At Fuelternatives we are trying to help consumers find solutions to allow them to use alternative energy sources. We have been working on some experiments to that end and this is one of them...
In an effort to extend the offerings here, I thought it would be neat to include the basics for a hydro electric set up using PVC/standard plumbing fixtures and easily made parts.
I made some interesting discoveries along the way and am sharing them...
I started by trying to make an inline energy take off with a pre-made propeller blade from a paint stirrer. While an interesting thought, I couldn't get any reasonable motion out of it - which reminded me of my physics that the max torque will come with the force applied furthest out radially.
Paddle Wheel Hydro Power.
First things first - physics reminds us that we can make energy only convert it and every conversion includes loss. Next that water pressure from gravity is directly related only to the height of the smooth column flow.
Design plan - knowing that we want a smooth flow but our goal is to move the water out to the radial extremes of our propeller, I created a basic test harness to try and understand how to optimize the hydro power system. The pipes here are really representative of what you would have to install in your environment. I fill up the 5 foot tall 2 inch pipe to get a know water volume for efficiency testing.
The picture below gives a good taste for the workings...
In an effort to extend the offerings here, I thought it would be neat to include the basics for a hydro electric set up using PVC/standard plumbing fixtures and easily made parts.
I made some interesting discoveries along the way and am sharing them...
I started by trying to make an inline energy take off with a pre-made propeller blade from a paint stirrer. While an interesting thought, I couldn't get any reasonable motion out of it - which reminded me of my physics that the max torque will come with the force applied furthest out radially.
Paddle Wheel Hydro Power.
First things first - physics reminds us that we can make energy only convert it and every conversion includes loss. Next that water pressure from gravity is directly related only to the height of the smooth column flow.
Design plan - knowing that we want a smooth flow but our goal is to move the water out to the radial extremes of our propeller, I created a basic test harness to try and understand how to optimize the hydro power system. The pipes here are really representative of what you would have to install in your environment. I fill up the 5 foot tall 2 inch pipe to get a know water volume for efficiency testing.
The picture below gives a good taste for the workings...
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The point here is to show the behavior of the water and the wheel. We are aiming the water jets to hit just under tangent to the edge of the wheel so we get maximum effect. Note the whit painted wheel section shows the spin.
A note on performance... You can see the short pipe on the far side is impacting the wheel well, but on the longer jet on the near side needs to be tweaked to maximize impact.
A note on performance... You can see the short pipe on the far side is impacting the wheel well, but on the longer jet on the near side needs to be tweaked to maximize impact.
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In this way you can save excess solar energy into long term storage. Also someone had thought of compressed air as a means of storing the energy.
It would be interested to compare these and hydrogen system .
Grey water collection system , rain water lower tank , upper tank would work as storage as well saving water.
Good job, you have given me more to think about