Hydroelectricity

[jean costa]

hi i have a project which is to create electricity from a well. So I want to pump the water from the well into a tank after creating a waterfall which will make turn a turbine, via a speed multiplier to turn an alternator . So I want to receive your opinion if there is a possibility

[Did67]

I invite you to take a look at some basic principles of physics, which will show you very quickly that in theory, you need as much energy to raise the water as you can recover by dropping this same water.

And that in theory. In practice, there is what is called a yield. You need more energy to raise the water, because the pump does not have a 100% efficiency. And during the fall, you do not recover 100% of the possible energy, in a turbine ...

So if it was a joke excuse me for having answered seriously.

And if not, have the modesty to think that many people would have thought about it long before, to make lots of money!

[moinsdewatt]

hi i have a project which is to create electricity from a well. So I want to pump the water from the well into a tank after creating a waterfall which will make turn a turbine, via a speed multiplier to turn an alternator . So I want to receive your opinion if there is a possibility

But of course.

[izentrop]

Hello,
A little table corner calculation:
A 750 W charged water evacuation pump can pump 5000 l of water over 6 m in one hour https://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produit ... 1400987883
It's a little more but the pressure drops in the piping are not counted, for simplicity, let's stay at this value of 750 Wh of energy consumed

Suppose the pump is immersed at 50 cm and the tank 1.5 m high, the turbine placed just above the water level which is assumed to be invariable, the height of fall will vary between 5.5 m (full tank) and 4 m, with an average of 4.75 m.

We can calculate the potential energy of the exploitable fall W = 9.81 X 4.75 X 5000/3600 = 64 Wh
Should not expect more than 50% efficiency for a small pelton turbine + alternator, just enough to charge a small battery of 12 V / 2.5 AH

And again, I am generous, because with this type of pump, a drop of 3 m and 100 m of pipe diameter 25, I take 15 minutes to fill a tank of 200 l.

Even if the energy balance is necessarily negative as recalled by Did67, consuming 750 Wh and recovering only 30 shows that the losses are very important for small systems.