A hydroelectric power generation device is structure to utilize water flowing to generate electrical power that could be supplied to a bathroom installation and is generally made up of a functional main body, a battery assembly, and a power generation module. The functional main body has two opposite sides each including a mounting end formed thereon. The functional main body forms therein a receiving chamber. The power generation module includes a stator and a rotor. The rotor is coupled, in a manner of being rotatable, to an axle, which is coupled to a vane wheel. Water flowing into the device drives the vane wheel and the rotor to rotate simultaneously so that magnetic interaction between the rotor and the stator generates electrical power that is supplied to a sensor controlling supply of water flow. A sleeve is fit over the axle for correcting and stably supporting the axle in rotation.

Power generating equipment includes a support structure adapted to be disposed on the bed of a body of water having a surface above the bed; and a buoyant power generating apparatus having positive buoyancy releasably connectable to the support structure, the power generating apparatus being adapted to be released from the support structure and to make controlled free ascent to the surface of the water following such release.

An underwater structure including a power generation apparatus including a main body; a mounting portion connected to the main body defining a mounting axis; a connection carrier, a connector mounted on the connection carrier; and an actuation mechanism in communication with the connection carrier. The structure further includes a support structure adapted for engagement with a bed of a body of water; a support housing; a support connection carrier attached to the support housing; and a support connector mounted on the support connection carrier. The mounting portion and the support housing are adapted to cooperate with one another for mounting of the power generation apparatus on the support structure. The connection carrier is releasably engageable with the support connection carrier, such that the connection carrier is moveable between an engaged position and a disengaged position.

The present invention is concerned with a hydroelectric blade connector which is operable to secure a blade to a rotor of a hydroelectric turbine and to securely retain the blade during operation, the blade connector include a pair of interlocking parts, the first part being a tapered root of the blade itself, and the second part being a body provided in or formed integrally with the rotor and defining a tapered channel for receiving the root of the blade in order to establish a taper lock therewith.

The present invention generally relates to an innovative tool for connecting or disconnecting a runner to/from a shaft assembly. Moreover, the present invention relates to a method for carrying out such operations using the tool. Advantageously, connecting/disconnecting operations can occur without having to work under a suspended load, as the tool may be activated for supporting the runner remotely from a location outside a runner footprint.

A method is disclosed for manufacturing a rotating part which belongs to a hydraulic machine of an installation for converting hydraulic energy into electrical or mechanical energy. This rotating part includes blades distributed about an axis of rotation of the rotating part and extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge. This method can include manufacturing, in steel, a first part of each blade, which defines the leading edge thereof, manufacturing a second part of the blade in a material other than steel and attaching this to the first part of the blade so as to form a trailing edge.

This Francis-type runner for a turbine includes a crown, a band and blades the number of which is not a prime number. These blades are made as one piece and extend between the crown and the band, and between a leading edge and a trailing edge each trailing edge has its concave face facing upstream over its entire length. In addition, first blades are uniformly distributed about a central axis of the runner in a number equal to a divisor of the total number of blades. Each of these first blades has a point of attachment of its trailing edge to the crown that is lowered by comparison with the point of attachment of the trailing edge to the crown of second blades, which are likewise part of the runner. Moreover, the ratio between, on the one hand, the radius of a circle centered on the central axis of the runner, perpendicular to this axis and passing through the point of attachment of the trailing edge of a first blade to the crown and, on the other hand, the radius of a circle centered on the central axis of the runner perpendicular to this axis and passing through the point of attachment of the trailing edge of the same blade to the band is less 0.15.

A runner device (1) for a hydraulic fluid flow machine is described, the runner (1) including a runner hub (2) and a number of vanes (4) distributed around the center axis (S) of the runner (1), the vanes (4) being releasably connected to the runner (1) by means of bases (41) that complementarily fit grooves (21) in the runner hub (2), characterized by the grooves (21) in the runner hub (2) extending, at least at one of the outer edge portion (23) or the inner edge portion (25) of the runner hub, respectively all the way out to or all the way in to the edge portion (23, 25), whereby the bases (41) may extend radially out to or in to at least one of the outer edge portion (23) or the inner edge portion (25), respectively, of the runner hub (2). A method of providing a runner (1) for a hydraulic fluid flow machine is described as well.

A method of mounting a guide apparatus of a large hydraulic machine with a vertical axis of rotation and wherein the axes of the guide blades extend vertically as well. The method includes the following steps: assembling an assembly with at least the upper guide wheel ring or the turbine cover and all the guide blades of the guide apparatus. This assembly does not take place in the machine shaft and the guide blades are mounted in a suspended manner, lowering the guide blades to mutually different height levels within the assembly such that the lowered guide blades can be displaced upwardly, installing the lower guide wheel ring in the machine shaft, and installing the assembly in the machine shaft by continuous lowering, wherein the guide blades present in the assembly are successively inserted into the openings provided in the lower guide wheel ring.

A water wheel includes a casing to carry a fluid flow through an inside of the casing, a pipe extending in the inside of the casing, a rotor unit having a shaft to be inserted in the inside of the casing, and a support. The shaft is directed toward the pipe. The rotor unit is detachably attached to the casing from outside. The support supports the rotor unit at a predetermined position relative to the pipe when the rotor unit is attached to the casing. A hydraulic power generation device includes the water wheel and a generator driven by the water wheel. A hydraulic power generation system includes the hydraulic power generation device and a flow path with the hydraulic power generation employed in the flow path.