micro hydro

[jeffbirkle]

I have a micro hydro site off grid.Specs are 29 inchs head ,14 l/s.

My first design turbine(water wheel) is putting out 2.3 amps at 12 volts @60 rpm.

How much more power is possible?

Jeff

[jimovonz]

29in=0.737m. 0.737x14x9.8=101W available power. 2.3x12=27.6W power out from the turbine (I presume its a turbine). 27.6/101=27% efficiency. 50% efficiency shouldn't be too hard to achieve. Even higher efficiency is achievable with a well designed system. So to answer your question, you should be able to get at least twice as much as you are currently getting.

[Nando]

JIMOVONZ:

Not necessarily, the efficiency in this case is difficult to optimize due to the extremely low head.

Ones needs to know the type of water wheel and the generator and its coupling to the wheel.

At this low head, 30 to 40 % efficiency it is about the optimum that can be harvested without spending endless hours trying to extract the last milli-amp of electrical energy.

Nando

[jimovonz]

Yes Nando, I agree. I wasn't factoring in the particularly low head. Your 30-40% sounds more reasonable in this situation.

[jeffbirkle]

Thanx for the info guys. As this is my first design, my blades are made out of 5/8" plywood and warped and bending due to the water, and my 1/8" steel sheet housing also warped when i did some welding so there is a lot of clearance everywhere (if it even makes a difference?).

I think my first design direct drive dual rotor alternator and coil are also low in efficiency(i will need more time to test).If battery volts while charging are 13.5 and amps are 2.3,does this mean watts are 13.5 x 2.3 = 31.05 or ? If water flows over a weir 16.5" wide and 2.5" high,does this equal 14 L/s???