Hi to all on the forum
I am a newbie so as with all newbies (a lot of questions and no answers I am afraid) at least for a while anyway !
Its great to find a site of like minded individuals looking forward to exchanging information as soon as I learn a bit !
I have a small stream running on 2 sides of my garden (I own about 130 meters of riverbank)
For the past 4 months I have carried out a survey on the flow in the stream . (measuring the height of water at a given point every 5 days )
When I do a flow measurement I can correlate this flow info with the survey info to give me a idea of average yearly flow
I plan to do a flow measurement in the next few weeks. (that will be fun)
I know that I cannot calculate any energy potential without this valuable piece of information !
Winter will not be a problem (loads of water ) its summer I am a bit concerned about !
I wish to install a turbine that can give me in excess of 500W to make the project viable. I estimate return on investment in about 4 years approx if 500w is available
I will do most of the work myself as I am from an engineering background but unfortunately not electrical nor hydro turbines
My strengths would be machining, welding, fabrication and civil work.
I have a good grasp of the whole principle but please excuse the rather fundamental questions you are liable to hear in my posts !
Without having the exact flow figures I am pretty certain that I can fill a 230mm bore smooth plastic pipe that will have to run 130 meters having a head of 4 meters
I plan to dam the river upstream to create a 1meterr deep pool to guarantee the filling of the pipe
Is it possible for any of you to have a stab at the potential here. I am thinking Banki for the ease of manufacture and buying a motor as a generator with the correct sizing to match.
The turbine would be situated about 50 meters from my house and I want to generate 220v to minimise losses over that distance.
The power generated I will use to heat water. My house has under floor heating so a large reservoir of water ( energy storage) exists.
I will post a few pictures of the site as soon as I get a chance.
Please excuse if this is posted several times It's my first and even though I submitted it once or twice already , It has not come up !
Regards Abhainnbeag (Gaelic for little river)