Disruptive technology about to explode on energy scene.

LENR stands for Low Energy Nuclear Reaction, originally demonstrated in 1989 by Pons & Fleischman and dubbed 'cold fusion'. Low temperature fusion was prematurely discredited by the physics and hot fusion interests, and partly due to the difficulty of getting consistent results. But in the last 20 years the phenomenon has been researched world wide and consistent nuclear results and vast quantities of excess heat can be obtained without burning fossil fuels and without radiation and radioactive wastes. 

Note: LENR, aka cold fusion. NASA is now acknowledging cold fusion is real! And their research provides major hope for the future. To see Dr. Zawodny's patent for this revolutionary technology, click here. For more on NASA's involvement in this, click here. For lots more reliable information on the suppression of cold fusion/LENR by the media and the scientific mainstream, click here. For more inspiring news on amazing new energy inventions, click here.

LENR is real, cold fusion is neither. See last post re: Low Energy Nuclear Reaction.

• The real excitement for me is that any competent plumber or metal worker can build a unit, no exotic materials needed. This also makes control of the technology difficult if not impossible unless we allow legislation pushed by the big energy companies. - Rob      
• Is it possible that Obama is keeping a lid on LENR to use at a more opportune and advanced stage of development?  See 'Meanwhile...' below. Will NASA be the 'lead' agency to introduce LENR to the American public?

It has now become apparent that Rossi is fast becoming a patriotic American (been bought lock, stock and Ecat ) See the very long (language barrier impeded) interview:

http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2012/01/17/rossi-e-cat-destined-for-underwriters-laboratory/

This interview also makes clear the shift in marketing strategy being developed with Rossi's new American friends; make millions of (low cost, now $500) Ecats in fully automated manufacturing facilities, and make the real profit on the refueling 'cartridge' needed every 6 months of operation.

Sounds just like my printer cartridge that costs $50 every six months, and keeps HP afloat.

Rossi states that the 6 month fuel supply cartridge will only cost around $10 plus $40 for shipping if you install it yourself, plus a service tech house call if you don't. He seriously hedged when asked if you could buy a couple of fuel sticks to have in reserve. So they'll try to maintain control by only providing a new one when you return the old one, or with maybe a hefty deposit to insure return of spent cartridges.

Rob
                ________________________

Meanwhile, cold fusion made a surprise appearance in the US presidential race.

"I do believe in basic science. I believe in participating in space. I believe in analysis of new sources of energy. I believe in laboratories, looking at ways to conduct electricity with -- with cold fusion, if we can come up with it," candidate Mitt Romney said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. "It was the University of Utah that solved that. We somehow can't figure out how to duplicate it."The comment elicited laughter, but raises the question of why Romney would mention it. He is not strong on science, and it seems likely that someone has mentioned cold fusion to him in a recent briefing. Like everyone else, he may just be waiting to see if there's something in it. The prospect of an industrial boom based on cold fusion would give a major boost to the candidate who managed to capitalise on it while others dithered -- but would it would be political suicide if it turns out to be a damp squib.
_________________

See below for more technical information:

http://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/government/Intel/Krivit-LENR-Interview-IARPA.shtml

Disruptive technology about to explode on energy scene

Why I believe Low Energy Nuclear Reactions

(LENR) are real and about to change the game.
http://technologygateway.nasa.gov/media/CC/lenr/lenr.html
http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/BarnhartBtechnology.pdf
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/alchemistsDream.php

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/coldFusionCondensedMatter.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8eIhth8Iw8

http://ecatinfo.com/e-cat/the-doe-of-the-united-states-has-woken-up-to-e-cat-info

http://www.infinite-energy.com/images/pdfs/mitcfreport.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/12/31/2012-the-year-of-cold-fusion/

http://andrearossiecat.com/andrea-rossi/uk-decc-awaits-publication-and-replication-of-andrea-rossi-e-cat/

http://andrearossiecat.com/andrea-rossi/is-andrea-rossi-e-cat-an-impossible-dream

See also: Condensed Matter Nuclear Physics / Science.

“My change of mind was a direct result of talking to Dr. Dennis Bushnell, the Chief Scientist for NASA Langley who has assured me that over 100 experiments worldwide indicate that LENR is real, capable of producing energy much greater than chemical reactions…"Albert Opdenaker of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences in response to the question he was asked concerning Rossi and E-Cat info and LENR in general.

Chief Scientist at NASA Langley

Acknowledges Andrea Rossi E-cat

Posted: June 2, 2011

One of the chief scientists at NASA, Dennis Bushnell recently recognized the potential of the Andrea Rossi energy catalyzer to positively impact the energy field.  Although there have already been many demonstrations and the opening of Defkalion Green Technology’s 1 megawatt facility in Greece in October 2011, the scientific community and major media is just beginning to acknowledge the light of E-cat.

