Electronics > Power/Renewable Energy/EV's

Is hydro a practical possibility here?

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mtdoc:

--- Quote from: Mechanical Menace on February 25, 2016, 06:29:39 pm ---
--- Quote ---BTW, I've been meaning to ask: Ishmael, is that you? ;)
--- End quote ---

Ok I know that's going to be a reference to something, it's even firing up that "I know that but don't know why" part of my mind, but I'm having a thick moment and can't pull it together  |O :-DD

--- End quote ---

Highly recomended!

leo_r:
My dad recently built a micro hydro scheme on his land in Scotland. Peak power is 8.6 kW, but average is more like 4 - 5 depending on season. Head is maybe 20m or so, coming from 2 intakes (2 streams merge into one on the property).

He used a turgo wheel from these guys coupled to an induction motor (rated to 10.8kW) running in reverse through some control electronics supplied (I believe - this is from memory) by sustainable control (not that there's much on that site). I think the person who runs that company also wrote this book, which I imagine covers the electronics in some detail.

He's got 4 quarter turn valves being electronically controlled to control the flow rate. Essentially the generator is brought up to speed with no load, and then when it reaches 50 Hz its connected to the mains. The control system then adjusts the valves based on the water level at the intake to the pipes (measured using current loop pressure sensors). As his setup uses 2 intakes and 4 quarter turn valves (rather than the 2 that the original control system is designed to work with) we had to implement a custom control system using a Crouzet CPLD. It reads the 2 intake depth sensors and controls the 4 valves, providing spoofed depth information to the control system to keep it happy.

I think the total cost of installation was about £30k. I'm not sure exactly where that went - work included building 2 intakes using pre-cast concrete planks, obtaining and getting delivered the plastic pipes, burying them, building a wooden hut for everything, buying the control system/generator and getting the necessary permits. He hired an environmental consultant to sort out the permits and a builder did most of the larger installation work. I think he did most of the rest himself.

In the UK the government pays a tariff of around 21p/kWh for all electricity generated by hydro schemes, on top of the 5.4p/kWh that they'll buy it from you for. That means the scheme will hopefully break even in 3 - 4 years.

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