Suggestions and Advice for a small hydro-power plant

[riondluz]

Hi all:

I'm hoping someone can give me an assist.

I live about 200 feet from a river that has what i call a choke-point between the rocks.

As this image shows,

it's an incredible pinch point that runs swift almost year-round, which i'd like to harness for hydro-power.

In fact, there are at least a dozen of these along the river, so if there is an adequate solution

for me, then maybe it could also provide some energy-independence for many others as well.

The river is just a fork of a larger one, and sees little use; once a year kayak'ers run the river after

the dam opens.  That would be a small loss for a source of energy that, i estimate, pulls 400-500 gal/minute

even on the lowest August days. They could just circumnavigate around the generator, for that matter.

What I had in mind was some kind of turbo-generator similar to a jet engine; e.g. a hydro ram-jet

that could be set and bolted between the rocks and protected w/a steel mesh screen.

Assuming such a generator exists and can be installed, my  primary issue would be how to run a power line

from the river to my house.  doing it on the sly, as it were, would probably not be an issue as the

State/town has no reason to come up my way.

Burying the line is kind of out of the question as the river sits down in a gorge. Stringing wire in

the trees might be an option, but I'd  like to  be able to just snake the (220v) line through a

flexible pvc pipe and lay it on the ground

An advice regarding equipment, installation, hookup, or cautionary tales are greatly appreciated.

TIA

Rion

riondluz_at_gmail.com

there is a good reason we require photos to be less than 640 pixels wide  and to make 3 photos into one so it is over 1000 pixels wide just isn't polite at all please repost them one by one under 640 x480 pixels thank you
Kurt

[kenneth keen]

Hello,

I think that your biggest concern would be that when there is a flood (which ALWAYS happens, if you happen to live long enough) then your large investment of equipment is not lost in the surge of water down your river. I have been flooded in the last year no less than twice and with undeniable climate change this can be expected to increase rather than decrease. Hence, it is very important that you are able to secure your generator against all the trees and rocks that will crash against it at some point. The best solution in my limited experience, but also more involved, is to install the gear on a type of raft which in the event of high water will just float on the surface and return to operating position when the high water has gone. You are probably not inclined to go to all this bother and then when the rains come it is not the nicest time to have to go out and uproot equipment which just MIGHT be ok where it is.

See that you get those pictures redone so we can all have a look at what it is your are dealing with.

Best of luck.

Kenneth Keen

[TomW]

Kenneth;

Been nearly a month and he has not responded to the original story having the photo removed. I doubt he ever even read the post again.

Pretty common here. Folks join to post a question then never respond to responses to it.

Why I feel we need a waiting period between joining and posting. Would help narrow down postings to serious requests. I get complaints about it a lot actually. For giggles just read back through a couple weeks worth of posts and you will see this not answering questions on the original post is pretty common and it is rude, too.

Point is, do not hold your breathe waiting for a reply.

Tom