To the members of r/HydroElectric , 

My name is Christopher Tunstall, and I am currently a student studying electrical engineering at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, United States. I am looking for some people either in or familiar with clean/ affordable energy (especially with hydroelectricity) to join a low-commitment, virtual panel about creating a product on clean and affordable energy for Ethiopia as a Design Thinking class project (no worries if you are not knowledgeable about Ethiopia specifically).

The panel itself would be a once a month DM on Reddit or any other communication form that works best for you between December 2024- April 2025. The prototype for hydroelectricity in Ethiopia, particularly for a fictional family in Addis Ababa and Ethiopian highlands, should be completed by the end of April 2025.

Let me know either by replying or DM me if you are interested in joining my panel or have questions about the project,

Thank you in advance for your consideration, 

Christopher Tunstall

I’m currently in school for an A&P Program, but I know I don’t want to do it my whole life. I’m pretty heavily interested in renewable energy, especially nuclear and hydroelectric. Nuclear is way out of my scope, but I was wondering from people in the industry, if working on turbine engines is sufficient previous experience to break into the industry. Thank you.

Annual maintenance time:)

Hello,

I am looking for help and suggestions as I cobble together a mini portable hydroelectric station that can be dismantled, dragged into a cave to charge a Milwaukie battery charging station.

I've got some ideas on developing the head pool, but struggling on what device would be ideal for this task.

The goal is to change Milwaukee batteries via the factory charging bay.

Any help or ideas are appreciated.

Thank you

Has anyone used one of these? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DF7N3KL1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I have an artesian well that comes out of a hose in my basement. The pressure coming out is comparable to the municipal city water. I thought it would be cool to set up a system so that when the electricity goes out, I can have a few lights or a phone charger running on hydroelectricity powered by the well.

Problem is I can't figure out how to use this thing. When I connect it, water just runs right through from inlet to outlet but the turbine doesn't move. I'm not sure if there's too little pressure, I'm doing something wrong, or if I just got ripped off with a bad product.

Could anyone here help?

Thanks

Where I live there's only 1 nice place to paddleboard but it has SEVEN "Danger keep out" signs so I won't, but my curiosity is eating me regarding whether the danger is real or exaggerated. Since my country puts danger-signs everywhere it's hard to tell when they are justified vs when they are ridicolous.

So my question is, does this really look that dangerous? It seems to me that if the water rises a little you'd just need to paddle a bit to keep right (green arrow), but I've never seen a water rise but certainly if water suddenly started gushing down that I can imagine it be hard to steer right

You'd think I could call them and ask, but I already know that they wouldn't be allowed to tell me the truth due to this countrys ridicolous safety stuff. For example when we would play basketball at my workplace we were forced to play "jump-less basketball" because New Zealand's ACC rules has deemed that jumping is dangerous

Extra info: upstream from this there are 2-3 dams

https://preview.redd.it/f1twkqhun9ud1.png?width=2056&format=png&auto=webp&s=bde853249a0df4f58464099867f1c442d1b7a7f1

https://preview.redd.it/jmpkbm4wn9ud1.png?width=1838&format=png&auto=webp&s=3d6213dc7e7970d596f92bc1bcc8a078f62f3481

https://preview.redd.it/azzjf82zn9ud1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=bde79fda97d6af8544251b04b992ea11b9ebe821

Has anyone set up their security program to pass FERC audits?

I have read the 3A document, and I think get it.

https://forms.gle/nNjgJtt9BB6fBHSN9

Hi this is my first ever reddit post so hopefully i dont break any unwritten rules. And im sorry if i misspell something or maybe if this subreddit is not the place to ask my questions. All the questions i ask are incredibly specific i understand that and im just looking for anything. All manufactures are jsut pointing at each other and i cant get a reliable expert opinion. If someone replies with interest i can send pictures, documentation and stuff. I might even be in such deep S*** that im willing to pay for opinions :D.

I own a decently sized Hydro Power plant -
150kW (actualy 165 but restricted) 110 kW T1 and 55 kW T2
2 crossflow turbines with 2 engines
1,2 m diameter of pipe approx 100 meters with an unfortunate 90 degree bend after 20 meters
difference of height is 11,4 meters
all on cascade of lakes that have a beautiful retention capability

In summary a pretty awesome spot for a hydro power plant. I aquired this project a 3 years back and its now 10 years after renovation and i am a complete noob in this stuff (i study law and i knew absolutely nothing about power/hydro/or anything technical so i am completely self tought) On top of that i feel like i dont have the neccecary support from previous owner (basicaly none) or the manufactures of all parts of the powerplant that are not keen to repair it properly.

