Run of the river power

[(unknown)]

Thank You for youre comments they were very helpfull .I think the Gorlovs turbine concept is the most practical type of propulsion .Below my house on the river the bank goes vertical about 10'deep by 25'accross wich would allow me to install A vertical turbine fairly easy.I am thinking a Turbine about 3'dia by 5'in lengh .Can you help me with the math? How much Torqe will this produce? I am still thinking of some sort of a gear pump to ether directly power a generator trough a hyd motor or to a pelton wheel depending on psi.The main reason is this river is fished heavy with drift boats 6 month a year.With this in mind the whole system could be submerged and only hoses ran to shore under water.The water level varies from 10'low in summer to 18'high during the rainy season.Any help with design comments or any other issues would very much appreciated .Thank You

[veewee77]

Just remember, though, that in most rivers, the water valocity is greatest close to the surface.  The bottom of the river creates drag on the water and slows it down.  There is very little drag at the top.

The closer to the top your turbine can be, the better conversion you'll get. . .

Doug

[scottsAI]

The power: 3 * 5 ft will give you 2128watts or 51kwhr per day. This is big.

Remember to subtract from it propeller and gen efficiency.

Comments on placement of generator are good.

Variation of depth will make keeping gen on surface more difficult.

I will post more later, got to go. Easter...

Have fun.

[Nando]

Roscal:

Better question: how much power ( minimum) do you require, want, or afford ?.

A better description of the river area is needed and since it is a river with fish and heavily fished then you have another problem in your hands -- you may need a license to install the turbine.

Gorlov type difficult and will have low efficiency, a propeller may be better for your place.

Question one: length of the River in your land, head of river in your land.

Photos may help you to determine the best arrangement-- calculations of power is not difficult if you supply the info.

Regards

Nando

[rotornuts]

roscat, 3'x 5' of rotating drag underwater in 5' per second flow? I may be wrong but I don't think your going to hold on to it unless you crane it in attatched to large concrete blocks. I think you need to consider going a little smaller.

[rosscat]

Thanks for the comment this is exactly what I want is input Smaller is easyer to build and easyer to keep in place

[rosscat]

Thanks nando My inverter Says that at my peak load I use about 8 amps if I could charge batterys with out running the generator would be very nice Any ideas?

[Nando]

Again:

I need the info I asked plus the river water velocity

Also: 8 amps does not tell me anything, you need to give the battery voltage and the watt/hour or KW/hour you use daily to determine with the above info if you can set up a turbine to charge your battery bank -- without the info I will not "shot in the dark", it is a waste of time.

Regards

Nando

[rosscat]

 I am not sure how to calculate the KW/hr. My syestem battery voltage is 48 volts and it takes approx 4hrs Charging @ 30 amps x 120 volts to bring the batterys back to full charge.The water flows in this river at approx 5 ft per sec .I have about 1700' of river frontage the vertical fall is about 18".I understand the potential problems with permits. I am in a farly remote location off the grid and do not see a problem if I can submerg this apperatis so as not to be a navigation problem or raft it out of the traffic line wich in both cases are doable I will possably take pictures for you today

     Thanks Don C

[finnsawyer]

It's not KW/hr, it's KW-hr or power in kilowatts multiplied by time in hours.  Energy is always power multiplied by time.  For instance, a joule is one watt-second, or one watt of power for one second.

You've got (48x30/1000)x4 = 5.76 kwhr going into the batteries and

(120x30/1000)x4 = 14.4 hwhr coming out of the charger, based on your figures.  Or maybe you don't if you change the battery configuration for charging.  It's always a good idea to spell out exactly what you are doing.

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

In the previous article TomW suggested a paddlewheel design much like a sidewheeler boat and disguising the device as a jetty to avoid legal issues.

Seems to me that an even better approach would be to put in a dock or a permanent anchorage (a bouy with a big concrete anchor - and in this case an underwater cable tied to the bouy, too), and build the turbine AS an electric sidewheel boat.  Put an auxiliary generator and some of your batteries in the boat, some of your batteries in the house.

Most of the time the boat is tied up facing upriver and generating power, keeping all the batteries charged.  Occasionally you unhook it and take it for a cruise, or trolling for fish, with both the house and the boat running on their respective part of your battery bank.  If you run it out of battery power in the boat you can always start the auxiliary generator to get yourself back home.  (That's why it has the aux generator in the first place.  B-)  )

You WILL need a big motor, though, (or maybe a big aux outboard) so you can drive it against the river's current and not get sucked out to an ocean.

The only difference between this and a "real" boat-only boat is that the paddle wheels turn when it's at dock, too.

You get regulated as a dock and a pleasure boat (or a pleasure boat and a permanent mooring) and don't have to deal with environmental regulations designed for dams and big power companies.

[healerenergy]

You could also use a funnel and turbine setup under the boat tied to the dock.

[Nando]

DON:

You may have the solution and it is the river itself, do you know how much water does the river carry during the dry season ?.

Depending on the river volume, it may be possible to look for the place where the head is highest versus length, lets say (10 feet= 3 meters) in (400 feet=122 meter).

For every 100 liters of water you may have : 3 meter * 0.1 M^3 * 6 = 1.8 KW.

Regards

Nando

[Nando]

ROSCAL:

I have been talking to the inventor (patented) of a new Turbine, specially designed for in river turbine generator.

I do not have the name of it yet, but when his CD arrives I will let you know and I will ask the inventor to allow me to post photos of his design.

Right now he is going soon to Bolivia to install a 7 KW unit for the Bolivian Government tests for future installation in many Bolivian Rivers that have small towns that the only way to get electricity is via hydrocarbon motogenerators with fuel brought via rivers with long travel, making the production of Kw-hour too expensive, up to U$ 0.30-050 KW-H - Dollars-.

Regards

Nando

[rosscat]

Thanks Nando For youre continued input I am very interested in this new concept for run of the river power. Information is limited I have a feeling we could do away with or cut way back on the diesel generator with the right setup.