A question was posted pertaining to pumping water with a windmill, I took it to mean the types that are scattered all over this country, and I assume every other country in the world as well. Water is a big deal in our lives, some us place a lot of thought into it, others conserve, and pay attention to it realizing its importance, and others, well they are the ones that give it no thought. It's the same with everything, I use the 33% rule, 33% pay no attention to any subject at hand, 33% pay close attention, understand the issues completely and are not active, then the final 33% have an intense interest and involvement in everything related to the subject. Then there is the leftover 1%, they join cults, uprisings, marches, they are the hyper doers, each organization has them, I do in the niche I have chosen, self-reliance, self-awareness, and disaster preparation. The 1% in my chosen niche is the far right, they are even to the right of the people identifying by being categorized as "preppers". The 1% can be on either end of the spectrum, either the goody-goody side or the deep dark we're heading for a disaster mindset side, those differences are what make us human.
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| We're all different, it makes life worth living. |
In my opinion, (oh, oh, here we go) there is almost an endless number of ways to move water, buckets, pumps, ditches, and siphons to name a few that come to mind. One thing I try to keep in mind when people start talking about moving water is the weight of a gallon. Clean water weighs in at 8.34 pounds per gallon, ( 3.79 Kilograms per gallon), to move it takes a lot of energy, it can be provided in numerous ways. As an illustration think of a 5-gallon container of water, 41.7 pounds, allowing for the container I round it off to 45 pounds (just over 21 kg). I use that figure because water in the bottles is typically 5 gallons so it's a visual we can all understand. We don't have to actually do it but as a mind demonstration think of the energy it would take for you or me to carry that 5 gallons up a 10% grade for several miles. In my best years, I could probably have been able to carry it about 1/2 mile, give or take a bit, if I made it a mile it would have to be in a backpack. Now think of a pump, pushing 20-35 gallons a minute up a pipe from a well at least 150 feet, it pushes 5-6 times more in one minute than I would be able to do in 45 minutes. That is why the cost to move water from the Great Lakes to Los Angelos is entirely out of the question, the electricity to drive the pumps would have to be furnished by separate Electrical Generators. How about we move it for free with a wind turbine, I am all in on that, if for no other reason it is interesting to think and talk about, but then I'm one of those people who are very interested in water. When we talk about moving water with a windmill we are actually talking about making a choice of either storing water or storing electricity, pick your poison. Convenience many times means more expensive, and that defines this fairly accurately.
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| Old technology, these turbines are pumping water. |
To use a Wind Turbine to turn a generator to provide power to an electric motor a considerable amount of infrastructure would be required. We would have to store the Generated Electricity in batteries, a minimum of 10-12 volt batteries connected in parallel would be required, better yet 20-12 volt would provide backup for when the wind has not blown for a while. We would have to employ 10 batteries because the voltage in parallel will add together, 10-12 volt batteries equals 120 volts, most of our homes line voltage. 20 batteries would equal 240 volts (single phase). Electricity would have to be stored if we were to expect to maintain a constant supply of water, stored for when the wind is not blowing. A trickle charger run off the windmills generator to charge the batteries will be needed, a DC to AC transformer would be needed if we used a conventional motor if a DC motor is used a transformer would not have to be used to convert it. But a transformer would be needed to maintain constant voltage, it would be a less expensive model. Electric motors over 7 horsepower demand 240 single phase power, this is a major concern when it comes to larger pumps. A Generator would have to be purchased, (the one driven by the wind turbine) because of the use of a trickle charger a smaller generator would be needed, less stress would be exerted on the wind turbine, reducing maintenance. It would be a mistake in my opinion for a person to attempt pumping a constant supply of water with electricity that would have to be used immediately upon its production, we would constantly run out of water. The same would happen with a wind turbine driven pump, but that can be remedied. A big advantage with Generating Electricity to drive a motor would be our entire home could be powered via the battery bank system. A backup solar cell could be installed to charge the battery bank when the wind is down, if the wind and sun are both down, then it's time to start up the spare generator. This pumping water with a wind turbine question can be explored so many different ways, for example how many backup systems would we need? That may depend upon how many of life's conveniences we can do without, for me if it impinges on my morning coffee we'll have to think of something, like before morning. My brief explanation just scratches the surface, extensive engineering would have to be performed, with the final goal being the first to be engineered to size all of the components correctly.
