1 Detailed Design Report Hydroelectric Turbine Generator ME 340 Team B Matthew Coleman Logan Hamilton William DelGiorno Executive Summary A faucet-powered hydroelectric generator is an example of a clean energy production, which provides free and efficient energy to the consumer. The faucet-powered generator presented here will be an easily attachable device that fits on the end of a faucet and converts the moving water from mechanical to electrical energy. Other than the initial cost of the product, the consumer will not need to pay for anything else, since they are already paying for the volume of water supplied to the household. The voltage generated will be greater than 1.5 volts across a 10 ohm resistor. This translates to a minimum power output of .225 watts. This power will be utilized by small devices such as phones, electric toothbrushes, etc. Team B is confident that this product will benefit both the customer AND the company.
This is the detailed design report for the hydroelectric turbine generator
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Detailed Design Report
Hydroelectric Turbine Generator
ME 340 Team B
Matthew Coleman
Logan Hamilton
William DelGiorno
Executive Summary
A faucet-powered hydroelectric generator is an example of a clean energy production,
which provides free and efficient energy to the consumer. The faucet-powered generator
presented here will be an easily attachable device that fits on the end of a faucet and
converts the moving water from mechanical to electrical energy. Other than the initial
cost of the product, the consumer will not need to pay for anything else, since they are
already paying for the volume of water supplied to the household. The voltage generated
will be greater than 1.5 volts across a 10 ohm resistor. This translates to a minimum
power output of .225 watts. This power will be utilized by small devices such as phones,
electric toothbrushes, etc. Team B is confident that this product will benefit both the
customer AND the company.
2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Introduction 3
Problem Statement 3
Background Information
Project Planning
3
3
Customer Needs and Specifications 4
Identification of Customer Needs 4
Design Specifications and Weights 5
Concept Development 5
External Search 6
Problem Decomposition 6
Concept Generation 6
Concept Selection 8
Detailed Design 9
Overall Description 9
Detailed Drawings 10
Final Theoretical Analysis 11
Component and Material Selection 13
Fabrication Processes for Mass Production 13
Industrial Design 14
Safety 14
Testing 15
Test Procedure and Plan 15
Conclusion 16
References 17
Appendices 18
Appendix A: Project Plan 18
Appendix B: Customer Needs/Weights 19
Appendix C: Theoretical Analysis
Appendix D: Attestation of Work
20
23
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Introduction
Problem Statement
Team B will develop a product that converts the mechanical energy of water flowing
through a typical household faucet, to electrical energy, which can then be used to power
a small accessory designed into the product.
The specific requirements of the product can be found below in the Customer Needs and
Specifications section. There are also constraints that must be met such as:
Final product should be designed for easy manufacturing
Expelled water must be no less than 50% of original flow rate
The voltage generation must be greater than 1.5 volts across 10 ohm resistor
Background Information
Hydroelectric power is used all over the world, most commonly produced from dams.
Whenever there is some sort of water flow or pressure differential, power can be
converted from it. Hydroelectric turbines utilize the flow rate and pressure of the water,
and turn it into electrical power with no remnants of pollution or anything else harmful.
The faucet-powered generator is a small scale hydroelectric turbine. The water from the
faucet creates the pressure and velocity necessary to spin the miniature turbine, which
creates the electrical power from the DC motor.
Project Planning
Team B chose to follow Product Design and Development, 4
th edition to develop a
process to figure out the most efficient way to build this hydroelectric generator. A Gantt
chart (Appendix A, Table 4) helped to plan each stage of the design process for the 15
weeks alotted to develop the product. Research was then executed to find information
regarding turbines, water properties, and electrical properties. Team B then needed the
customer needs weighted by importance to determine what the product needs to be like
(i.e. looks, performance), so a survey was performed to gather this data. Once the
importance of each need was figured out, each member drew concepts. Utilizing the
weighted customer needs for each concept, a final concept was chosen, and a SolidWorks
base model was created of that design. Upon acceptance of this proposal, Team B will
begin building prototypes which will be extensively tested to optimize the efficiency of
the product. A final product will then be produced to compete against other models.
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Table 1: Weighted Survey Results
Customer Needs and Specifications
Identification of Customer Needs
Evaluation of customer needs show:
The cost should be relatively cheap
Functions reliably and repeatedly in a wet environment
Should be attractive
Easily attaches to faucet with no leaks
Desirable to see inner workings
Can power/charge an object
Does not require assembly
Is not too large
Does not affect usage of faucet
While all customer needs are very important, the team decided that the four most
important needs to be focused on for a successful product are its performance, aesthetics,
cost, and ease of use. By optimizing these four standards we believe that the desire for the
product will increase much more.
The team utilized a survey of ten college students to determine the weights of the four
primary customer needs. The potential customer base is basically anyone who uses a sink
so these college students fall into this category, therefore their opinions are valid.
The survey used ranked each of the four needs (performance, cost, aesthetics, ease of use)
from 1-4 with 4 being the most important and 1 being the least important. The actual
survey results with the customers’ decisions can be found in Appendix B but the final
weight results were:
The majority of the students, as expected, ranked performance and cost, most important.
These are quantitative values that potential customers can easily look up, so the team
wants to focus most of the design on these two specifications. Ease of use came in third.
