Maximize electricty with pelton wheel (or turbine or w/e)?

[hitmankratos]

Hello,

 

We have a science project where we have to produce a maximum output of electricity using hydroelectricty. We have little 12V motor and all the necessary gears and all... The rest is for us to decide....

 

So, what should I do? I don't know anything about hydroelectricity/turbines and all...We thought (my team and I) about doing a Pelton wheel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelton_wheel) that we will eventually attach to the motor and produce that way some electricity with water but my question is: How can I maximize the energy? Is there some things that I should know about turbines and stuff that can help us optimize the produced output?

 

Thanks in advance.

If my question isn't clear, please tell me and I'll explain.

[insane_alien]

i would have went francis turbine but that probably wouldn't work so well at such a small scale.

 

attaching a nozzle to your water jet would improve energy recovery by giving the water more momentum.

 

try to minimized the friction on the turbine shaft, it whould be able to spin very freely when it isn't connected to the generator.

[CaptainPanic]

The Pelton wheel that you're planning to use is the easiest to construct from simple materials. Also, considering the fact that you probably won't have a huge difference in height (and therefore a low pressure of the water) will mean that you don't need to go for some advanced design like a Kaplan turbine or Francis turbine (both often used in hydropower)... although these are used up to quite minimal height differences of 3 meters (and more).

 

The other two examples are better, more efficient, and therefore the preferred choice for Megawatt to Gigawatt hydroelectric installations.

But: you must buy this, you cannot design it yourself so easy. The reason is simple: if you don't get the angles, curves and dimensions right, it won't be efficient. And to get it right you need some classes in fluid dynamics and a fancy computer to do the calculations for you (or lots of trial and error).

 

I think that an electric generator will have an optimum production at a certain rotation? (I'm no expert on this)... perhaps you can focus on that?

 

Make your water wheel efficient by not spilling any water... ok, that's rather obvious, but you still need to do it