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Hairyloon

Domestic Hydro-power.

I just happened upon a youtube video about building a water turbine out of an old washing machine. It wasn't totally convincing, but it reminded me that it was something I was wanting to look into...

So, what do we here know about it?
I understand that FIT is done through ROO rather than MCS, which does open up the possibility of DIY installations, but are there any known manufacturers of sensible equipment?
dpack

turbines work on small or big scale

making stuff via scrapheap challenge is possible but it is often less efficient than using purpose made kit.washing machine and car parts are useful.

iirc there are quite a few high pressure low volume systems in scotland that work on a household or small community scale ,the turbines are made for the job .these are good if they have plenty of gravity

high volume low pressure works well if one has a biggish flow and a bit of gravity (see waterwheel tech )

moderate volume low gravity is best tapped using an Archimedes screw type system or a wheel

ps cragside was an early adopter of water based electric power
Hairyloon

making stuff via scrapheap challenge is possible but it is often less efficient than using purpose made kit.washing machine and car parts are useful.

There is an argument that efficiency is not so important if your source input is abundent and free.
Unfortunately, my scrap washing machine turned out to have siezed bearings, so not a lot of use. Expect another one will turn up in due course...
RichardW

Do you have a usable water source?
Hairyloon

Do you have a usable water source?

Not here, but I have a couple of possible places in mind...
One of them has the problem of being a bit far from where the power would be useful: I'm wondering about taking it to a higher voltage so that thinner (cheaper) wire could be used, and back down at the other end. Obviously that is another can of worms...
But I do have a friend with a perfect location... just a bit puzzled why we've not done it already. Confused crofter

http://www.microhydropower.com/ RichardW

Have you checked the flow rates to see just what could be collected?

Most possible sites end up being so small (too low a flow or head) they are not viable. Hairyloon

Have you checked the flow rates to see just what could be collected?
Not actually measured, but I reckon this:



Should be enough to at least run one of these. Wink dpack

this with a bit of digging/dambuilding

or

this

for a no dig option

that looks like plenty of water and gravity for a wheel capture system

not enough gravity to make a turbine efficient inho but a screw might also be viable.

i would go for dig a dam and use an overshot wheel if there is a few metres of gravity available.this gives more energy capture and evens out the flow/demand time things RichardW
Should be enough to at least run one of these. Wink

Lol at 10watts its not worth the time or effort.

Plus at its rated life (125 days running 24/7) each kWh produced will cost nearly £2 before you even add in pipes & headers.
Edit as that £2 was wrong it should have been 22p Oops.

In line turbines like the ones DP linked too are not that efficient.

How much head can you get from the highest level on the land they own to the lowest level they own along the water flow? Ty Gwyn

When you mention ,not that efficient for inline turbines,

Do you mean when the flow of water from source is direct onto the wheel?

I posted a link a while back to a Pelton Wheel installed at a leadmine near Aberystwyth in the 1880-90`s ,which produced enough power to run the mine,this source of water was brought down from the mountain in pipes direct onto the pelton wheel,thus a source of increased pressure onto the wheel. RichardW

I meant in flow turbines not piped ones.

Peltons are piped. Hairyloon
Should be enough to at least run one of these. Wink

Lol at 10watts its not worth the time or effort.
I was mostly joking with that bit of it... but how much effort would it take to set one of those up? Shouldn't need much more than a bit of hosepipe. Ty Gwyn

I meant in flow turbines not piped ones.

Peltons are piped.


So would my thinking be right in that with a higher head for the piped water the efficience would be greater with a pelton wheel? vegplot

I meant in flow turbines not piped ones.

Peltons are piped.


So would my thinking be right in that with a higher head for the piped water the efficience would be greater with a pelton wheel?

Depends on flow rates and pressure which turbine wheel is best suited and that's not taking into account cost, location, accessibility etc. It's not an easy distinction to make.

Here's a selection of wheel types...

Reaction turbines:
VLH turbine
Francis turbine
Kaplan turbine
Tyson turbine
Gorlov helical turbine

Impulse turbines:
Water wheel
Pelton wheel
Turgo turbine
Cross-flow turbine (also known as the Bánki-Michell turbine, or Ossberger turbine)
Jonval turbine
Reverse overshot water-wheel
Screw turbine
Barkh Turbine


(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_turbine) dpack

pelton type turbines rely on kinetic energy rather than potential energy but both have more to harvest the bigger the drop.

an overshot wheel can work on a lower flow rate as the rotational speed can be adjusted to fill each bucket

undershot are the least effective.

thesemight be a bit too big but the words say as little as 100l/s is enough

they are fish friendly but perhaps a bit more of a scrapheap challenge than a wheel

ps pelton/turbine type wheels in a tube are like a blender for fish
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