A Review of Water Turbine Generators

If you have been thinking about changing your source of power supply to one that is clean, reliable with high volume power then getting a water turbine generator wouldn’t be a bad idea. You can start harnessing the energy of moving water to generate electricity. Read more about water turbine generators below.

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Overview of the Water Turbine

Water turbines can be described as a rotary machine that helps in converting potential energy and kinetic energy of water into mechanical work. A water turbine is mostly used for electric power generation and can be found in dams because it is for the generation of electric power from water potential energy.

 The simple process here is that the water turbine converts the energy of flowing water into mechanical energy while the generator now picks up the energy and converts it into electricity to be used by man.

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Features of the Water Turbine

• This is a clean fuel source because it is fuel by water and as such there will be no pollution of air like other sources of power supply fuelled by fossil fuel or natural gas that emit smoke to pollute the air and environment.
• It can generate power to the grid quickly
• Maintenance cost is low
• It has constant speed curves
• The energy from the water turbine is a domestic source so it is renewable
• This source of power supply or generation is fuel by water
• The reservoir created for water turbines offers recreational opportunities as well.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Water Turbine Generators

Advantages of Water Turbine Generators:

• Water turbine power cannot be used up since it is natural it is renewable
• It cannot pollute itself like other alternative sources of power supply
• Water turbine power is reliable, it has little or no fluctuations when it comes to the power supply, as long as there’s water in the reservoir electricity is sure to be generated.
• There’s flexibility, adjusting water flow and even the output of electricity is easy. When power consumption is low, the water flow here is low.
• Unlike other sources of power using nuclear energy and fossil fuels, the power supply from the water turbine is safer. There’s no need for fuel other than water.

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Disadvantages of a Water Turbine

• This will bring about environmental consequences especially to the aquatic lives in the water since the water turbine is about the use of water in physical water like dams and rivers.
• Constructing of water turbine generators are expensive especially the power plants, because having a power plant of any nature, doesn’t come any cheap even though maintenance cost might come cheap
• A drought will highly affect the water turbine generator, the energy prices and generation of electricity are directly related to the amount of water available. So a drought will affect it if the water is in limited supply

What is a Water Turbine Generator?

Water turbine generators are machines that convert mechanical energy as a process by hydraulic turbines into electricity. Some best brands of water turbine generators in the market are Scott hydroelectric turbine generator, Savemore4u water turbine generator, waterlily USB portable power, windZilla PMA Pelton water wheel Adapter, Jiangsu Naier Hydroelectric generator, and WZINTOP portable micro-hydro generator.

Types of Water Turbine

Water turbines can be classified under two groups the reaction turbines and the impulse turbines. See more information about the two classifications of water turbine:

Reaction Turbines

The reaction turbines as the name implies are acted on by water, this act changes the pressure of the water as it moves along the turbine and gives up its energy. The water turbine is mostly submerged in the water flow. Types of water turbines under this reaction turbine are Francis turbine, a Kaplan turbine, Tyson turbine, Deriaz turbine, and Gorlov helical turbine.

Impulse Turbines

Talking of the Impulse turbines, on the other hand, change the velocity of a water jet. This change in the direction of the flow is when the jet pushes on the turbine’s curved blades. So the resulting change in impulse (momentum) would cause a force on the turbine blades, as the impulse turbines start spinning the force will now act through work, and the diverted water flow is left with diminished energy.

The types of water turbines under impulse turbines are water wheel, Pelton wheel. Turgo turbine. Jonval turbine, reserve overshot water-wheel, and screw turbine.

How Does Water Turbine Work

Water turbine works via hydropower plants capturing the energy of falling water to produce electricity. This simply means that a water turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy, from here a generator then converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical power or energy.

How Does a Water Turbine generator Works

The water turbine generator simply works this way; a hydraulic turbine will convert the energy of flowing water into mechanical energy, then a hydroelectric generator will go-ahead to convert the mechanical energy into electricity.  This simple operation is done according to the principle that was discovered by Faraday.

How Does Water Turbine Generate Electricity?

Water turbine generates electricity when energy is sent from a power grid into electric generators. The commonest type of hydroelectric power plant uses a dam on a river to store its water in a reservoir, so when water released from the storage flows through the turbine, spinning it in the process, this will activate the generator to produce electricity.

How Much Power Can a Water Turbine Generate?

Water turbine with a standard micro-hydro system i.e. where water flows in a pipe would have power for at least 50% overall efficiency post losses.  A small low head water turbine will generate approximately 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) from a flow of about 100 liters per second dropping through 2 meters

Who Uses Water Turbine Generators?

Anyone can use water turbine generators starting from an individual to power the home appliances, to industries, churches, schools, offices, etc. it can be used in environmentally friendly areas.

How Much Does Water Turbine Cost?

The cost for water turbines depends on different factors like the energy needed, the flow, wherever the energy is being used, the distance between intake, the head, etc but from our research to install a water turbine the average cost is between $1500 and $10,000.

How Efficient Is A Water Turbine And What Is The Most Efficient Water Turbine?

Water turbine efficiency depends solely on the type of water turbine in use, so a good water turbine can be efficient up to 95% for large installations but for smaller plants that has fewer output powers may have efficiencies that could be between 85-90% but to extract power from low flow rate can be a bit difficult.

The most efficient water turbine for hydro-power is the Pelton wheels because with the Pelton wheel even when the available water source has a relatively high hydraulic head at low rates it is most efficient than others.

How Do You Make A Water Turbine Generator?

Making a water turbine generator will be very easy if there is a streaming flood of water hereby, the following method are use:

• Start by preparing disks- use cardboard and attached the two templates of rotor and stator scheme to it.
• Next, attach the stator: use 4 coils and attached it to the cardboard, then wind the wire into the cardboard to form tight coils. Now, arrange the coils on the cardboard according to the template scheme. It should be certain that electricity can follow the path from the left counterclockwise coil. Connecting the ends of coils and using insulating tapes on them will be the next thing to do.
• Then attach the rotor: this will need you attaching 4 strong magnets to the stator template.  Mark the South Pole on two sides and the North Pole on the remaining two, go ahead to arrange the magnets on the template. Get a cock and 8 plastic spoons; shorten the spoons so that the handle wouldn’t be more than 1cm. insert the spoons into the cock.
• Making the turbine, simply make a 6mm hole via the cock (let the hole be centered) then fix again the geometrical position of the spoon. Secure each of the spoons by adding hot glue to each spoon.
• Lastly, assemble the generator body; now use a plastic bottle or tank to put together the stator, rotor, and the small turbines. Locate the center of the tank and make a hole on it about 6mm, then fix the stator with its coils above the hole. Attach on the same shaft the rotor and the turbine facing the neck of the bottle and ensure the magnet is nearer to the coils.
• The water generator is almost ready, so just drive a stream of water to the turbine to enable it to spin continuously so far there’s water to drive it. Let the turbine be properly connected to the generator so that this stream of water can generate enough power to offer juice to your charging batteries or utilities.

Can A Water Turbine Generator Power A House?

The answer is in affirmative, the water turbine generator can power a house. With the power of water, the turbine will be installed in most canals and rivers, and the current production or generated from here can be used to power as many homes as possible.

Conclusively, Water Turbine generators eliminate noisy environment, polluted air hereby producing a clean, reliably, and good power supply. If you’re looking for power supply without the use of petrol (fuel), diesel, and others, considers the water turbine generators. For it’s a must to have a clean power supply using the water turbine generator sets.