 “I think this will go forward fairly rapidly now.”

“This is capable of, by itself, completely changing geo-economics, geopolitics of solving quite a bit of [the] energy [problem.] – Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist of NASA Langley.

Interview of: Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist of NASA Langley

Host: J. William Moore
Transcribed by: Steven B. Krivit

The real excitement for me is that any competent plumber or metal worker can build a unit, no exotic materials needed. This also makes control of the technology difficult if not impossible unless we allow legislation pushed by the big energy companies. - Rob 

[Partial Transcript of Podcast, Excerpts on Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions]

[This transcript is Copyleft 2011 New Energy Times. Permission is granted to reproduce this text as long as the text, this notice and the publication information are included in their entirety and no changes are made to this text.]

J. William Moore: I’d like to [look at] some of the [energy alternatives] that you think look most promising from your perspective.

Dennis Bushnell: The most interesting, and promising, at this point, in the farther term, but maybe not so far, is low-energy nuclear reactions. This has come out of [22] years of people producing energy but not knowing what it is — and we think we have a theory on it. It’s producing beta decay and heat without radiation. The research on this is very promising and it alone, if it comes to pass, would literally solve both [the] climate and energy [problems.]

MOORE: I find it extremely exciting that there might be something here, so what is it that you think is going on at the atomic level here?

BUSHNELL: Let me back up a little. [Stanley] Pons and [Martin] Fleischmann came out with an experiment that they labeled “cold fusion” about 22 years ago which had replication issues at the time. Also, all of the fusion theorists came out and said absolutely “This is not fusion.” And, of course, they were exactly correct, this is not fusion.

They’ve gone through 20 years of massive experimentation worldwide, in almost every country, where they’ve been able to produce this effect. But all of the energy produced by these “cold fusion” experiments over the last 22 years didn’t produce enough heat to boil water for tea. So people didn’t get too interested in it and nobody knew what it was.

Back in 2005, 2006, [Allen] Widom [and Lewis] Larsen came out with a theory that said, no it’s not “cold fusion,” it’s weak interactions using the Standard Model of quantum mechanics, only the weak interaction part. It says that if you set up one of the cells, and you don’t have to use deuterium, hydrogen works fine, nickel works fine and you don’t need palladium.

If you set this up you produce an electron – proton connection producing ultra-weak neutrons and if you have the right targets out there you produce beta-decay which produces heat.

At that point, in 2006, 2007 we became interested and started setting up a set of experiments that we’re just about ready to start finally, where we’re trying to experimentally validate this Widom-Larsen theory to find out whether or not it explains what’s going on. And in the process, we used quantum theory to optimize the particular surface morphologies to do this.

Then, as you mentioned, in January of this year [Andrea] Rossi, backed by [Sergio] Focardi, who had been working on this for many years, and in fact doing some of the best work worldwide, came out and did a demonstration first in January, they re-did it in February, re-did it in March, where for days they had one of these cells, a small cell, producing in the 10 to 15 kW range which is far more than enough to boil water for tea. And they say this is weak interaction, it’s not fusion.

So I think were almost over the “We don’t understanding it” problem. I think we’re almost over the “This doesn’t produce anything useful” problem. And so I think this will go forward fairly rapidly now. And if it does, this is capable of, by itself, completely changing geo-economics, geopolitics of solving quite a bit of [the] energy [problem.]

MOORE: I think this was either last week or the week before last, I ran a story on this. I went and took a look at it – they were using hydrogen and nickel, I believe, using hydrogen gas and putting that into this device. In looking at the video and photographs, it looks to be about the size of a fist and that thing was running from about 10:45 in the morning till about 4:30 when they finally turned it off — and generating, I forget exactly what it was — but it was a significant amount of energy in the form of steam.

BUSHNELL: It produces heat and did so for days and was in the 12 or 14 kW range and they [will be] producing, with a large number of these devices, a 1 MW power plant.

MOORE: That’s a pretty exciting thing. Do you think that this theory that was developed — are these NASA scientists that were working on that theory?

BUSHNELL: No, the theory was developed by Widom and Larsen. Widom is a faculty member and teacher at Northeastern and Larsen has a company in Chicago.

MOORE: So that looks promising and so you can take and generate steam, and of course, that’s what a nuclear reactor or coal-fired power plant is all about. They’re just there to produce steam and turn a turbine and produce power.

BUSHNELL: Once you’ve got heat, you can do everything. We looked at using LENR to power a space-access rocket and it had better performance conceptually than a conventional nuclear thermal rocket.

MOORE: Wow! Exciting.
Thanks to Steven B. Krivit of New Energy Times for the transcription of this interview.

Pons & Fleischmann started in 1989 with what the press called 'cold fusion'. 

They were ridiculed by the vested interests at MIT's government sponsored hot fusion laboratories.


