Micro Hydro Electric Power System In Colorado Part 17

[Music] our winners at eighty six hundred feet can be quite harsh yet also extremely beautiful temperatures can range from 13 below zero up into the 40s this year we've barely touched our woodpile yet the snows have continued to pile up at times reaching depths of four feet or more with all the additional power we're creating we need to install some new amp meters much of the power is now being shunted into newly installed baseboard heaters and this enables us to easily maintain a differential of up to 70 degrees between indoor and outdoor temperatures how we maximize the system is the topic of this video when we came back to the property in spring we found the system ceaselessly running and creating a steady and reliable 4500 watts the water works its way down through a natural Swale water moving through the pipeline allows less evaporation in the creek and erosion has not been a problem as the water follows a natural path back to its source up in the meadow at the intake it was clear we have plenty of excess water we were not utilizing for power unfortunately our diversion of water from the creek had ceased to be supplying water to the meadow there were two reasons for this first air had gotten into our flexible pipe and created a vapor lock and second the flexible pipe being buried under several feet of snow without water continuing to flow that frozen into a solid block beneath the snow so we remove the flexible pipe where there was no ice block in anticipation of the massive spring melt off that comes every year once this had passed our task was to collect as much water as possible from this spot in the creek run it through our flexible pipe down through our more permanent PVC pipe where it drops into the meadow and flows through the meadow in a more controlled manner it gets collected in our Weir travels back over the creek via the pipe bridge and down to the powerhouse where it generates as much power as possible to accomplish this we started by clearing a new path for the flexible pipe that had as steady of a fall as possible to move the water through the remains of the newly carved creek bed our original intake screen placed at our intake point over time became clogged with organic debris in the creek so we tried a new design it was made of 6-inch PVC pipe covered with window screen which was fastened via large hose clamps and a strip of aluminum molding the holes in the pipe were mostly on top to prevent water from escaping once it had entered the type it fit quite well into the intake point and filled the diversion pipe quite well but it too became clogged with organic debris requiring frequent cleaning all around the pipe on all of the holes our third design was a different approach it was made from some salvaged aluminum cable Raceway used in data centers with a piece of speaker grille secured at an angle the water could enter from the top and flow through the filter with the excess water flowing out over the edge a spare Bell end of PVC was secured the raceway cover had a securing edge on one side and was positioned with ample room for excess water to exit the intake end was covered with some expanded aluminum mesh and it was all secured with screws this was a process of trial and error and they all had a common Bell end for mounting our third design seemed to fit best in the angle of the rocks and the process of cleaning a screen was much easier it's being a single surface but in all three designs we found that the resistance of the screen limited the amount of water we could get into the meadow so we decided to remove the screen altogether for maximum flow while working on this we placed the second design in the creek and filled the pipe completely this strong flow however before getting the third design in place a winter storm blew in and froze the second design intake in place we felt removing it would damage it and as winter progressed it became a frozen fixture in the creek our other issue was air migrating into the pipeline and creating an airlock we would start the diversion and it would flow pretty well but eventually air would migrate back up the pipe from the exit end and greatly reduce the flow we solved this problem by installing a ninety degree fitting at the end and then connecting the irrigation gate vertically to it as the water came down the pipe line into the flood area the air from the end had no way to get back up the pipe an added advantage of this idea was that it presented an easy way to control the flow and monitor the quantity of water flowing into the meadow we were also experiencing air getting into the intake part of the pipe line in the form of small bubbles these would collect in the flexible pipe line and cause the pipe to float and again create an airlock in the highest parts of the pipe so we decided to drive fencing posts into the creek bed and tie the flexible pipe down with galvanized wire and wait it all down with rocks this got the water flowing really well and by closing the gate at the end we could occasionally open screw sealed vent holes which we positioned at the high points in the uneven grade of the pipe the water would fully displace any air which had migrated in through intake air bubbles and the vent holes were resealed this occasional process became more important as winter set in to keep the water flowing fully in the pipe and prevent it from freezing when the gate at the end of the pipe line was reopened the flow and water was greatly increased due to the weight of water pulling additional supply into the feed end and our concern about supply was fully overcome our design of stand pipe and rubber in the collection pond has worked quite well to remove any silt sediment which collects above the weir we can easily clean it all out to below the weir to prevent silt entering the pipe line there is always persistent organic debris that floats on the water and this tends to clog the intake screen so the water bounces and doesn't enter the pipeline at the powerhouse it is apparent that this is happening when you see the pressure drop below the nominal pressure the screen can be periodically cleaned with a simple brushing and the pipeline pressure is restored by the pipeline being full after more than a year it was time to replace the window screen as it was starting to wear through here's an example of some of the organic matter that gets filtered by the screen with a new piece of screen installed we decided to try a different kind of moulding to hold the upper side of the screen our first moulding tended to boost the water up and down into the screen and then it would bounce off any Lodge debris and out of the intake barrel our hope was that a flat flow would prevent this loss it seemed to work when we first installed it but this method eventually proved to not be any better and clogged the screen as well as winter set in another issue became apparent icing so it was time to execute our original plan and we took delivery of a custom-made Coe and a screen I will post a contact link for our source in the space below it arrived just in time and it was sturdily made out of welded stainless steel wedge-shaped wire is welded at an engineered angle with precise openings to cut the water as it flows over it once installed it completed our original planned design as the water flows over the screen organic debris is captured and often cleared by the water flow itself this greatly reduces the frequency and need to clean the screen which when needed is easily accomplished with a brush we also installed small aluminum fins to direct the water away from the mounting strips on the sides and minimize any water that would be lost down the sides as temperatures dropped and winter became more severe another value of his choice became clear ice buildup in sub-zero temperatures becomes quite severe this requires some aggressive action to remove the ice it is doubtful the window screen would have been robust enough to endure this sort of removal stainless steel ko and a screen handles it with no problem and cleaning it with a brush remains the same you would think that in sub-zero temperatures the water would just freeze but several readings with different gauges at different points proves that moving water even though it is well below the freezing point does not freeze and continues to flow so as the winter winds fiercely blow and the snow levels continue to rise we are presented with an endless variety of frozen water shapes but the water continues to flow the occasional trip up to the water intake and removal of heavy collections of ice has kept us healthy with the effort even though there are four or more feet of snow our source of power remains within our grasp providing an abundant source of electricity which can be used to keep us closing and warm this has been a lifelong dream to be energy self-sufficient and now the system is nearly complete there are still a couple of things to add and a few problems to be explained but now that we have a secure source of both off-grid electricity and passive solar power we are free to enjoy the magic that living in nature provides our hope is that you have found all of this series beneficial we intend to chronicle other off-grid hydro sites and expand the knowledge to all that have a committed interest in pursuing it thank you so much for viewing please hit like subscribe and share with others that might appreciate it

