Micro-hydro power generation

[MikeG.]

If no-one ate beef or lamb

Then we could be overrun by sheep & cattle. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Who would own these value-free animals, and why would they be breeding and feeding them?

 

[RobinBHM]

From one of the links above: Lydia Mill: 3.86m diameter steel wheel, 70 litres/s, 1.8kW, up to 10,000kWh per year.

70 litres per s seems a lot for 1.8kw

and the 20kw waterwheel is 8metres diameter -Im not sure Roger would get away with it under permitted development

 

[Tris]

If no-one ate beef or lamb

Then we could be overrun by sheep & cattle. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Who would own these value-free animals, and why would they be breeding and feeding them?

For gas power from methane?

 

[RogerS]

If no-one ate beef or lamb

Then we could be overrun by sheep & cattle. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Um...I think that was a joke, dibs ? Simple economic fact...as Mike says...if no-one ate beef or lamb then there is no economic reason to raise and feed them.

Anyway, I'm alright, Jack Vegans and vegetarians look away now.

My builder just dropped round the first tranche of game FOC - 6 mallard, 4 pheasant, 4 partridge with more to come. I collect my .243 next week which means freezers full of venison.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

For gas power from methane?

Greta Thunberg would hit the roof! You tell her - I'm too scared. :shock:

 

[Trainee neophyte]

From one of the links above: Lydia Mill: 3.86m diameter steel wheel, 70 litres/s, 1.8kW, up to 10,000kWh per year.

70 litres per s seems a lot for 1.8kw

and the 20kw waterwheel is 8metres diameter -Im not sure Roger would get away with it under permitted development

What would Roger want with 20kW? Just how big is his workshop? Or is it for the walk-in freezer for all that venison?

If it was me, I would be hoping for at least 4kW, as that would cover any and all domestic applications, albeit one at a time. Given the average house uses 11kWh per day, you can see that even if you have a 4kW hot water heater, it isn't in use for very long. My oven is 2kW, and
washing machine the same, I think (would have to pull it out to check, so may be wrong). Everything else is trivial.

The video shows a 100kW pelton wheel, running from what looks to me to be a 4" pipe. No mention of what the head is, but it shows what a big micro-hydro looks like - tiny. I wouldn't want the noise near my house, though.

[youtube]1_7BKFMJrYA[/youtube]

 

[RogerS]

.... I wouldn't want the noise near my house, though.

[youtube]1_7BKFMJrYA[/youtube]

Ah, hadn't thought about that...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

For gas power from methane?

Greta Thunberg would hit the roof! You tell her - I'm too scared. :shock:

Cut out the middle man - just use the hot air from Thunderbird.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

This might be more manageable than the pelton wheel - something to aim for, perhaps: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Wheel

Most of the wheel and rod is made of wood; however, key mechanical parts are metal to provide tension and bearing surfaces.

 

[Dibs-h]

Um...I think that was a joke, dibs ? .

Yes Rog - it was a joke. :lol:

 

[RogerS]

One of the biggest hurdles as has been pointed out elsewhere is the UK flood creation agency aka the EA. They have a very long nitpicking document (and that's the pre-planning document) with questions I know not the whit thereof to answer. Quite why I need an extraction licence if I'm putting the damn stuff back in the stream is surreal (as has already been mentioned). And planning need to be involved in case I'm disturbing any Ken's.

I thought I'd have a stab at measuring the head using the Accurate (ahem :? ) Altimeter on my smartphone. Hopeless. Even standing still and refreshing it, gave widely differing values. The next approach would be manual but I'll need to do just a bit of clearance first .

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I haven't read the whole thread, but looking at your photo of the stream I'd question whether there's a resource worth trying to exploit.

The basic arithmetic is that the energy (Joules) available from water is based on the mass or water and the vertical distance over which it travels. Power (Watts), being based on rate of flow (Joules per second, or kg m2/s2).

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/hydr ... _1359.html

Looking at the stream, the flow rate would perhaps be 5kg per second. With a head of 5m you might get a few hundred watts if you're lucky. I think you might get a quicker payback from a couple of solar PV panels!

Cheers, W2S