The comment by Jed sums my feelings as to why this can no longer be a hoax. 

jedrothwell 6 days ago

Rossi has not done convincing tests. However, I know several hundred cold fusion researchers, and they all believe Rossi’s claim his results are very similar to theirs. It seems unlikely there are many different ways to get anomalous nuclear heat from metal hydrides, so the effects seen in palladium and nickel must be related. As McKubre says, this violates “the conservation of miracles.”

Rossi’s results are very close to those of Piantelli and Arata. They have both been working for 15 years, and who have published in leading peer-reviewed journals, and they have been replicated.

I believe you have focused too much on Rossi alone. You should look at the broader picture, and the supporting evidence. Cold fusion has been replicated thousands of times in hundreds of mainstream laboratories, often at very high signal to noise ratios. These replications have been published in peer-reviewed journal papers available at Los Alamos, Georgia Tech and other academic libraries. There are no peer-reviewed papers challenging this body of work. It is not possible that all of these scientists are making mistakes. If that could happen, the experimental method itself would not work, and science would not exist.

It is conceivable that Rossi is wrong. He might even be a fraud. But it cannot be that thousands of scientists are wrong or engaged in a gigantic conspiracy. There is no question that cold fusion itself exists. The only difference between Rossi and previous experiments such as Piantelli’s is that Rossi has better control over the reaction, so he can scale up. Other parameters such as temperature and power density are in the same range.

How to keep water pipes from freezing

I was wondering if you might have a suggestion on how to get an above ground water line from an Artisian well to NOT FREEZE.  This is the water source for the ducks and chickens, and am looking for a way to keep it from freezing over.

First, a couple of assumptions. I assume that the water pipe is made of black plastic, and is gravity fed from the artesian well that you mention. 

Depending on just how long the pipe is and where there is a 120VAC outlet to plug in a (400 to 600 Watt 12V) landscape lighting transformer in relation to one end of the pipe, the following will vary somewhat. The idea is to PUT THE HEAT INSIDE THE PIPE. You may also want to insulate the pipe.

You will need a length of 18 to 24 gauge twisted 2 wire, solid, insulated, 'bell' or 'thermostat' wire as long as your pipe plus 5 to 10 feet to reach the transformer and snake it through (inside) the whole length of the pipe. This is best done by first flushing a strong nylon pull string through the pipe with which you can pull the twisted wire pair through the pipe. At the well end have at least 6 inches of wire out the end and folded down over the edge and taped to the outside of the pipe to keep it from pulling back. Strip the wire ends here and twist the bare wire together securely and tape.

At the down hill end, (unless the pipe is just open ended and running all the time which might keep it from freezing all by it self ) drill a small  3/16" hole in the pipe, 3 inches back from the shutoff valve, and have the extra 5-10 feet of wire come out here. Seal around the hole and wire with silicone rubber and tape over the wire and hole to seal and provide strain relief for the delicate wire. It is best to have this valved end fastened to a 2X4 staked in the ground.

Next, connect the  2 wires to the 12V terminals on the landscape lighting transformer. If you just want to thaw out the pipe on occasion then you can just plug in for a few minutes to thaw it out, or maybe use a timer to turn the transformer off afterwards incase you forget. A safer method would be to use a ceiling fan control or lamp dimmer built into a standard electrical box/outlet plug the transformer into. Now you can adjust the power to the wire in the pipe to just keep it thawed and not use more electricity than you have to. I would also connect a 12V lamp at the transformer terminals (with the wires) so you have an indication of power flow to the wires (brighter bulb more heat to the wire/pipe).

Use heavier wire for longer runs, ie 18 Ga for 100', 24 Ga for <30'. If your pipe still freezes during very cold nights (T<20°F) you will have to insulate ( or bury) the pipe as well or use a larger transformer like 1000 Watts at 12V. You can get all this hardware at Lowes or Home Depot. Pictured below is a way to do a pressurized system.

BOOST RENEWABLES - give us feed-in tariffs

There are a lot of interesting laws being considered to boost investment and viability of renewable energy sources. Net metering is just one, then there are feed-in tariffs and virtual net metering also called remote net metering or aggregate net metering.

In situations where multiple investors ( a group of neighbors ?) want to share the output of a renewable energy source, and perhaps these investors are remotely located from the source, virtual net metering will allow the renewable energy produced and metered at the source to be credited to any other investor meters out there on the grid.

Feed-in tariffs insure that renewable energy sources receive the same or higher price for their energy as fossil fueled (and subsidized) sources. Seems only fair, but currently in NY, the utilities are allowed to pay less for clean renewable energy, or only what is called the 'avoided cost', somewhere around 4 cents / KWhr  while charging a retail of 10 to 16 cents / KWhr.  A feed-in tariff would set ( and stabilize) the price somewhere in between so that investors can be certain of their return on investment and not have to gamble that the price of renewable energy is set by those that have a vested interest in burning fossil fuels.

