Turbine in the river supplies four-person household with electricity
The Canadian company Id̩nergie has built a turbine that can supply a four-person household with electricity Рprovided there is a running body of water nearby. The turbine is delivered everywhere in a disassembled state, assembled on site and installed in the riverbed.
This 91-kilogram turbine can supply a four-person household with electricity – if it is installed in the riverbed.
Photo: Idénergie
They took their cue from Ikea, writes the company Idénergie on its website. After shopping in a Swedish furniture store, customers first have to do it themselves before they can use the piece of furniture. It's the same with the turbine developed by Idénergie in Montréal, Canada.
According to the manufacturer, two people are enough to install the turbine. A crane or other larger equipment is not required.
Source: Idénergie
Do-it-yourself skills are in demand. If you enjoy it and also have a flowing body of water near your house, you can use the turbine to cover the electricity consumption for a single-family home.
Flow speed of 3 m/s is ideal
Since 2010, Idénergie's engineering team has been working on the relatively small turbine, which converts the kinetic energy of the water into electricity with a converter. The electrical energy is stored in a battery and sent to the house by cable. Therefore, the flowing water from which the energy is tapped should not be too far away. Up to 400 m is optimal, writes Idénergie, but a distance of up to one kilometer is also possible.
A flow velocity of 3 m/s is optimal for the operation of the turbine.
Source: Idénergie
Of course, the river itself must also meet some requirements for energy generation to work. The riverbed should not be too deep, level and accessible, but above all, the flow speed is important. Between 1-3 m/s is ideal. At about 2.5 m/s, Idénergie calculates, a turbine can generate just under 12 kWh per day.
This is roughly equivalent to the average electricity consumption of a family of four in a single-family home in Germany. At a flow rate of 1 m/s, 2.3 kWh are produced daily.
Turbine weighs 91 kg
If these natural conditions are met, you can therefore dare to assemble the turbine, which will be shipped in a disassembled state. Idénergie provides detailed installation videos for this purpose. A turbine, made of stainless steel and aluminum, weighs 91 kg, is 66 cm high and 132 cm wide. For this purpose, a rod will be supplied with which the turbine can be transported and better installed in the river.
Equipped with two Darrieus rotors
The turbine itself has two so-called Darrieus rotors, as they are conventionally used for wind turbines. Darrieus rotors – named after the Frenchman Georges Darrieus and patented since 1931 – run with a vertical axis of rotation and have recently also been built for water turbines.
This is how the Idénergie turbine is constructed.
Source: Idénergie
For installation in the river, a suitable location must first be found before the turbine can be installed by at least two people, but without a crane or other larger equipment. In a final step, the turbine is anchored in the riverbed and the electrical cable is routed to its destination.
Turbine network could supply a settlement with electricity
Idénergie emphasizes that studies have shown that Darrieus-type turbines do not disturb the river's ecosystem. The precious metals used are also particularly environmentally friendly. The generator is packed in the housing absolutely waterproof and the risk of debris accumulating between the free-running rotor blades is very low. A complete turbine currently costs the equivalent of around 7,000 euros. A turbine network that could then supply an entire settlement with electricity would also be possible, writes Idénergie.
source : Turbine in the river supplies four-person household with electricity - ingenieur.de