This reminds me of the "wind furnace" at U Mass at Amherst. A wind rotor mechanically drove a slatted paddle in a water tank, and the friction raised the water temperature. Warm water could be circulated to heat a house. An experiment with a water turbine drive might be interesting.
Frank Leslie -----Original Message----- From: Ron and Diane [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 6:14 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [microhydro] Heat Generator Not so fast with the Heat Generator. Reinhold Metzler is a serious microhydro expert, (and a nice guy.) He visited my shop here in Bolivia many years ago to see an early Watermotor prototype and made some valuable observations. I cannot imagine that he would have promoted an appropriate technology device that had not been tested to his satisfaction. I know from personal experience that an appropriate technology device when built by another individual can easily have flaws not anticipated by the designer, or understood by the user. For an example, the clearance of the rotating parts inside the housing may well be crucial to efficient operation, and perhaps difficult to achieve for a one-time Heat Generator builder. Unlike ordinary products from factory assembly lines, the quality, thus the reputation of any appropriate technology invention is in the hands of each individual constructor, not the original inventor. The basic Heat generator concept seems good to me. I would ask our resident physics experts about the highest efficiency that could be reasonably hoped for. An obvious and valuable use for such a device here in Bolivia would be to dry crops during rainy season. Rainy Season is when there is little sun but plenty of small scale waterpower sources available in the form of small fast-flowing streams. A steady source of moving hot air would be very useful. Does anyone know where Reinhold Metzler is? He was working with SKAT or GTZ. the last I heard. I tried to get in touch with him a couple of months ago about the Heat Generator on the behalf of an interested Bolivian businessman. He needs to dry large quantities of bovine blood during rainy season in the low-altitude tropical city of Santa Cruz. Ron Davis, www.watermotor.net Does your company feature in the microhydro business directory at http://microhydropower.net/directory ? If not, please register free of charge and be exposed to the microhydro community world wide! NOTE: The advertisements in this email are added by Yahoogroups who provides us with free email group services. The microhydro-group does not endorse products or support the advertisements in any way. More information on micro hydropower at http://microhydropower.net To unsubscribe: send empty message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/microhydro/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Does your company feature in the microhydro business directory at http://microhydropower.net/directory ? If not, please register free of charge and be exposed to the microhydro community world wide! NOTE: The advertisements in this email are added by Yahoogroups who provides us with free email group services. The microhydro-group does not endorse products or support the advertisements in any way. More information on micro hydropower at http://microhydropower.net To unsubscribe: send empty message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/microhydro/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
