Water Energy

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LOW-HEAD & IN-STREAM TURBINES
TIDAL ENERGY TURBINES


		WATER is currently the world’s greatest source of renewable energy. It is 900-1000 times as dense as air, and can be 90% efficient in large dam turbine installations. However, damming rivers has huge environmental consequences, resulting in many recent dam-removal projects. On the other hand, utilizing the power of flowing rivers, irrigation canals and tidal flows does not need to interfere with fish migration or require significant ecological changes, and has the greatest potential for new sources of hydropower.

			*TIDAL POWER* ~ new technologies

	This concept drawing shows a 5-vane involute-spiral-vaned water turbine mounted on 4 pilings in a tidal current. Above the water turbine and a platform is mounted an involute-spiral-vaned wind turbine. This concept is explained in detail in another area of this website. These are both drag-propulsion devices, which have the potential of harnessing much more power than lift devices from slow-moving fluids, especially water. The involute spiral has the unique property of creating a non-constricting path through the turbine, which is essential for harnessing maximum power from water, which is non-compressible and 800 times as concentrated as wind power. Both turbines are connected to generators which provide power for electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen and oxygen for storage in the two cylindrical tanks below. This allows remote on-site storage of variably-generated electricity converted to hydrogen, which can be directly transferred to ships to power their own engines and to transport elsewhere. Many variations on this design are proposed for different situations, and there are more efficient designs than this for tidal power, which is especially promising for harnessing tidal power here in Puget Sound, WA, where vast tidal flows surge in and out of this large inland sea daily. The hyperboloid venturi pictured here is especially promising for submerged low-flow tidal current power.


	This concept drawing shows a low-head water turbine for installation in an irrigation canal. I have tested numerous designs, and have discovered several more efficient configurations, one of which is being installed in an irrigation canal on the Sacramento River. I will be happy to discuss this more with interested parties.

		Here is another tidal power-to-Hydrogen device proposed by Dr. Elijah Bonesteel. A hollow ferrocement hull is anchored in a river or tidal current, where the paddle blades are turned by the water to generate electricity, which is used to electrolyze Hydrogen and Oxygen from water, storing it in compartments in the hull. Note the person on deck for scale. To see a detailed animation, visit http://www.slowmovingwater.com/animation.htm For more details about hydrogen and power from “Slow-Moving Water” visit the fascinating website of Dr. Elijah.