These laws are slowly being passed piecemeal state by state. Eventually I look forward to progressive national legislation on this front. There is still lots of resistance from vested interests, but they are slowly figuring out that this kind of legislation does not hurt too many and helps boost renewable energy generation and national energy independence.

Survived Irene - barely

This video was taken after the water crested and pretty much covered the flume, causing it to rise up and down on the flood waters. Managed to save it by clearing debris from the inlet to flood it and weigh it down. It would have been destroyed if I had not been here. The upside to all this wet ... been running all year and they just passed net metering for under 25KW hydro in NY!

Three Phase to Single using a 3Ø induction motor as generator

Common Micro Hydro Misconceptions

Hydro power - common misconceptions.

1. If there is a waterfall just let the falling water hit some paddles to which the generator is coupled and you are in business.

2. Rainwater running from the roof could be used to make electricity.

3. Hookup a turbine or Pelton wheel to your faucet, incoming waterline, or garden hose and you can keep the lights on for free. 

4. How about if I have a 2400 gallon tank 100 feet higher on a hill that fills up in 24 hours. How much electricity can I get? Answer: it will light up a night light continuously or brew coffee once in 24 hrs. (1800Watts for 10 min) 

Or 300Watt hrs  = .3Kwhrs about 2 cents worth.

Connecting to the Utility Grid

Net Meter Micro Hydro – The Road to Energy Independence

By Robert Honders, Honderosa Valley Consulting

Net metering is the single most effective policy government can implement to promote renewable energy derived from all sources. Why exclude waterpower? If net metering were extended to all small scale (under 25KW) hydro sites, we would see renewed interest in the restoration of thousands of micro hydro sites that have been abandoned during the times of cheap oil. Many of these sites could be made productive again with lower investments because the infrastructure (dam, penstock, water supply) may still be intact. There is no valid reason to treat one renewable energy source any differently than another. We need them all to pave the road to energy independence.

The advantages of a grid connection include energy storage and vastly simplified control of frequency & voltage. Essentially the site runs wide open and just pushes energy into the grid at the grid voltage and frequency. It is analogous to you helping a freight train by pushing on the back of it. You won't be able to change its speed at all, even if your efforts are doubled, or stopped altogether. In other words, your energy input can fluctuate, but the train stabilizes everything just as the grid stabilizes relatively small energy inputs.

The simplest way to get grid-connected and reap these stabilizing benefits is through net metering. Net metering is accomplished using a single-bidirectional meter, which is already in place on all grid-connected homes. But beware! The newer electronic meters are programmed by the utility company to ignore the direction of the energy flow. Thus you can end up paying for the energy that you send to the grid! The power company prevents small energy producers from sharing the energy they generate with their neighbors and turning their own meter backward without permission.         (Older spinning disk meters were not programmable in this way. The worst they could do to you is stand still while you were supplying power, and spin forward as you used power.)

To get grid connected with your hydro powered induction generator (cheapest, robust and most common) you’ll need to use an ‘inter-tie protection relay’ like the Beckwith M-3410. The relay monitors the grid / utility (not your generator) for any type of anomaly, like ‘grid down’, voltage or frequency too low / high etc. If any grid anomaly occurs the relay disconnects your micro hydro output from the grid for their protection. After grid power is restored the relay monitors the grid and if the grid has been normal for 5 minutes it will re-connect your micro hydro. You will need to wire an auxiliary contactor to hang a dump load (space heater will do) on your induction generator while it is disconnected from the grid to prevent your output voltage from rising too high.  Below you’ll find the diagram for a system like this. Double click to enlarge.

Once your utility has inspected and tested your grid inter-tie for proper operation, AND if your state law has hydro power included in the net metering law, then you can ask your utility company to re-program your meter so you can share your excess power with your neighbors and run your meter backwards. Net metering makes it possible to ‘store’ your excess energy in the grid instead of in batteries, and returns energy to you when you need it, perhaps during a dry August, and at the same price.                          

So let’s have NET METERING FOR ALL RENEWABLE ENERGY be the law of the land!

Pumps as Turbines have many advantages.

Alternative Power Lecture series at SUNY Orange

Alternative PwrFlyer

Hydro Power at work & play ...

The Engineering Mind ...

Choosing penstock pipe

In choosing pipe consider these:

1.  In larger sizes ( > 6" ) steel / iron pipe is cheaper for the same pressure rating. And used ( gas line) steel pipe is even more cost effective.

2.  I'm a pretty good welder, but even hiring a welder to do the job costs as much as hiring an HDPE fusing machine and operator.

3.  HDPE needs more supports to keep the pipe from sagging under the weight of the water where it is up in the air.

4.  For gentle bends (< 45°) steel pipe ends can be cut at a slight angle and welded together avoiding the use of expensive fittings.

