Micro Hydro Generation
Micro Hydro Generation
(OP)
I am looking for some good reading on the above mentioned subject.
Reason being is that I have an aunt/uncle that have a water fall on their property, it is already dammed, and they asked if there were any cost effective solutions to harness this power, they did not want to connect to grid, just to use the excess power to heat the barn, run some non-critical lights, etc....
I have not seen the water fall they speak about so I don't know about the head of the system or quantity of water.
Thanks
Reason being is that I have an aunt/uncle that have a water fall on their property, it is already dammed, and they asked if there were any cost effective solutions to harness this power, they did not want to connect to grid, just to use the excess power to heat the barn, run some non-critical lights, etc....
I have not seen the water fall they speak about so I don't know about the head of the system or quantity of water.
Thanks






RE: Micro Hydro Generation
The alternator feeds a battery and you run an inverter from the battery. This allows complete freedom from the technical hassles of maintaining a perfect speed thru gearing and flow control in the hydraulic realm.
Google 'micro hydro'. There is a lot out there.
The last one I saw drove the SCADA system on a remote PG&E hydro plant, (a couple of MW), in the Sierras. I thought it was clever as there was no power required so the SCADA could turn off the entire power plant and restart it.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
Why not run the 3 phases from the alternator directly to your heating load.
Multipole permanent magnet motors from Fisher & Paykel washing machines are also very popular as low speed alternators.
Roy
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
So here is the critical information you need to know before wasting any more time on this:
Head in Feet times Flow in GPM divided by 10 will equal the approximate Watts available. 100 gallons per minute of water falling 10 feet or 5 gallons per minute falling 200 feet through a pipe can generate 1000 watts (without transmission losses).
When you go visit your uncle, take a 1 gallon bucket and look at how fast it can fill. If it fills in 10 seconds, that is 60GPM; if it fills in 1 second, that is 600GPM (but I would then opt for a bigger bucket to be more accurate). Then look at the head (drop) you can utilize, meaning look at where you can install the generator and where you can tap off of the reservoir. Finally, look at the distance from where you can put the generator and where you want to use the power. Once you know how much power you can get from your waterfall, size the wire per code, then calculate the voltage drop you will see. Gather all that info, apply the math from above, then the final net result is the maximum amount of power you can effectively use. Most people are sorely disappointed. But you will most likely come away with a better appreciation for how much it takes to get the power into our grid system...
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe." -- Abraham Lincoln
For the best use of Eng-Tips, please click here -> FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe." -- Abraham Lincoln
For the best use of Eng-Tips, please click here -> FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
As long as it isn't a magnitude...
Hey wait a minute!
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
Chris
"In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics." Homer Simpson
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
I don't know where you are or what the regulatory environment is, but it was my impression that the permitting process took an order of magnitude more effort than designing the plants.
Everybody from the EPA, local water rights boards, state and federal fisheries and wildlife, and local indian tribes are going to get involved.
RE: Micro Hydro Generation
If you remove or replace the voltage regulator, over 50 volts at over 100 amps is doable. If you have need of hot water or space heating you can run the AC output directly to heating elements.
Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter