Free Electricity - Micro Hydro - Prof Simon

Is it possible to build your own Archimedes water powered micro hydro generator? I had a go with a few off the shelf parts.

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link to the home built micro hydro generator project.

[TonyGingrich]

In my younger years, I was a millwright. Also have a very strong background in automotive technology; therefore, very familiar with automotive alternators...

Don't use an auger. You would need to extend the flighting to at least double the diameter in order to get usable rotational torque. And the 500 rpm minimum necessary for an automotive alternator means you'll always be struggling with torque--as well as replacing bearing blocks.

I recommend a traditional water wheel. Achieve much higher torque at lower rpms, which can be geared up to meet the demands of a loaded alternator.

[billschwandt]

Professor, make the design taper to a small end and surround the whole thing with a cone with open top and bottom. Then turn it small side down and let the water fill the cone up. This way, the small end picks up moment as the screw tightens and all you need to do is ensure it has water. You can even extend the big side of the cone and pill it with more water before releasing the bottom. The cone shape also will taurally form a whirlpool further increasing power. I can draw you a diagram on Elon place if you want. ♥️

[jimcabezola]

This is such an attractive idea! I wonder if folks in rainy areas can channel the rain falling on their roofs through Archimedes screws and power their homes. "Monsoon Season" would have a more lovely and positive connotation than it might otherwise have.

[jeffreywoodhead]

Is an Archimedes screw turbine so much more efficient than a traditional style water mill wheel?

[canalcreations]

nice work and good luck with the scale up ...we are in France also (46). always watch your uap episodes . In 97 we witnessed a massive black triangle near sheffield go over us.

[Rusco]

Good afternoon Professor, I hope you are well. I confess, I'm no engineer, just a fan of your videos however a great friend of mine is and suggested the following;

Put it in a tube, capture all the water and tighten the gap around the thread. Have a sloped exit downstream positioned past the thread. You could also use a waterwheel, filling buckets. The energy captured is very small. Energy=massxgravityxheight. Therefore having a larger drop may also help.

Hope it helps 👍👍

[Odin]

Love this. Have ideas, want to see if madmen think alike, so I’ll see what you do with this next!

[Curious_Skeptic]

After learning today, that light bulbs could last a lifetime, but on count of greed and way outdating thinking, we aren't allowed! Who knew how evil corporations are. Free power should be a human right, like clean water and fresh food! Love the project! That is super cool! Anything that moves humanity forward! Even a simple little idea like this, could lead to a practical solution. This would be great for camping trips! A simple charging station. Don't get a lot of sun for solar charging in the woods.

[stevewindisch]

It is possible, with enough flow, to get over 1, 500 watts of AC power from a shallow well centrifugal pump and its mechanically connected inductive AC motor "run backwards'. The water spins the pump's impeller which spins the single phase motor. They say at least 6 feet of fall is needed but flow is also critical. The inductive motor's windings need to be rewired to be an alternator. The Frequency of the AC power (Hertz), depends on the speed of the motor's rotation, so powering devices that only run on 60 or 59 Hz could be an issue. The power can be converted to DC to charge batteries then inverted again, or if the flow is steady, the RPM can be "tuned" to get 60 or 50 Hz (tricky because this F can vary under electrical load). Note synchronous motors won't work as the alternator.

A series wound DC motor can also be used with re-wiring as the alternator/generator (like from a treadmill), but the beauty of the AC concept is the fairly cheap "Off the Shelf" aspect requiring only the re-wiring of the pump/motor set as they come already mated together and ready for plumbing. There are several examples on the web.

[FloatingIdeasonanarrowboat]

Make it a vertical drop with a vortex feed into its top end with your shaft take-off above the water inlet. That's done a lot on YouTube. You get the benefit of a rotating water mass before it even hits your screw.

[aaronwaltho]

Make them small enough to go into down pipes of guttering. Every little helps.

[John_Stelz]

If you cut the end off an Archimedes screw you get a propeller.👍 I think you need a bigger drop I think it's 1 bar per 10 metres drop.

[heine]

Instead of having the chain hooked on the bottom, what about hooking it to the top or just extending the screw in the top so it’s over the water and attach the generator directly to it there.

[RuneRelic]

Energy always follows the path of least resistance.
Your clearance gaps in this case, will help a lot.
Your 'water mass' flow rate through the device will determine how much energy/force you can convert from this.
So either force all the stream through the device as the only channel, or creating a funnel in the stream that redirects the flow into the device, might be a cheaper option.

[gabrielctr]

Power is highly influenced by tip of the "blade" speed and overall torque.
1-optimize de screw angle
2-build a reservoir and chute to keep the flow as regular and constant as possible
3-increase de height of the "waterfall" if possible

[MichaelSmith-qvyn]

Thread rate is critical as is slope angle, try some Schauberger/Fibonacci application to condense the water as it flows to generate more torque 🙂

[lewisdoherty]

Those proposed improvements should be good. I assume you will eventually place a cover over the top of the screw converting the trough into a pipe, so a larger volume of water will push against the full area of the screw under more pressure . You might wish to have a conical piece of hardware cloth over the intake to shed floating debris from entering the screw.

[noelcarson]

Instead of chute, a pipe. Cut relief before gear & add cone to direct water away from gear. Longer length of pipe to build pressure.

[Kragneasy]

Amazing video and description! I love the content! Keep up the good work!

[frasercrone]

Put a 90 deg elbow at each end at apposing directions and put the screw axle through them thus having the bearings outside the water flow as well as the drive mechanism. Run the screw in a fully enclosed pipe this way.