Problems

1 - Hydraulics

The whole system of hydraulics is severly undershot according to the manufactures since the previous owners wanted to save money. The "valves" to both turbines are controlled by 1 compressor that pressurizes a piston one on each valve. On top of that one is severly larger then the other. Second thing i need to mention about pistons is that one is set up so that when Valve on T1 is 100% the piston is retraced. On T2 when is 100% open the piston is fully extended. This presumably produces a multitude of problems:
a.
the smaller turbine T2 is overcompensating when opening the valve. By that i mean when the valve gets a signal to open to 50% it overshoots itself by approx 15% which then sends a signal to close to 50%. This repeats itself when closing and overshooting by again 15% and this is indefinite. I already had to replace the compensator once since it burned it out when it was going like this nonstop for a few days.
b.
Sometimes the system doesnt communicate very well. By that i mean when i send a signal to close T1 from 80% to 50% it doesnt move until i also send some sort of a signal to T2. Even when i tell T2 to completely STOP it goes on until i somehow (even by a few %) move T1. It just goes on phased to the grid like no signal was sent at all.

2 - Sensors

Each piston is equipped with TURCK - B2N60H-Q20L60-2Li2-H1151 Sensor. On the valve on T1 it started to just show whatever it wants. Currently its open to 100% and the sensor just jumps between 50 - 80%. I physically see that the piston is retracted all the way (which is 100% open) but sensor is not working. How do i determine if the sensor needs replacement or if it can be repaired? The sensors malfunctioning can also be the causes of problems #1 a. and b. i honestly have no idea how to check this.

If anyone reading this wants to look into it as i said im willing to share more. I just dont know what someone would need to see/read. I have limitted supply of documents regarding the whole plant since the previous owner is... Im based in czech republic so a lot is in the czech language and i am not certain if i translated everything properly. Sorry to anyone offended if i used the wrong medium to ask for help. Its been 3 years and i feel kinda lost in this. Selling is not an option at this point and im willing to spend a reasonable amount of money to fix this (approx 100 000 eur) so if you try and reccommend a fix try to stay in this budget.

Thank you very much to anyone reading this and trying to help :)
EDIT:
I added photos. i dont know how to add them in the coments :D

Piston to Valve on T1

Piston to Valve on T2

Sensor on T1 Piston (the same one is on T2)

Hydraulics (will try to get a better photo in the coming weeks)

So, I am building a realistic hydroelectric power station in Minecraft. I just have a few questions to get things accurate.

Does anyone know what the startup procedure is? (I know it likely varies per plant, but in general)

I have the turbine hall, control room, penstocks, and backup/black-start generators. Anything else I need to add to the main facility?

Hello r/HydroElectric, I'm making this post to ask if any members in this sub would be interested in responding to a google form, which pertains to Hydroelectricity, and is required for school. For some context, I'm in 12th grade, and for my engineering class, I'm working on a year-long project with my group. Our project topic pertains to Hydroelectricity, and this survey will allow us select a problem, to attempt ro resolve. Here's a link to the google form: https://forms.gle/LCAko3jPu1T3UNE69

Thank You

Edit: Sorry for the previous link being inaccessible, I've updated the link.

Hello! Would anyone have any idea how to prepare for the 45 min in-person written exam for the electrician apprentice program? Thank you in advance!

Background :

• 2 months into my 12 month intern at a local hydroelectric scheme.
• 2nd year Mech Eng student with interest in fluid systems

Currently working on a project set by my manager where I can apply some theory that I’ve been taught in university. This is my first time trying any sort of thorough, real world calculations and am finding it very difficult- do any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Brief :

• Tunnel is 2.4km in length, and has 198m of head (from reservoir)
• About 351m of tunnel is smooth steel wall and the remaining 2049m is concrete wall
• dia of tunnel is 2.9m, reduced down to penstock of 1.2m dia.

My initial process was to look for the theoretic max, unrestricted flow. Then take away frictional losses in tunnel and then begin comparing turbines for power output and varying flow rate.

Have tried to use textbooks, chat gpt and read case studies online, just not really getting anywhere. I feel like the basic numbers I come out with are always wrong.

Can anyone explain the process I should attempt this at in an improved way, or anything I’m doing wrong?

Cheers

My father and I recently dug a pond ("Lake McGee") on a hill, and because we are gigantic dweebs and bored engineers we are planning on building a small dam to cap off our project. Our original plan was a simple dewater -> cement casting the dam and scooping out a spillway, but I think we are skilled enough to do something more elaborate! Any suggestions?

Some details: -Lake McGee is fed by two trickling "mystery pipes", they're probably the ends of some French drains we haven't found and there's not enough consistent flow to justify hydropower -Lake is roughly 6' x 8', has pond liner -3' at its deepest, planning to add an additional 1.5-2' with earthen embankments -Concrete section would be roughly 2' x 5' x 0.5', slightly arched -Nearby extension cord!

I really need your help, head 30m, flow rate 1 m3/s, rpm 115, 24121 Nm torque, how heavy should the runner be in kg? Thank you

How can I do this on a smaller scale? I have looked to buy a turbine like it, but I do not see them for sale.

https://www.turbulent.be/technology

In some mining areas, a lot of water is thrown around. I think we could use a turbine to harness this water and accumulate the energy in a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for use in computers or other necessary applications. Here is a picture of a water pump. In this case, what kind of turbine would we need, how much energy can the turbine generate, and how much energy can be stored in the Battery Energy Storage System?

I bought this generator and I am running it under the faucet but cannot get any substantial (>1 V) voltage reading. Do I need more pressure or orientate the generator in a certain way?