Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

Sep 17, 2008 02:18 am
Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

We have a five and a seven horse pump for irrigation on the farm. We pump from an 18 acre pond.  We have no head.  Could a pump be used in the micro hydro power system for the water source?
 
351 Posts
Sep 18, 2008 01:39 am
Re: Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

Not economically.  It would be a waste of energy.  If those are gasoline driven pumps, you are far better off just putting the gasoline in a generator.
 
Sep 18, 2008 09:38 am
Re: Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

Thank you for the reply. This is a 5hp three phase pump.  It pumps 1.2-1.5 inch per hour on a 100'dia. tank.  We also have other irrigation pumps.
Most farms in this area have flat topography and can expect if they dig a pond it will fill up.  These pumps pull a large load when kicking on but could be left running 24/7 as the water would be returning to the pond and airation is not usually a bad thing.
We use around 2000 kW a month, and would need a grid tied battery based micro-hydro electrical system.  We would hope to have enough reserve in the battery bank to compensate for the peek energy surges we have.
Are there micro turbines available that provide the amount of energy we will require?  What would be the gpm for this size turbine?
Thank you for your intrest,
Blessings,
Mary
 
351 Posts
Sep 18, 2008 01:41 pm
Re: Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

If you try putting a turbine in and pumping the water, you will be lucky to get 60% back.
So, you will pay $1,000 in your electric bill, to generate maybe $600 worth of electricity.
That is the best possible outcome, it could be a lot worse.

Assuming that you are pumping from the pond to the tank, you could consider putting in a solar powered pump system. Any water pumped by the solar system would reduce the running time on the grid powered pump. Whether the second system would be economical or not will depend on the vertical height that the water needs to be pumped, the horizontal distance between the two locations, and your cost per kilowatt hour of electricity.
 
 
Sep 19, 2008 08:46 pm
Re: Micro Hydro Power Syst. question?~

I’m on one of the best chicken forums in the world…I say world because we have members everywhere.  We can ask a question and members and experts in different fields of poultry answer and help solve our problems or others who have had the same difficulties can share how they overcame the obstacles.  I’m no expert at anything.  But I love my chickens, guineas and peacocks and I truly appreciate the support and friendships we have developed on our chicken forum.  I can’t wait to connect everyday.

That being said, I had hoped that this was another positive problem solving forum that would encourage newbie’s in the exploration and development of micro hydro systems.  Not be a nay saying negative influence.  Let’s turn the light bulbs of ideas on not off.

I am truly interested and excited about the possibility of developing a grid tied battery based micro-hydro electrical system.  I am trying to learn as much as fast as I can.  The information on the systems that I’m looking at don’t seem to be readily available.  I guess it’s just new.  Nowhere have I seen information on pump based systems. 

These pumps would make the systems available to a vast number of farms that already have ponds and large pumps available. Ours is a small pump in comparison to most, pumping around 120 gpm. A friend of ours is now paying out around $5000 a month for her electricity from a REA and they have a very large pond and pumping system and are also intrested in obtaining a larger system than we will need.  These ponds would provide an endless base of water to recirculate and these systems would pay for themselves in a reasonable amount of time.  Where the solar and windmill combination are just about out of reach cost wise.

The idea that there is friction loss and loss of energy if we use a pump is a given.  In my way of thinking if you know that there will be a loss it would become part of the equation in developing the system…ie;  if there will be a 40% loss, then there is a 60% gain.  So if you need  A amount of electricity to operate and the loss is B then you are looking at A+B=C , C being the amount of electricity we would want to generate from our system to support our needs and lifestyle.




 

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