Hydro Turbine

Team 3
Evan Pletcher Dante Chavez Eric Anderson Kari Maclennan Amy Gronewold

Problem
Many people dont have electricity, or dont have easy access. We wanted to design an efficient hydro turbine that will be able to power a light bulb. We also wanted an alternative to dams that did not damage the environment.

Customers
Our customers will be people without easy access to electricity, who live near a river. Other customers can be people who want to produce their own energy from a river.

Qualitative Requirements
We wanted a hydro turbine that wouldnt disrupt the flow of traffic. The hydro turbine also needed it to be small enough to not ruin the landscape. It should also be environmentally friendly. Separation of electricity and water was also key. The design needed to be simple enough so anyone could fix it.

Quantitative Requirements
The hydro turbine will be placed inside a Venturi tube to maximize the flow of the river. It will have a 3 diameter propeller, and tube. At the entrance of the Venturi tube will be covered with a grate to keep debris and wildlife from reaching the hydro turbine. The entrance of the Venturi tube will be about 14 in diameter, and it will funnel down to 3. The hydro turbine will produce 2 Watts of power.

Quantitative Requirements Cont.

P = .5eV23A2 V2 = (V1A1)/A2 P (Watts) = (.5e(V13 * A13))/A22 2=(.5(.15)(.84^3*(.18^2)^3))/(.038^2)^2

Alternative designs

Kaplan low head

Francis medium head

Pelton high head

Our Design
Propeller slightly less than 3 in diameter Venturi tube largest diameter is 7 Smallest diameter is 3

Materials
We will use a clear plastic tube for the central portion of the Venturi tube. There will be a circular, vertical axis, propeller within the tube. The propeller will be attached to a generator connected to the outside of the tube. A funnel will be made or bought to fit at the entrance of the Venturi tube.

Construction
First the funnel was attached to the tube

Construction Continued..

We chose a bicycle alternator for our project

The Final Design

Testing
Plan A: Boulder Creek The creek proved to be insufficient for powering our device so we developed other alternatives.

Plan B: The Wind Tunnel

Plan C: Hose

Testing Results
Both the creek and the wind tunnel werent powerful enough to generate the electricity we wanted so we decided to try Plan C. We were able to produce 8.66 Volts and .1 Amps. Using P=IV we calculated that we produced .87 watts, which fell short of our target 2 watts. To improve this, some options would be to use a different alternator, or simply find a faster river.

Group Strengths
We can develop new, creative ideas. We can have fun together. We work well under pressure. We let people explain their idea, before criticizing it.

Group Weaknesses
Not easily motivated. Communication on homework and presentations needs improvement.