5.  If there is ever a forrest fire plastic pipe on top of the ground may well burn up.

6.  In cold temperatures a tree falling on exposed HDPE will crack it.

Of course the best way to protect any pipe is to burry it and that would make plastic more attractive as it also limits thermal expansion and contraction which can be a problem with HDPE on the surface. (I have seen exposed plastic pipe pull apart at joints when the temperature dropped at night. The 8" PVC pipe was glued up on a hot day, empty, when the overnight temperatures dropped it pulled two of 12 joints apart.)

All things considered, if you have more than 100' of head and need > 8" diameter pipe you are a good candidate to use steel pipe especially if you can weld it yourself reasonably well. If you have to come down rocky cliffs, like I did, then that would favor steel pipe also.

For lower heads and / or smaller diameters HDPE or even PVC would be easier to handle and more durable when buried. If plastic pipe is not buried it will need to be protected from UV exposure.

Marking & cutting 8"  0.25" wall steel pipe.

Make the cut with an angle grinder and thin cutoff blade.

Welding pipe on pipe dolly







                  Using homemade alignment clamp.

                         Welding pipe on the ground                          

Below, the blown out schedule 40 T
static pressure 94 PSI, must have surged.

The fiberglass reinforced schedule 40 elbow.

Dealing with sand, gravel, ice, leaves just to mention a few things in the water.

PVC moving belt trash rack


Frazil ice, leaves and gravel have been my biggest maintenance headaches. But I'm hoping those headaches are behind me now that I've designed and built a PVC moving belt trash rack.

Freezing up of the intake screen after 3 to 4 nights of subzero temperatures is a common problem in cold climates. As the water splashes down over rocks it ends up supercooled (30°F) and slushy. The instant supercooled water hits any cold material, especially metal, it sticks and builds up, shutting off the largest of openings, even with trash rack / screens totally removed.

In a case here I have a 48" wide X 8" high opening at the inlet end of a 30 ft near horizontal covered flume that leads water to a 4' X4'X 5' deep box with a plastic, moving conveyor screen installed near the top that dumps debris and slush (sometimes referred to as frazile ice) over the downstream edge of the box. The penstock pipe leaves the bottom of the box and the whole thing is covered with PT 2X.

Now I thought I had my freezing intake screen problems solved, using a covered, PVC, moving screen, that runs mostly underwater except for the 6 inches or so that sticks out over the edge of the baffle to dump the leaves, gravel and ice. This screening arrangement allowed me to remove the metal trash rack at the 48"X8" entrance to the flume. ' Thought that big hole would never be able to freeze up with water running into it. Wrong!  The water gets so thick with slush that it dams up the stream itself, then naturally, the ice dam overflows and the overflow freezes on the lip of the ice dam. And so, once the slush freezes solid, you get these interesting ice stairs, ice dam with level ice behind it, then another ice dam with level area... and so on up stream. Usually after a few days of ice stair formation, and as daytime temps rise, the water and slush disappear from the surface and water will continue to run underneath the now frozen hard ice cover. So long as the ice cover remains it will keep the water from supercooling and forming slush. You will have no problem running you micro hydro as the water runs under ice cover. But how to deal with those few days of slushy ice damming water?

A deep (6') collection reservoir will go a long way toward solving this problem, but my stream flows over bedrock before falling off a cliff. A small dam would probably work but for various reasons was ruled out for now. I thought about heating tapes. They might ease the slush formation in the immediate area of the intake. They would have to be put inside antifreeze filled iron pipes to protect them from the rocks, logs and other storm debris. But thinking along these lines I remembered that we have a spring on a somewhat distant higher hillside. I had previously run a 1 1/2" PVC pipe from this source of 50°F spring water to our house for use as a domestic water supply. There is plenty of water especially in winter.  So I ran another 500' of 1/2 inch PVC downhill to the 48X8 problem intake flume and squirted the warm? water out upstream from the flume. This did the trick, at least this last winter, which was plenty cold. I think this could also work with pumped well water which is also relatively warm. The water would only have to run for the few days before the ice covers the stream. The pipe would retain more heat if it were buried and/or insulated, it should be pitched so it drains out completely when shut off.

You can purchase plastic conveyor belt with a large % of open space for the water. Order it to size or get it used (cheap) on Ebay and reconfigure it to the size you need. I am anxious to try this stuff in really cold weather. I have had to remove my old metal screen whenever the temps went below Zero °F. I also covered the whole intake flume, box and screen to keep it from freezing up. So far it has worked very well to keep all kinds of debris out of my penstock. The excess water that does not go down the pipe rinses the leaves off as they invert over the drive roller. The 18 RPM Bodine gear motor is directly coupled to the 3" PVC pipe that drives the screen. A slew of 3/16 holes drilled into the PVC pipe in exact locations matching the screen holes, and fitted with plastic pins, gives positive traction to the screen. Even though the screen moves slowly at about 6"/second, I still put a timer on the drive motor so it is on for 3 minutes then off for 6. This saves energy and wear and tear.



