MicroHydro Book summary Given enough head and water flow a small microhydro will produce WAY more

electricity than a comparably priced PV system, and do so at night and on cloudy days. Electricity is like water so its a great match Flow = amps, pressure = voltage. Resistance = pipe friction As current flows potential(voltage) is lost to resistance (voltage drop). Water POWER is the Flow X pressure (amps + voltage) 1866 Nikolas Tesla (10 years old) had a vision of harnessing Niagra Falls with some kind of a wheel. The pressure in a pipe is the highest when no water is flowing this is called static pressure or static head. The more water flows, the more pressure is lost (friction). Pressure loss is called head loss. The pressure that remains is called net pressure or net head. Typical micro hydro system: Intake Screen penstock turbine transmission lines inverter/controller (Stream, tailwater by turbine) Extracting KW from heads under 50 ft is impractical and very expensive.

Assessing energy needs = how much is minimal, how much is enough? Basics, Essentials, Conveniences, HW, Space heat, full-service Usage vs. Capacity Capacity is how much you need a one time (1=charge laptop, 4=electric HW, full service) Assessing available energy Assessing the site: a. how much water flow is available will not use whole creek.Container method:gallon container timing (gpm) this is usually OK for <100gpm, if more, use Weir method: notch of a given size eg 3 of water flowing over a five foot weir = 1000gpm. 1 head over 1 1 ft wide weir =36gpm. 3 over 1ft = 178gpm. 5 over 3 = 1174gpm, 7 over 5ft = 3255gpm. b. how much static pressure/head is available need to have a pipe and psi gauge (easiest) only ~ 1/3 of static pressure is useful for microhydro. Psi X 2.31 = head (100 psi = 231 feet)

Net head will be ~ 2/3 to of the static head. c. length/diameter/characteristics of pipe (freezing, turns, Survey needed. Vertical drops, length and turns of potential pipe. Use transit level and poles. Or can use an altimeter, GPS. Or can use a rod and level (water filled hose) used by ancients. Stream Profile the first 100 feet drops 20 feet. The second 100 ft are not as steep and drops 16 ft and so on. Rule of thumb: Electricity is easier to move than water it can also go uphill! A turbine can be located way below where power is needed. The penstock will be the most difficult part of the system to install. Easier to use low head and short penstock where creek is the steepest, and moving the electricity (would use more water tho). Calculating potential output As water begins to flow, friction reduces available pressure. As more water flows, more friction, less pressure. Length of pipe determines total amount of friction and flow. Max power coming out of a penstock occurs when the flow of water causes about to 1/3 of the static to be lost. If a limited flow is available, a larger pipe will have lower friction. A higher output from same pipe length will result from increasing the penstock size. However the price goes up accordingly. In many cases there is more water available than an affordable pipe can handle. A long pipeline delivers less water to turbine than a short pipeline. Example: head loss in pipe. Static head of 60ft in a run of 600 ft. of 2 poly pipe. 25% (loss to friction) of 60 = 15ft of head loss 33% of 60 = 20 ft of head loss Ideal head loss 15 / 6 (hundred feet of pipe) = 2.5 ft/100 20 / 6 (hundred feet of pipe) = 3.3 ft/100 (40-45 gpm) Lower head loss would produce more power. Limiting to 20gpm from table6ft of head loss = 54 net head (60-6) 600ft of 2 poly pipe @ 60ft static head results in 54ft of net head @ 20 gpm. MUST HAVE TABLES HERE = head loss from friction in pipe. e.g.: PVC160: 10gpm @ 1 pipe = 9.2, @2 = 0.3 40gpm @ 2 pipe = 16.6, @ 4 = 0.1 100gpm @ 2 pipe = 90.3, @ 6 = 0.1 Poly pipe: 10gpm @ 1 pipe = 8.0, @ 2 0.3 40gpm @ 1.5pipe = 14.5, @ 3 = 0.5 100gpm @ 2 pipe = 19.4, @ 3 = 2.7

Nozzles: (from penstock pipe to turbine wheel) more water can be put through a given wheel by using more than one nozzle. Net pressure from pipe must be matched to properly sized nozzle at desired flow rate. Can use different sized nozzles for different season/creek flow rates. e.g. 10 psi net @ 23ft of net heat with 0.5 nozzle = 23.6gpm jet flow rate 30 psi net @ 81ft of net head with 0.5 nozzle = 40.9, with 1 nozzle =164 (table on page 49) Turbines: High head is > 6 ft up to 600ft. Impulse turbines such as turgo or pelton are used. Low head turbines (2-10ft) use river turbine like Aquair. Turgos are used for high water flows = shorter penstocks, can use up to four 1 jets. Very rugged. Pelton is a little more efficient than Turgo used for low flow and high head. Harris Hydro (pelton type) can generate power with as little as 2gpm, handle up to four jets. Turns at 1800rpm at only 32psi. Low head is under 10ft. Uses reaction type turbines. LH-1000 from Energy Systems and Design. Produces power >2 ft of head rated at 1000 watts at 10ft head using 1,000gpm. AC microhydro requires high head >75ft. direct AC also requires a constant RPM to make 60 or 50 hz (uses a governor). Motors/pumps run cooler. Problem is to keep constant water flow 24/7 and avoid AC/DC conversion to charge batteries. With new microprocessor controls AC direct is better. Low head AC turbines: Powerpal technology from Asian Phoenix Resources = where lo-cost is important. Makes AC sinewave directly. 60hz. MHG200w/500w/1000w head=5ft.554-2060gpm, 144-720KW/mo. Making your own turbine (reverse flow on a pump impeller) is very inefficient youre using an induction motor as an alternator. In 3rd world countries, cross-flow turbines are common. (spraying water at anything will make it turn). BATTERIES: RV type are not true deep discharge, will fail quickly. Forklift batteries (2 cell) are excellent but have higher capacity than needed. Golf cart batteries are used most commonly for microhydro since they have the smallest capacity as true deep discharge. Since they are not worked very hard *hydro is continuous* they last a long time. If importing (flying in) due to lead acid, sealed gel cells or AGMs are common. CONTOLLERS: eventually the batteries are fully charged, and the system needs to stop charging the batteries this is where charge controller is needed. Example: power output Need to have net head first. (optimal net head is 2/3 of static head)

Continuous watts = flow (gpm) x net head (feet) / 10

KW output/month = flow (gpm) X net head (feet) / 13.8

This if for modern turbines. If youre using an efficient automobile alternator (Ford 70A) reduce output by 40%. If using a Delco, reduce by 60%.

4 graphs on pg 13 are SUPER! a. typical daily power consumption b. typical daily PV outputs c. typical wind genset output d. typical hydro output Overlay all the graphs and you can see patterns/issues

Getting Started Need: 1. > 2gpm of constant water flow and a lot of drop a. Or 2ft of drop and 500gpm b. Or something between these two 2. proper turbine and alternator 3. powerhouse to keep turbine out of weather 4. hydro resource needs to be within 1-2km where electric needed 5. permission from local authorities, especially penstock runs 6. need vacuum breaker (exp tank?) at lower end of penstock (avoids collapse in case of water shutoff/obstruction) 7. need valve/diverter to allow for turbine maintenance PIPING Performance and budget dictate this: Poly (ethylene) 2 pipe is commonly used. 4 PVC very steep and very short, can also produce a lot of power.

O+M The upkeep of micro-hydro system is of utmost importance.