Ideas for new hydro project

[marshman]

A quick calculation gives a maximum potential of just under 600W output from the generator.  (assuming 3m head, 29.2 lts/sec flow, and around 75% efficiency for the turbine and generator).

[biff]

I wonder would it justify a holding tank, say something like an old creamery tanker,  then stick the Turbine on the bottom outlet,  A steady 500 watt is not to be scoffed at.
    Wind and solar race up and down but you can set the outlet to the Hydro turbine to your required pressure.
    That means a lot.
       Biff.

[dan_b]

How much would it cost to build the hydro scheme for that 600W? 
That's 14kWh a day, over 5MWh for the year, for so it does add up.

[crounauer]

So based on calculations from the the renewables website

29.2 * 9.81 * 2.7 * 0.751 = 580 watts

That's a useable amount. 😁

[biff]

One of Camillitech,s (Paul),
       Hydro schemes is 800watt and Paul  worked his heart out to get that up and running. I recall the time the pipe slipped down the hillside and he had to find a way to pull it back up into position. Wedding and trapping the pipe as he went. It was a very successful job  was Billi,s.
    You have to remember to shut off the water very gently.
 Don't  forget that
    Biff

[marcus]

Putting those figures into the powerspout lowhead calculator is a bit more pessimistic:-

https://www.powerspout.com/pages/advanced-lh-series-calculator

gives an output of 409 watts (426w using their turgo generators, but you'd have to buy 3 and that would be costly in itself).

That's a lot of energy - with that much hydropower all my baseloads are taken care of (fridge/freezer/router/clockradio/inverter standing loss/etc), plus a dehumidifier,  plus all my evening loads (computer/2nd dehumidifier/radio/lights,etc), and still have enough left over to heat water for a hot bath every day.

Question is: how much will it cost to put it all together? If you can construct a flume/leat to take the water to the turbine it might be cheaper than a pipe, but it'll still require a turbine, generator, cable, etc.
Depends on what you can do yourself, and what you can make/scrounge. The most expensive part of my hydro system was the 110m of 90mm hdpe pipe that i bought new - £500. pelton wheel off ebay <£50, induction motor to use as a generator £0.99 off ebay (+£45 for caps to make it work as a generator), £100 for SWA cable back to house (new), transformers, rectifiers/ grid tie inverter for converting power at house - £0 as i had them lying around anyway.

I thing you will struggle to get a single cheap turgo that will work well with that head and flow, and the low head turbines tend to be more ££ (peltons are better with more head).

[ecogeorge]

Hi Guys,

I've now done a few calculations and these are the results.

Flow rate is 0.6m/s which equates to 14.6 litres/sec or 231.4 gal/min per pipe. So total flow rate is 29.2 litres/sec or 462.8 gal/min.

The drop in the part labeled 55meters is 0.6 meters and then from the start of the blue pipes the drop is around 2.4 meters over 15 meters. So the total drop is around 3 meters over 70 meters.
What do you all think?
Thanks.

Ok heres my take  . flow rate of .6m/s  is that m cubed??
But lets assume  14.6 l/s per pipe -cant use both pipes on same turbine ?? guess not.
Guess you wont collect every drop of water so say 10 l/s useable per pipe.
With a drop of 2.4 m over 15m is cheap pipe costs -i probably not extend another 55m for only .6m ......
Using the Powerspout calculator    https://www.powerspout.com/pages/advanced-plt-and-trg-series-calculator
I get 111w  with a 20m cablw run to house.
THats 2.6Wwh daily and only half the water used -only 15m penstock of 111mm diameter ...woth doing just because its free .
Multiply by 2 and thas 5.2 kwhs/day -half of what i use !!!
Combine with solar pv / batteries ??
George

[crounauer]

.....and   it hurts to concentrate  with the music on , so please switch of the speakers and do some silent measurements ,  at your spot and the flow speed suggests to me, that there is a potential fall  and then think, think , think , where the highest point and the lowest point of that stream  on your property is

Sorry - i'll know for next time

[crounauer]

sweet , took me a while   


But that is not much

So the total drop is around 3 meters over 70 meters

LOL

[crounauer]

This website has a handy "how much power might I be able to generate" equation which you could use as you now know approximately how much mass of water you can get per second.

https://www.renewablesfirst.co.uk/hydropower/hydropower-learning-centre/how-much-power-could-i-generate-from-a-hydro-turbine/

Thanks

[crounauer]

I thing you will struggle to get a single cheap turgo that will work well with that head and flow, and the low head turbines tend to be more ££ (peltons are better with more head).

I had never considered a Turgo due to the low head - instead was looking at something similar to this youtube video => V82SVeVXKcA

I noticed while reading through the Powerspout documentation that they have 2 new versions on their way

1. In Pipe turbine
2. Low Head Mini

I think the in pipe turbine is similar to the one in the video

This is from the Powerspout website:-

3.3. "In Pipe" turbine coming soon
Powerspout have developed and are testing an "in
pipe" version of the LH turbine that uses "positive
head" from a feeder pipe in addition to the "negative
head" of the draft pipe.
The main features are:
 Same top end as LH and TRG products
 Common propeller & driveshaft
 Positive head - bolt to PVC flange
 Negative head - glue to the PVC expansion
adaptor
 Debris cutter included above blade
 150mm inspection/cleaning opening
 Maximum power 1.6kW
 Maximum positive head = 6m (minimum 1m)
 Maximum negative head = 4m (minimum 1m)
 Flow range = 20-50 lps
 Automatic grease canister included
 Ceramic face seal and ceramic bearings (production version only)
 Efficiency data – awaiting R&D test results
As these turbines can operate on +ive and –ive head, it will operate at up to 10m total head
and up to 1.6kW each.

3.4. LH-mini coming soon
PowerSpout have developed and are testing a smaller LH turbine that
uses a 100mm propeller instead of the 154mm used on LH turbine.
We expect this will operate in the 10-20 l/s flow range. The LH was
designed for the 25-50 l/s flow range.

[billi]

You have to remember to shut off the water very gently.
 Don't  forget that
    Biff

hey Biff  ,     fair point and good memory , was a nightmare when parts of 360 meters of 4 " waste  pipe was gone flat  because of the vacuum ....

[biff]

That was tough Billi,
       But Paul had a serious headache as well when he shut of the water. The sudden weight of the flow pulled the pipe out of the Lake and down the hill a bit. It was a brutal job trying to get it all back into place and secured from happening again. Yet I believe it is his most reliable source of RE.
     Biff