 20
, flight number of 1, and the rotation
speed of 9.54 rad/s. The highest efficiency was obtained 90.83% for
the optimum screw, and corresponding mechanical power was
obtained 19.90 kW. The mechanical power for a wide range of the
volume flow rate around design flow (1.22 m3/s) occurred in the
canal in the third month of the winter season, in 2011, was ranged
between 17.24 kW and 19.90 kW.
The results showed that the optimum screw designed in this
research have no considerable effect in the canal condition and can
be substituted successfully instead of the check drop-1. Substitut-
ing irrigation canals check structures with an optimum AST which
can be designed using this research methodology is recommended
for future works.
Acknowledgement
Reyhaneh Loni, B. Ghobadian, and G. Najafi are grateful to the
Tarbiat Modares University (http://www.modares.ac.ir) for finan-
cial supports given under IG/39705 grant for renewable Energies of
Modares research group.
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