First hydro turbines

[aidanhydro]

Hi.

I am new to this site and the world of hydro power. Attached are pictures of a 16 vane turbine 450mm x 300mm made from 4" plastic pipe cut in two and mounted onto a pair of pizza dishes - very sturdy. I am confident that there is enough water power from the river on our land (I have yet to accurately calculate gpm, I will post a picture asap). I would appreciate any advice on the best way to generate power - car alternators / starter motors or making my own?

[drdongle]

Forget starter motors or any sort of series, and compound motors. An auto alternator is a possibility though you might need to use belts to increase the speed.

Conveyor motors are also a possibility. There is also a lot of info in the archive here on rolling you own Permanent Magnet Alternators.

[DanG]

Getting a better look -

[JavaMoose]

Nice looking job there!  Good use of materials too.  Be interesting to see how it performs.  Have you done any testing?

[aidanhydro]

Initial tests using a garden hose were carried out today with great success, I estimated the turbines were going approx 100 rpm with no load (any equipment, including an alternator). The hose water was concentrated in the center of the vanes, so I am happy with the result. The river has considerably more power and the water will be spread over the area of each vane. Things are looking positive so far. Electrical systems are now the priority: alternator, controller etc.

[aidanhydro]

Thanks for the photo enhancements!  

[scoraigwind]

You need to be aware of the relationship between speed of the turbine and speed of water.  The garden hose has a high speed jet of a little water.  A river with low speed flow of a lot of water is different.  It will turn the turbine at much lower speed.  This type of turbine is not really suited to putting in a river.  It is designed to work from a big jet of water.  can you bottle up your river and put it through a pipe (to a lower site) and through a jet at pressure?

[french town]

 I agree, did some work on a 7ftdia wheel found that the tourque needed to gen. any usefull power was unreal, maybe this is why the old timers used 12 to 24ft dia. wheels.

[aidanhydro]

I have just completed some tests down at the river using a short 2 inch poly pipe at a drop of 6ft. I got a flow rate of 60 gallons per minute. I am hoping to place two jets of water on either side of the turbine for maximum power - any thoughts or advice on this would be appreciated. My land is on the side of a mountain with a lake on top, I have roughly calculated that there is a 50 meter (conservative estimate) drop from the river on the top of our land to the bottom. I am using this project as a learning curve - I am hoping in the long run to develop a larger hydro project and achieve self sufficiency.  Attached is a photo of my cottage last winter, It will give you an idea of the scale of the mountain the river flows down. Unfortunately I do not have a photo of the river yet as I am away at the moment, I hope to post one next week.

[Nando]

Send the diameter of the Banki (blade tip to blade tip) ( 180 degrees) and the usable width and I can tell how much power you can make if you tell me the water volume ( Gallon/minute or liter/sec)and the head ( meters or feet).

You will get the power and the RPM of the Banki.

The size that you seem to have is large for a lot of water if the material can resist the water pressure and continuous flexing.

Bankis are usually made for low heads and a lot of water volume.

Regards

Nando

[aidanhydro]

Hi Nando,

The diameter of the turbine is 30 cm and the length is 45 cm. The water volume is 60 gpm and the head is 20 meters approx.

Regards,

Aidan