Channel: MrHydrohead

Views: 1,474,475

Rating: 4.9260826 out of 5

Keywords: Climate Change, Colorado, Energy, Hydro, Hydroelectricity, Micro, MicroHydro, MrHydrohead, Off the Grid, Power, Renewable Energy, Renewable, Global Warming, Solar, Electric Power System, Colorado Mountains, Stainless Steel Filter, Intake Screen, Turbine, HydroTurbine, Generator, Coanda Screen, Wedge Wire Screen, Winter Pipeline, Freezing, Airlock, Vapor Lock, siphon

Id: le8zg3T_2_k

Length: 12min 28sec (748 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 05 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/seanalltogether]

Colorado is very serious about water rights, are these diversions considered legal? Up until a couple years ago it was still illegal to simply collect rain water in a barrel.

edit - In the recap video they mention purchasing non-consumption rights to the creek.

[u/cmmndq]

Could it be rigged so that the air locks all head towards one high point in the pipe? And an open hole could be there permanently? I can't imagine the single hole would cause a significant loss of water and it would save you a fair amount of effort.

Though it may not be fully possible with the layout. Not sure.

[u/BarrelRydr]

So interesting, but my god that music is awful.

[u/[deleted]]

That's fucking awesome.

[u/ralphington]

Snakeoil alert: there is a 0% chance the system shown can sustain 350 GPM or anywhere close to 8500 watts of power generation.