I have had my 900 watts pelton wheel system in operation for 15 years now, 147' of fall, 90 GPM, 3" supply line, grid tied. The 3" runs for 1/4 mile, right at the turbine it tees into two 1" hoses that feed the two jets, simple and effective. Lately, I am getting the urge to make a water wheel, mostly because I have a 8' diameter steel reel that was used for transporting 2" poly line.
Potentially, depends on the charge controller. Usually wind turbine charge controllers also require a bridge rectifier. Micro hydro doesn't always require a dump load resistor that wind turbines need, the turbine should be happy to spin unloaded if the bearings are good, a wind turbine could start falling apart. Some people prefer to run them unloaded when their batteries are charged, a free spinning turbine shouldn't have as much wear on the bearings etc. as one dumping energy in to a resistor bank. The main problem is that a wind turbine controller might not be the most efficient way of getting power from the turbine. Pelton wheels have a peak efficiency when the bucket speed is around 50% of the incoming water speed. You need a MPPT controller to do that, and not all of them are designed to work with micro hydro systems. MidNite charge controllers work with hydro and many channels showing micro hydro use them.
Could have eliminated one 90 by having the penstock enter the manifold at the corner of the square. That manifold uses nice big diameter pipe. I am guessing the pressure drop is because of huge diameter nozzles for high flow,or a very long 3” section of penstock, or both.
I love micro hydro so much lol I'm (hopefully) just finishing up rearing a low head turbine from work thats about, 18 years old or so? The bearings went bad and also a magnet got dislodged and stuck. It uses about 5ft of head out of a hot spring pool, and I believe it was generating about 200w when it was operational. One of the phases coming out of the turbine also broke, left about a 8th of an inch for me to solder onto lol But hopefully it will last for a good long time now. I can't wait to get it up and running! Its my first time working on a turbine. And it will also help a lot at work since they are so far out in the middle of no where they have to be off grid. Right now it is completely relying on solar power, a very old run down lead acid forklift battery bank, and the propane generator. So having even the 200w or so will help a ton especially this summer for when they have a lot of people using power!
one more fact. when talking about hydropower, it is the per SECOND flow rate that is important. the per Second flow rate is one of the two variables in the calculation of (continuous) power. (flow rate x head x gravity. thus, the 'pressure' and a way to measure it, are NOT required in order to do the math.)
hello seth. Can you tell me where I can buy the same nozzles as in the video with these measurements. I want to buy one of those rectifiers you use. where I can buy? Thanks.
This setup was purchased from Langston's Alternative Power. The link to the website is in the video description. I am not sure where the nozzles are sourced from but if you were to give Langston a call he can set you in the right direction.
information; significant and basic design details more energy is lost, where ninety degree bends are present in the plumbing to the jets/nozzles. 2:29 as was done here, transmission losses have been minimized by running the (3-wire) wild-AC from the alternator to a location near where the power will be (rectified and) used/processed . the output of a pma is wild-AC; wild-AC from a stator having three phases. my point is, it is more accurate to say 'wild-AC' than to say '3-phase AC'. d
They do have a nice system. Mine could just use a lot more water to play with. But we'll see about doing some upgrades this year on my system. Currently I'm installing a 3.6 kW inverter to replace the 2 blue grid tie limiter inverters.
I have worked with Langston's Alternative Power for a few years. I am not sure where he sources alternators. He is very good at phone call reply. I have his info in the description. (email is hit or miss)
just attach the self-ducted centrifugal turbine to the water output pipe, say 90 degrees angle so that the disc spins horizontally, then the water will slosh out all directions, with slowed speed, torque vs speed
Would it not be better to put the wire connections in some kind of enclosure vs just having them in the box with the exposed wire nuts btw System looks good apart from that haha
Not really, motorcycle alternators are designed to output around 14v, which is then regulated. The regulator rectifies the 3 phase and uses SCR's to regulate down to battery voltage. The big heat sink on them is for getting rid of the wasted energy as heat. (Car alternators don't use permanent magnets and regulate the field coil to get the right voltage.) Connecting a turbine PMA to a battery via a rectifier -might- work, but it would fix the turbine at battery voltage. This is unlikely to be the most efficient speed for the turbine, so efficiency will be terrible. A rectifier and MPPT controller is the way to go.
