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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Water systems, was Unpreparedness
  • Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:30:54 -0800

Gene GeRue wrote:

Is there anything to be gained from
using the ram to raise the water to a spot that's more accommodating to
a hydro-electric generator, I wonder?




Your last sentence baffles me. Any generator powered by water would be more efficient if the water source was at a higher elevation.

Well, the amount of slope is what it is here, of course, for the ram or for direct generation. I was just thinking, for the first time, as a half-baked idea, that it could just be more convenient for siting the generator. The only other way I can see to obtain a straight vertical drop is by channeling the water through a long, gently sloping pipe, with a sudden drop at the end. It would sure beat this, since the latter would surely be in the way! At least the ram intake line can be on the ground.

I'm not sure if I'm getting the most out of a generator-turbine system, if I place it right in the stream bed, even though the water seems fast moving, the reason being that it's not moving any faster near the bottom of the property where it exits. I guess that's because the flow rate already reflects the equilibrium between gravity and friction at terminal velocity.

I don't know of a way to combine the very fast flow rate that I already have at the top with the potential energy gain available on my own slope. Maybe I could have one generator at the top that just works on the given flow, feeding a ram intake that feeds a second generator located further down.

Bill
S. Oregon coast




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