Mini Hydel Power Generation From Over Head Tanks Using Pelton Turbine

Abstract

The electricity demand is increasing day by day all over the world. A lot of efforts are made to make the buildings productive and self sustainable. Saving a small amount of electricity can contribute huge to full fill the demand of electricity. Due to this fact it is proposed to get energy from overhead water tanks. Following this approach a 20 m high water tank is considered. Water in the pipeline rotates a mini-hydro turbine with appropriate rotation. The feasibility to generate electricity from the potential energy of water of the pipeline has been founded. The purpose of this system is to find the cost effective and environmental friendly solution of the power generation using low-cost mini-hydro turbine having negligible environmental effects. The experimental system of this idea consists of a mini-hydro turbine having diameter of 0.21 m which is coupled with a dc generator via chain-gear mechanism to obtain desired rotation. Sensor box is designed to monitor the technical parameters. Led bulbs are introduced in the system to indicate and validate the output and results. The calculations and theoretical concepts are presented using basic theory and equations of fluid mechanics and turbo-mechanics. The outputs are validated using numerical and experimental results.