The PVC belt is made up of small sections hinge pinned together with 3/16" plastic (welding) rod to make any size screen. The short section of belt wrapped around the PVC pipe allows the accurate drilling of holes to accept short (1/2") pieces of 3/16 rod that act as sprocket teeth.


Here is how I got my belt, and I turned the square hole sprockets on the lathe to just fit inside the 3" PVC pipe so it could be driven with a square tube drive shaft.


The basic drawing of the whole thing. Double (or Right?) click on the image to see it enlarged.


The 'Gravel Baffle Box' with the covers removed from the butterfly valve drive (left) and the screen drive motor box on the right. (looking up stream, the dam and falls are behind the viewer)

Building a Micro Hydro - Overview

Pumps as Turbines (PaT) Motors as Generators

I have been using Pumps as Turbines and motors as generators very successfully for almost four years now. The optimum (maximum power) speed of a PaT is around 1/2 of its no load speed. So to test,run your PaT and generator with the available head but no electrical load or excitation. Then, for maximum power, you should load the system so it runs at 1/2 this No Load speed. So let's assume you have a six pole electric motor running as a generator at 1200 RPM (nominally). You would be looking for a No Load speed of (approximately) 2400 RPM at the generator shaft. If the PaT is direct coupled the only thing that can be tuned is the impeller diameter assuming the head is fixed. Cut down (on a lathe) the impeller diameter to increase the No Load RPM. If the generator is coupled to the PaT by a V belt the shiv ratios can be changed to give the correct RPMs.


How can I estimate roughly the maximum no load speed when impeller diameter and the net head are known?


No Load RPM= (19.1)(SQRT(64 H))/D
Where H= Head in feet, D= impeller diameter in feet (not inches)

So if H = 200 feet and Impeller Diameter is 7 inches we get a No Load RPM = 3699
This is a little high for a 4 pole (1800 RPM) generator, I'd rather be on the low end for better efficiency (less friction due to lower velocities). I would choose an 8" impeller. Or, (even better) go to a 6 pole 1200 RPM (direct coupled) motor, bring the no load speed down to 2400 RPM and calculate the required impeller diameter as below.


More often, you would know the full load normal operating speed of the generator to produce 60Hz from the name plate or the number of poles. Also the head is fixed and known. So you'll want to know what the impeller diameter should be for a direct coupled setup:


Impeller Diameter in inches =(230(SQRT(64 H)/R)


Where H = head in feet, R = No Load RPM and SQRT = Square root


So if H = 200' and R = 2400, we get an impeller diameter of 10.8 inches.


These admittedly rough calculations work well with Pelton wheels as well as Francis type runners.


By the way, larger pumps are well designed and optimized to be very efficient. When run in reverse as turbines they perform just like Francis type turbines and are every bit as efficient, assuming you match up head, impeller diameter and operating speed.
The graph above shows how I reverse engineered the pump curves for for operation as a turbine. This analytical approach is not as easy to understand as the empirical approach described above. Note the U shaped > 73 % efficiency region. This is where you want to be operating this particular PaT with a 12 inch impeller, 230 ft of head, and using 750 Gpm with expected output of 25 Hp mechanical energy. BTW, pumps are designated by their outlet X suction inlet X impeller diameter. So this is a 3X4X12 end suction pump with a 30HP, 1800 RPM 3 Phase electric motor.

Rolling logs uphill unloading from a trailer.

In the early 90's I built a circular saw mill on the back 40. I pick up logs in the local area, often felled by homeowners, and I often end up with a trailer load of big heavy logs to unload at the mill. I put a winch in the back of my old F250 and here is how I load and unload my trailer by just pushing a button.

Best little Hydro House in NY, 20 KW of renewable energy.

A quick overview of the building process. Picked up some inspiration in Costa Rica where pelton wheels could be seen laying around in yards, as ornaments, like wagon wheels here in the US. This is my first attempt at creating a video with music composition. So keep in mind, I'm an engineer not a liberal artist.

Single Phase from a 3 Phase induction motor/generator

Are pumps and electric motors usable as turbine/generators?

Hi Robert,

Thank you so much for your generous answer. As I am not electrical, and so I am really not able to understand those diagrams and some terms, before I contact a technician here to helping me with the job, let me ask you some, in my words, willing to get your answer in the most possible simple words (as if it were for kids!):

Thanks in anvance for your teachings!.

Cheers,

Felipe

1- Are pumps (and electric motors) used as PAT (and MAG), just as they are/come from manufacturer?, or, do they need to be modified for a micro-hydro (if so, what kind of modifications)?.

