Micro CoGen.

Using a water wheel may not be optimal. But, it may be fun. I will grid tie, so fun has to be a part of it. A turbine is boring even if efficient. I may try a turbine. I have to do way more research, but I have a year or 2.
I have 26' of head.
GPM... whatever an 8" pipe will flow I guess. The questions is how long will I have that flow. I don't want to drop the lake level more than 2'. So, 15 acres x 2' is...  lets see 1 acre is 43,560sq ft. so 15 acres is 653400 sq. ft. x 2' depth=1,306,800 cubic ft. = 9,774,864 gallons (I think) (1 cu ft=7.48 gal? that does not seem right)
Then I get lost in the calculations.
Wags

This is in the future, so no load requirements yet.
I assume the 900 watt is per hour. So, 900 w x 24 hours = the 21.6 KWH. Hmm... seems obvious now. HA! I was struggling with the KWH thing for some reason. Or did not properly associate time with the 900 watt output.
In my current house I use as little as 735 KWH a month. I have used as much as 1835 KWH, but that was with all ac's running and 3 weeks of 90 to 100* days. ....SO... it seems as the 21.6 KWH x 30 days= 648 KWH? Right??
So, with some attention I could run on this for the light usage months anyway.
The new place will be much more energy efficient, and I won't be running a shop out of it. That uses a lot. 5 hp air compressor, lights, ac, equipment, etc.
Wags

Wow, this seems amazingly low. Maybe my perspective is off. My little Honda generator will put out 2000 watts. I know more rpms, but way less torque. A 10' wheel will have a huge amount of torque... yes? Little HP due to rpm though.
Wags

Oh, and I've just started looking into "micro hydro". So, all the terms are new as well as places/ sources for info/ purchasing.
Thanks
Wags

Hmmm... maybe I need to put the horse before the cart.
How much kw to I need to run my little house? I know... just say a standard 1500 sf house. And how much energy can I store in batteries?
Meaning I can't run my ac off it I assume?
A 10' water wheel better put out more than 150watts. 
If not, I'm barking up the wrong tree.
Or in comparison... a 10kw windmill is a big piece, but powered only by wind. I'd think water weight and torque would be way up there.
Thanks
Wags

This is what I was thinking of. Seems easy enough.
How many watts does it put out? What does it power.. however you want to put it.
Wags

Looks like these Pelton wheels used to exist. Anyone making them, or have any ideas where an old one is sitting?
Wags

I think a 1 ton truck rear end will do fine. Hell, my dually can have 5000#+ on them plus truck weight. But I agree it will take a tough rear end.

I had not thought abbout a turbine. I won't have 29' of head as the valley is relatively flat. But I have 26' of water depth, so I'd have that minus turbine height.
How reliable are they? I want a plug and play. (meaning not break down every day)
Also flow will be regulated as it probably will not be a constant flow. I will have a shutoff valve. But, it is a 15 acre lake. Raising and dropping the water level 1' is a bunch of dam water. Have the calculation at home. And it will be an 8" feed pipe, but necked down for something easier to work with. 
I have hundreds of acres of runoff, so if/ when it rains, no problem. Also I have a spring that feeds it.
Thanks

Wags

Yea, I know.... idiotic but here goes. I have a lake with a dam (duh). The dam height is 29', the water dept is 26'. On the other side of the dam is a 29' drop (duh again).
So, picture a valley, a dam in it 29' tall and the valley continues. SO, I was thinking off using an old fashioned style water wheel to drive a generator.
The waterwheel could be any size (so long as I can fab it and move it), but I would like to stay in the under 10' range if possible. There is an 8" drain in the dam, so this water could go up to water wheel height. (which will still be a 10' drop or so).
My question is how many gpm would I need/ or how many gallons per bucket would I need?
I would like to drive a dc generator and charge batteries. This would allow me to not run the wheel all the time. Any suggestions, or just crazy?

Wags

Oh, I was thinking of using a truck rearend for the bearing/ drive setup. I would build the waterwheel on one side of the rearend. On the other side I could use a rim/ pulley and belt to drive the gen or use the yolk of the rear end as a PTO output. Bearings sealed, no maintenance then.

Well, FINALLY I have a decent project to test the generator.
(Long boring story) I have some land that has no electric, water, etc. I got a 24' camper trailer donated to me. It is old, but clean and does not leak. Pretty good shape actually. I go to this property some weekends but usually drive home at night, or the GF's house because of no electric, water, or shelter.
Well... now shelter will be there! So, my lister will be put to use. Not just a show piece. Since this is for running AC and water pump I will use an ST head. This should be more than adequit. This will also get me power up there to pump water, run some tools, etc.
I work on industrial equipemnt and a lot is battery powered. So, coming up with a few decent batteries will be a piece of cake. I can use the bat. as 12vdc to power the camper when ac is not on. (built in inverter in these things) Just a couple cheap solar chargers to maintain the batts. when I'm not there.
The AC plug is 30a 110v, so any 3kw head should be fine... I will probably get a bigger head as I will have room to grow.
What do you guys think?

Thanks

Wags

Quote from: deeiche on March 23, 2011, 06:48:52 AM

Quote from: wagspe208 on March 17, 2011, 09:38:45 PM
Sure, a little off topic maybe. I drive a lot, so I have time to think about strange stuff.
I was wondering if a metal building if properly grounded would serve as a Faraday Cage. Or if you have to do the expanded metal/ chain link fence thing??
Oh, of course this means would a metal building protect against an EMP? N. Korea just annouced they have a functioning one. What can go wrong?
Wags

So I realized, no one ever asked "What are you trying to protect?".

Well, excellent question. Answer... everything I believe I need to function if an EMP occurs.
Be prepared. Boy Scouts, you know.
Wags

Ok, really was just an interesting subject. Knowledge is precious.

Drill shmill... Be a man like the folks up until the 30's or 40's ish.
First you need to find a water witcher. That will be the trick. Not many left around. Many don't even believe it works. Shows how old technology knew more than scientists.
Then, you get a shovel and start digging. The hole should be at least 30" across. Once you hit water, you line the wall with stone, preferrable limestone. Brick is ok also. See, the wall needs to be permeable (SP) to water. A concrete or pipe liner won't allow water in. Only at the bottom however it is designed.  
Use a shallow water jet pump. Bingo. Easy as pie.
Like the one in my back yard. The one at my property, or the "artesian well" that is spring fed. My well is about 35' deep. Water is always minimum of 10' deep. It has never run dry. Not in the dryest of years. Many drilled wells run dry around here.
Wags

Wow, look what a simple little question turned into.
So, my pole barn is ok? The seams are not bonded. They overlap. It is an old barn, so galvanized metal, not powder coated/ painted stuff, so should be pretty good conductivity between panels.
So, if you wanted to do a cover all scenario.. would you use a small mesh as opposed to chain link fence? Something like expanded metal.
Does metal thickness or gauge matter?
Just wondering.
Wags

Sure, a little off topic maybe. I drive a lot, so I have time to think about strange stuff.
I was wondering if a metal building if properly grounded would serve as a Faraday Cage. Or if you have to do the expanded metal/ chain link fence thing??
Oh, of course this means would a metal building protect against an EMP? N. Korea just annouced they have a functioning one. What can go wrong?
Wags

Does he have generators back in stock? He was out with no info as to when more would be available some time back.
Thanks
Wags