Small Water Turbine
Could I connect a small turbine generator on my house water supply?
I know it would decrease the water pressure in my house, but I have very good pressure now. If so, everytime I turned on a faucet, I could generate electricity. What knid of turbine could I use? Has anyone tried this?
I found this website that has a small turbine with generator that is like what I had imagined. This one is very expensive though…. http://www.nooutage.com/npat-hh.htm
Great idea using a car water pump in reverse! They are pretty cheap also. Maybe a car alternator would also work.
Could you? sure, but, it probably would not be a good idea. The page you linked to shows a 400W unit that has a 42psi pressure drop at rated output, even if you have very good pressure now, 42psi will probably be a large fraction. Also consider the flow required by the 400W unit, 63gpm. this is substantially more than typical domestic use for a single family. Supposing one had a unit 1/10 the size, and suppose the flow scales directly, while 6.3gpm might be reasonable for the relatively few seconds the toilet tank is filling, or the minute or two the clothes washing machine is filling, if you had that much flow for even an hour a day I’d be very surprised (6.3 gpm * 60min = 378 gallons per day, times say, 30 days = 11,340 gal/month = about 1,500 cubic feet, here in the US water is often metered in hundreds of cubic feet, so that would be 15CCF, my water bill runs between 1 and 2 CCF (lower than average) but even if you were at 15CCF/month that would only be 40W/hours a day, or 1/25 of a kilowatt hour, if electricity is 10ยข kWh, you’d be looking at about a dollar and a half a year worth of electricity, even if generator were free, it’s hardly worth the bother, and if it is not free…
Actually I doubt the units you linked to are very efficient, I don’t want to take the time to figure out the theoretical generation potential, but even if you had something with an order of magnitude better efficiency you’d only be looking at about $15 /year, would still hardly pay for the hardware.
Small Hydro Turbines
|
|
WaterBoss Water Softener – 36,400 Grain Capacity, Model# 900 $469.99 WaterBoss water softener is designed to use less water than any other retail water softener and have a maintenance-free dirt and sediment filter. U.S.A. Typical Application: Residential water softener and filter, Filter Type: Built in, Capacity: 36,400 grain, Programmable: Yes, LCD Display: Yes, Battery Required: No, Dimensions L x W x H (in.): 15 x 30 x 36… |
|
|
Green Science Windmill Generator by Toysmith $9.93 Ages 8 & up. Learn about renewable energy with this wind generator. LED light will glow as it is powered by free energy from the wind. No batteries required!… |
|
|
Eco-Racers Water Powered Remote Control Micro Cars $22.93 … |