I am working on developing an in-stream hydro system for use in rural Lesotho. The reasons for using in-stream system are widescale land degradation (Traditional civil works installations would suffer from erosion problems) and heavy sedimentation (Certain smaller turbines, such as the Pelton wheel, would get clogged from the accumulation of soil in the nozzles). The system itself would float in the middle of a river and be anchored to either the shore or the bottom of the river. I am considering two different turbine designs, the Davis (Hydro version of Darrieus wind turbine) and the Gorlov helical turbine. Both these turbines use three hydrofoils in a vertical configuration to spin using just the flow of the river rather than any significant head drop. I am working on remanufacturing them for construction in-country, and this has raised several questions. I was wondering if anyone could give me any insight on any of the following: -Constructing hydrofoils out of wood (covered with fiberglass), steel, plastics, or other materials easily available in developing countries. The other question I have involves the relationship between the precision of the hydrofoil shape and the efficiency of the turbine. -Choosing between a constant angle of attack for the blades or a rotating blade / helical turbine that constantly has a blade positioned at the right angle. -Sizing the turbine (Blade length, turbine diameter) to create one kilowatt of generation. I have managed to find lots of power equations that relate head to power generated, but I am planning on using a flow-only setup. If you have any answers, ideas, or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call me at 804-814-7197. Thanks, Matt ------------------------------ Matthew Robert Zedler Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2007 216 Next House 500 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02139-4306 Cell: (804) 814-7197 Dorm: (617) 225-8716 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://web.mit.edu/mzedler/www ___________________________________________________________________ Speed up your surfing with Juno SpeedBand. Now includes pop-up blocker! Only $14.95/month -visit http://www.juno.com/surf to sign up today! ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/RzSHvD/UOnJAA/79vVAA/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/