@@benlee4940 I never mentioned car one as they are not pma yes maybe voltagereg not ideal but if they easy to come by then they an option not everywhere can get hold of mppt controllers easy or cheaply
Table 1. Minimum and maximum recommended drive pipe lengths based on drive pipe diameter (rounded to full feet). Drive Pipe Diameter (inches)Minimum Length (feet)Maximum Length (feet)3/41062113831 1/4161041 1/2191252251662 1/232208338250450333 Rife Ram Company literature offers a different method of drive pipe length selection.4 The Rife method does not consider pipe size but is based solely on vertical elevation drop or fall from the water source to the hydraulic ram pump. Values are presented in table 2. Table 2. Recommended drive pipe lengths based on elevation fall. Elevation Fall (feet)Drive Pipe Length (feet)3-156 times vertical fall16-254 times vertical fall26-503 times vertica
I have had my 900 watts pelton wheel system in operation for 15 years now, 147' of fall, 90 GPM, 3" supply line, grid tied. The 3" runs for 1/4 mile, right at the turbine it tees into two 1" hoses that feed the two jets, simple and effective. Lately, I am getting the urge to make a water wheel, mostly because I have a 8' diameter steel reel that was used for transporting 2" poly line.
Micro-Hydro systems are fascinating! Good work!
This one was a very well planned out system.
Excellent guide me on this for home appliances
I really enjoy the videos that are this size - easy to digest
"Several" other videos 🤣 always enjoy them, thanks Seth!
nice setting to put the nozzel there
That's interesting but could a wind turbine charge controller be used in place of a three phase full bridge rectifier and charge controller?
Potentially, depends on the charge controller. Usually wind turbine charge controllers also require a bridge rectifier.
Micro hydro doesn't always require a dump load resistor that wind turbines need, the turbine should be happy to spin unloaded if the bearings are good, a wind turbine could start falling apart. Some people prefer to run them unloaded when their batteries are charged, a free spinning turbine shouldn't have as much wear on the bearings etc. as one dumping energy in to a resistor bank.
The main problem is that a wind turbine controller might not be the most efficient way of getting power from the turbine. Pelton wheels have a peak efficiency when the bucket speed is around 50% of the incoming water speed. You need a MPPT controller to do that, and not all of them are designed to work with micro hydro systems. MidNite charge controllers work with hydro and many channels showing micro hydro use them.
That a big pressure drop! They'd probably get a lot more power with a better manifold setup with fewer 90° bends and that 3" restriction.
I would gather yes it would help
Could have eliminated one 90 by having the penstock enter the manifold at the corner of the square. That manifold uses nice big diameter pipe. I am guessing the pressure drop is because of huge diameter nozzles for high flow,or a very long 3” section of penstock, or both.
So what's the wattage per hour with it running full throttle like that
Around 500W, he mentioned it at 0.53
@@benlee4940 thank you
About the gauge how he managed to screw it directly to the pipes
I love micro hydro so much lol
I'm (hopefully) just finishing up rearing a low head turbine from work thats about, 18 years old or so? The bearings went bad and also a magnet got dislodged and stuck. It uses about 5ft of head out of a hot spring pool, and I believe it was generating about 200w when it was operational.
One of the phases coming out of the turbine also broke, left about a 8th of an inch for me to solder onto lol But hopefully it will last for a good long time now.
I can't wait to get it up and running! Its my first time working on a turbine. And it will also help a lot at work since they are so far out in the middle of no where they have to be off grid. Right now it is completely relying on solar power, a very old run down lead acid forklift battery bank, and the propane generator. So having even the 200w or so will help a ton especially this summer for when they have a lot of people using power!
What about pma that have 3 phase and single phase wiring options. what is single phase option for?
Any idea how much water drop in stream flow was at that site?
Watch the intake video. Seth shows they're only taking a part of the stream. How much would depend on the time of year
i dont seem to see alot of single jet Pelton wheels on videos anymore on youtube are these more efficient so they moved away from them
Hello, did you assemble this turbine yourself or did you buy it somewhere?