1. No modifications are needed. Just force the water into where it squirted out when it was a pump. You will need to add excitation capacitors to the motor to make it generate electricity all by itself. But if it is hooked to the grid you don't need any capacitors.

2- What is the capacitors function?

2. The capacitors basically store up a bunch of electrons in a few milliseconds and dump them back into the induction generator in the next few milliseconds. So the capacitors help to bounce the current back and forth in tune with 50 or 60 Hz (cycles per second).

3- Why is it neccesary to double (2x) the pump-labeled speed (rpm) of pumps, for micro-hydro purposes?

3. There are 2 extremes with a turbine / generator. At one end we have no load and the machine spins the fastest that the water velocity will allow. At the other end we load it down so much that the speed drops to 0 RPM. The best efficiency and maximum power happens somewhere close to the middle between these two extremes. And we know where we want to be operating normally (at the midpoint) so the no load speed should be around 2X that.

4- What 'delta' connections is?

4. Delta = triangle, the three windings are connected in a triangular configuration, as opposed to star configuration. See: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/worksheets/deltawye.html

5- What are the differences (both constructive and energy-flow-path meanning) between electric motors, and generators?.

5. Induction motors and induction generators are identical in every way. You can have an induction motor plugged in, running at 1800 RPM, consuming 746 watts (1 HP) and as soon as you start spinning that motor's shaft a little faster (with say a gasoline motor coupled to the shaft) it will start to generate electricity and feed it back to the grid and any other loads connected. This is a great and legal way to make your meter stop or even reverse.

Rob

Someone asked:


How can I  estimate roughly the maximum no load speed when impeller diamater and the net head are known.


No Load RPM= (19.1)((SQRT(64 H))/D)

Where H= Head in feet D= impeller diameter in feet



More often, you would know the full load normal operating speed of the generator to produce 60Hz from the name plate or from the number of poles. Also the head is fixed and known. So you'll want to know what the impeller diameter should be for a direct coupled setup:


Impeller Diameter in inches =(230)((SQRT(64 H))/R)


Where H = head in feet, R = No Load RPM OR 2X name plate RPM and SQRT = Square root

Net Metering, Why not Hydro?

I want to clarify the 'net metering' issue a little. I think that net metering is the most effective policy the government can implement to promote renewable energy derived from other sources besides solar & wind. If net metering were extended to all small scale (under 25KW) hydro sites, we would see a resurgence and interest in restoring thousands of small hydro sites that have been abandoned during the times of cheap oil. Many of these sites could be made productive again with lower investments because the infrastructure (dam, penstock, water supply) may still be intact. There is no valid reason to treat one renewable source any differently than another.

The advantages of a grid connection include vastly simplified control of frequency and voltage. Essentially the site runs wide open without any control and just pushes energy into the grid at the grid voltage and frequency. It is like you helping a freight train by pushing on the back of it. But you won't be able to change its speed at all, even if your efforts are doubled or stopped altogether, in other words, your energy input can fluctuate, but the train stabilizes everything just as the grid does for relatively small energy inputs.

The simplest way to get grid connected and reap these stabilizing benefits is through net metering.

Net metering is accomplished using a single-bidirectional meter, which is already in place on all grid connected homes. The newer electronic meters can be programmed to ignore the direction of the energy flow. Thus you can end up paying for the energy that you send to the grid! That way the power company keeps people from generating energy and turning their meter backward without their permission. ( Remember too, the days when Bell Telephone owned the phone lines and even the phones, and you could not connect your own! They made a ton of money charging a monthly equipment lease fee. So things will change in time with the power grid too.) The power company has to set (program) your meter to distinguish between energy coming or going.

I found this out the hard way when I first fired up our small (12KW) generator, synchronized it to the utility power line (grid), connected through a circuit breaker, opened up the butterfly valve controlling the power output and started really pushing that train. Then I sauntered out to the (electronic) meter on the pole and lo and behold the reading was increasing at a rapid rate! I could not believe that I was being charged for the power that I sent to them.

So now what can I do? Yes, I can get grid connected but only through an expensive switch which they have to approve. ( Remember Bell Telephones "approved communications interface"? ) And until I satisfy these interface switch gear requirements they won't reprogram my meter. They claim safety issues, (as Bell Telephone did up to the late '70's) But this is a red herring. If the grid goes down, (the train stops) there is no way that my 25KW is going to keep pushing that train ahead, and if it tries, any ordinary circuit breaker will disconnect me from the grid. The net metering of solar and wind energy requires little in the way of special disconnects either so why should renewable water power be any different?

So join me and lets have NET METERING FOR ALL RENEWABLE ENERGY be the law of the land! And while we are at it we should demand a favorable feed-in tariff for all renewables as well. More on that later.