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A special room is needed for controlling production and storing
the batteries. |
What if we connect the wind turbine directly to the pump, how would that work? For starters, the windmill would not have to spin at 60 hertz to meet line voltage or the requirements of an electric motor. We will need some infrastructure, not as much as for generating electricity but still a substantial amount. A 1,000-gallon tank is the minimum size I would install, based on a humans need of 1/2 gallon per day to consume as a bare minimum. Cooking, Cleaning, Hygienic purposes, and drinking water will add up to about 10 gallons per day per person. That tank of water would supply 3 people for just over a month, 4 people just under, that's a pretty good amount. There is hardly a month that goes by that the wind does not blow for at least one or two days. A small submersible pump would be needed as well, I would choose one in the 4-inch diameter range, that is small enough to not exert a big load on the pump and large enough to fill the tank in a decent amount of time. Smaller diameter pumps are available, engineering will tell us just how big it should be to meet our expected goals. (Establish goals as the first step). The tank will need to be uphill from where the water needs to end up, we certainly don't want to create a need for an electric pump, caution on how high to set the tank is critical. For each foot the tank is above the point where we want to use the water, it gains about .434 pounds of pressure, a tank set at 30 feet would provide approximately 13 psi, it will have to be engineered as well. We don't want to set the tank so high all of the fittings and hoses would burst, it will have to satisfy both operating pressures and the size of the pump driven by the wind turbine. The turbine will have to provide enough horsepower to push the water up that hill, remember in the beginning the exercise in carrying 5 gallons of water. Horsepower can be controlled by sizing the blades of the turbine correctly or installing some sort of a governor, or a gearbox to control the speed of the driving shaft, a handbrake with a pin will have to be part of the shaft fabrication. The water will also lose pressure as the level in the tank falls. Another wind turbine could be used to move the water from the tank to wherever it needs to end up, enabling us to have a ground level tank, that is a point that also has to be engineered.
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| This tank holds much more than 1.000 gallons. |
Do not attempt to install any of this equipment by the use of this blog, there is a mountain of work that needs to be done before the first shovel full of dirt is in the pile. The depth and diameter of the well, the type, and size of pump needed, the height of the tank, the diameter of the supply lines to the tank, is just a few of the critical items any one of which could render the project useless if not accounted for. The list for driving an electric generator with a windmill is bound to be even more extensive, it is not cheap to make electricity, in fact, it costs almost as much for a large generating plant to produce power as is the profits it realizes. I will estimate how much these systems will cost, this is by far not an accurate amount but I should be relatively close. For the Electrical Generating windmill, pumps, well, and the entire project would be between $15,000.00 and $20,000.00, contractors will be needed for as much as 1/2 of the project, mostly final wiring terminations, and a control center. The windmill driven pump, tank, piping, engineering and the whole kit and kaboodle I estimate a solid $10,000.00, I would think no less than that amount, most likely more.
The driving force that would determine my decision would be related to what the chances of running out of water are. I am not concerned with running out of electricity, the main reason to have electricity (from my perspective) is to save the food in the freezer during a prolonged event. Other than that lights, heat, and entertainment are all things I (we) can do without, lanterns, wood burning stoves, and talking to each other can all take the place of electricity. Coffee is an entirely different subject, we always must have a means to have coffee, at least in the morning.
Thank you for reading and sharing my blog, what do you think? Leave a comment below, there is a lot to making power of any sort, be it mechanical, electrical, or Hydro (which is an option I purposely did not explore in this blog.) Tell me your experiences. Thanks again!
jacquesandkate
EmergencyKitsPlus.com
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