Pure inspiration!
one more fact. when talking about hydropower, it is the per SECOND flow rate that is important. the per Second flow rate is one of the two variables in the calculation of (continuous) power. (flow rate x head x gravity. thus, the 'pressure' and a way to measure it, are NOT required in order to do the math.)
hello seth. Can you tell me where I can buy the same nozzles as in the video with these measurements. I want to buy one of those rectifiers you use. where I can buy? Thanks.
This setup was purchased from Langston's Alternative Power. The link to the website is in the video description. I am not sure where the nozzles are sourced from but if you were to give Langston a call he can set you in the right direction.
information; significant and basic design details
more energy is lost, where ninety degree bends are present in the plumbing to the jets/nozzles. 2:29 as was done here, transmission losses have been minimized by running the (3-wire) wild-AC from the alternator to a location near where the power will be (rectified and) used/processed
.
the output of a pma is wild-AC; wild-AC from a stator having three phases. my point is, it is more accurate to say 'wild-AC' than to say '3-phase AC'. d
Just a small correction, it's not a pelton turbine, it's a turgo turbine.
Interesting...tq for sharing.
Hello how to get this turbine
?i ,m jhon from flores indon
esia...
I am not sure about international shipping. The link to the website is in the video description.
@@LandtoHouse thanks for your info...but if i buy it by using indonesian money....how much money to pay it?
Nice set up for that PMA. Did you get any ideas for you system after this visit?
They do have a nice system. Mine could just use a lot more water to play with. But we'll see about doing some upgrades this year on my system. Currently I'm installing a 3.6 kW inverter to replace the 2 blue grid tie limiter inverters.
Hello dude, where did you buy this alternator?
I have worked with Langston's Alternative Power for a few years. I am not sure where he sources alternators. He is very good at phone call reply. I have his info in the description. (email is hit or miss)
It seems the bearing has no grease nipple, how long it work without grease shot for a week?
hey try the center-in rim-out centrifugal impeller (full flow no splash turbine)
it kinda has all the flow ducted nicely in the spinning sectors
yep if pelton is like vawt (outer rim spin force), then this is something new
simple as heck, check the model on my video on here
oh and no volume area reduction nozzles, just 100% volume flow coverage
just attach the self-ducted centrifugal turbine to the water output pipe, say 90 degrees angle so that the disc spins horizontally, then the water will slosh out all directions, with slowed speed, torque vs speed
Would it not be better to put the wire connections in some kind of enclosure vs just having them in the box with the exposed wire nuts btw
System looks good apart from that haha
Definitely should have done voice over when describing the turbine setup
was hard to hear
I know! I changed mics and this one does not do so good with loud water. When I post the full length video I will have to voice over a lot.
they look very much like motorcycle alternators these days and i would suspect 3 phase motorcycle regulators for charging 12v battery's could be used
Not really, motorcycle alternators are designed to output around 14v, which is then regulated. The regulator rectifies the 3 phase and uses SCR's to regulate down to battery voltage. The big heat sink on them is for getting rid of the wasted energy as heat. (Car alternators don't use permanent magnets and regulate the field coil to get the right voltage.)
Connecting a turbine PMA to a battery via a rectifier -might- work, but it would fix the turbine at battery voltage. This is unlikely to be the most efficient speed for the turbine, so efficiency will be terrible. A rectifier and MPPT controller is the way to go.
@@benlee4940 I never mentioned car one as they are not pma yes maybe voltagereg not ideal but if they easy to come by then they an option not everywhere can get hold of mppt controllers easy or cheaply
Хороший проект.
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Table 1. Minimum and maximum recommended drive pipe lengths based on drive pipe diameter (rounded to full feet).
Drive Pipe Diameter (inches)Minimum Length (feet)Maximum Length (feet)3/41062113831 1/4161041 1/2191252251662 1/232208338250450333
Rife Ram Company literature offers a different method of drive pipe length selection.4 The Rife method does not consider pipe size but is based solely on vertical elevation drop or fall from the water source to the hydraulic ram pump. Values are presented in table 2.
Table 2. Recommended drive pipe lengths based on elevation fall.
Elevation Fall (feet)Drive Pipe Length (feet)3-156 times vertical fall16-254 times vertical fall26-503 times vertica