Micro Hydro Engineering and Development Fee Schedule

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST AND WHEN WILL IT PAY BACK MY INVESTMENT?

Well I have to do this even though I love to show others the nuts and volts of how to DIY. I taught electronics at SUNY Orange for many years back in the '70s and still like to teach. As much as I'd like to share with everyone what I learned from building some very successful projects, I have to now charge a nominal fee to keep from having too much work and no fun. So here it is, pick the parts that you would like me to help you with, and know you will get more than your money's worth. I'll help you out for a day for what many lawyers would charge for an hour. If you have a particularly interesting & fun site you wish to develop, send me an Email (with pictures) and let's negotiate how we can do this for less $ and more satisfaction.

STEPS TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

SITE SURVEY AND ENGINEERING SMALL HYDRO POWER INSTALLATIONS:

Preliminary site surveys and estimates in the local area are generally not charged. A stipend of $200/ day is charged for the DETAILED SITE SURVEY within a 100 mi radius of Cuddebackville NY. Outside of this, travel, lodging and meal expenses are additional. The following documents are charged as listed: (you may not need all of these documents so just choose and pick what you think you need, you may request additional documentation when/if needed. If you need me to prepare local permits, you will have to send me the forms. Each side of 2 sided form is a page.)

All these engineering documents will be specific to your site, and the results of my survey of your site are cited and included in these documents. This custom, site specific documentation varies in length and content so page counts are estimates. Each document request must be in writing and accompanied by a check for the appropriate amount. Email works well and I accept PayPal for payments of $5000 or less. I will prepare your requested documentation and have it out to you within 30 Days of receiving your order. If you order multiple documents it may take me a few additional days to get them all done. For larger sites (over 50KW but less than 500KW) an additional $200 per hour design and engineering fee is charged. I can Email your documents in PDF format or print them here and mail them. Some parts of these items are interdependent and generally should be ordered in sequence or together after the site survey.

For feasibility studies with return on investment figures (ROI) please order a detailed site survey and items 4 & 5 from below for the combined total all inclusive cost of $5000 for any location in the eastern US and Canada.

1. Application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ($180 per page of the application as submitted + FERCs fee)
2. Application to State  Department of Environmental Protection, Conservation or equivalent ($130 PP + DEC / DEP fees)
3. Any other county, city, town or local permits, and/or building permit applications. ($80 PP + fees)
4. Site topography, watershed study and watershed area determination. (3-7 page document, includes satellite images and maps  $1800)
5. Determination of 'Q95' and 'Q50'  and design head and flow, expected annual kWhr production and valuation. (3-7 page doc $2500)
6. Overall plan of water carrying circuits, structures (not including dams over 2' high or greater than 30' long. For design of such dams you will have to go to a civil engineering firm.), valves and their elevations and optimum routing. Includes cost estimates. (1-2 page annotated drawing $2200)
7. Intake structures, fore-bays, self cleaning trash racks, ice and frizzle mitigation and sand, gravel, rock & log separation. Cost estimates for these items. (4-8 pages text & drawings $2500) (This can be your biggest maintenance headache, if not designed correctly.)
8. Penstock pipe, materials, strength, procurement, installation methods, burying, anchoring, suspending, valves, water hammer bursting prevention, air inlet for collapse prevention, vortex air sucking prevention and frost proofing / freeze up prevention. (2-4 Pages w drawings $2400)
9. Powerhouse design, construction and layout  considerations, water distribution plenum, discharge pit / structure and cost estimates.(2-4 pgs Plan and elevation drawings $2500)
10. Turbine type, selection and optimum sizing for your site, buy ready made or build your own. All the details plus cost estimates. (3-7 pgs $2400)
11. Generator Selection, AC or DC, 12 - 48VDC, 120VAC, 240V, or 480V 1 Phase or 3, What speed? All the answers for your site, and perfectly matched to the turbine selection, Voltage regulation and Load controllers. Including cost estimates. (2-4 pgs $2300)
12. Complete power house electrical wiring diagram and parts list with costs. An electrician with commercial experience can install from these plans. (2 pgs drawing $2500)
13. The powerhouse to home and grid connection. Transfer switches, inter-tie inverters, Net Metering. (2-3 pgs & drawings $2300)
14. Connecting other renewable energy sources, Solar PV , Wind etc. (3-4 pgs $1300)
15. Power plant monitoring, electric energy meters, monitor your plant via the internet from anywhere, webcam monitoring. (3-5 pgs $1300)
15. Post construction, on site, system checkout and commissioning. Expenses plus $500/day.
16. Post commissioning trouble shooting. Expenses plus $500/day.


Sincere Regards and Happy Hydro
Rob


Robert J. Honders CE
Developing Technologies
Honderosa Valley Consulting & Renewables Research
Studio Building I
129 Kennel Rd.
Cuddebackville NY 12729


Honders@HVC.RR.COM