Survey Weight Results
Needs Weight
Performance 34%
Cost 29%
Aesthetics 15%
Ease of Use 22%
5
Figure 2:
Patent USD681552 S1 [2]
Figure 1:
Pelton Turbine
[1]
Since we are hoping this is a one-time installation, we will not have to focus too much of
our time on that aspect. Aesthetics came in last, and while we will try and make this
product look as visually appealing as possible, this customer need will be the last of our
worries.
Design Specifications and Weights
Some design specifications that were needed to be considered are:
Generate 1.5 volts across a 10 ohm resistor
Will cost less than 50 dollars retail
Will attach to a faucet head with 3/8 internal pipe thread
Will be at most 4 inches long
Must be self contained
Aesthetically pleasing
Placed in clear casing
Water discharged vertically downward
50% of original flow rate must exit
In order to compare the design specifications with the customer needs, a Quality Function
Deployment chart (QFD) was created. This can be found in Appendix B. The darkened
boxes (on the diagonal) show where the customer needs relate to the design
specifications.
Concept Development
External Search We initially, discovered that there were two main types of
turbines: impulse turbines and reaction
turbines. Impulse turbines use the
velocity of the water that comes in contact
with it to spin the turbine. Impulse
turbines work best in higher head
applications. The pelton turbine (shown
to the right) is the most widely used of
the different types of impulse turbines.
A pelton turbine has spoon like blades
that catch the water coming in from the
nozzle, which helps it spin and output more power. Reaction
turbines combines water flow and water pressure to produce
power. Unlike impulse turbines, reaction turbines work better in
6
Figure 3:
Patent US8125096 B2 [3]
Water Inflow
Turbine Generator Power output
Volumetric Flow
Rate
low head applications. The most common reaction turbine is a propeller. Propellers have
blades that are always in contact with water and has a constant pressure as to keep
everything in balance.
. Researching showed patented designs that help
us develop ideas for our project. Patent
USD681552 S1 is a micro-hydro electrical
generator that uses a pelton turbine to generate
power. This is a relatively simple design. The
water flows in at the bottom, goes through a
nozzle, and proceeds to hit the pelton turbine to
generate power. We saw that this design used a
direct connection from the turbine to the generator.
We developed many ideas from this design including
the pelton turbine and the direct connection. Patent
US 8125096 B2 uses a Kaplan turbine which is a type of propeller. The Kaplan turbine
allows for adjustable blades which provides a wider range of action. This particular
Kaplan turbine was designed to operate at around 90% efficiency and is able to produce
anywhere from 100 kW to 700 kW of power. This may be due to the fact that this design
has a complex belt system to help generate power. This design was interesting, but we
chose to go with a design similar to patent USD681552 S1.
Problem Decomposition Our team generated concepts by decomposing the system into four subsystems. All of
our designs were based off of this decomposition.
Concept Generation All three of us came up a design by ourselves that fulfilled the project requirements.
Here are our three concepts:
Torque and Power Voltage and
current
Figure 4: Problem Decomposition
7
Concept A
Concept B
Figure 5: Concept A full view Figure 6: Concept A component view
Figure 7: Concept B side view Figure 8: Concept B front view
8
Concept C
Concept A: Has the water flow hit the turbine that is directly connected to the DC motor.
The DC motor generates power and is connected to an outlet. Figure 5 shows how this
device would connect to the faucet and it shows what it would look like on the inside.
Figure 6 shows the inside parts that make up this component. This concept had plug on it
so it could be used as a phone charger or something of that nature.
Concept B: The water flows through the nozzle to hit the pelton turbine. The pelton
turbine is directly connected to the DC motor which is off to the side. This is very
similar to Patent USD681552 S1. It would be a simple design that is meant to be easy to
come up with parts and assemble. It would be small and easy to operate. The casing
would be made with see-through materials such as acrylic so that the customer could
learn from the product.
Concept C: This design is basically Concept B but with two turbines, two motors, and
two nozzles. This was put in to hopefully double the output power. This would be much
wider that either of the other designs. Similar to Concept B, this design would have a
see-through casing for learning purposes.
Concept Selection For the concept-ranking table we scored each design on a 1-3 scale (1 being the worst and
3 being the best) for each category. For example we gave Concept B a 3 on aesthetics
because of the casing’s see-through material and because of its small size. The rest of the
scores can be found in the Concept Ranking table in Appendix B, Table 6. After
reviewing our concept-ranking table Concept B came out with the highest score. Concept
B ended up on top because of its projected low cost and its ease of use. This design
Figure 9: Concept C front, side, and back view
9
would be the easiest for the customer to set up while also being aesthetically pleasing.
We did not choose Concept A because we thought it would be a bad idea to have a plug
that close to the water making the product too dangerous. Concept C would have been
very difficult to assemble without making any mistakes. Even though it would have a
chance for double the power, the chance of there being a problem increases as well.
Detailed Design
Overall Description
We chose a water wheel turbine housed by an acrylic, clear casing. The turbine is
coupled to the generator via a dowel (part 6) and pin (part 7). Part six and seven are made
of plastic, as to cause minimal friction with the acrylic housing. Part one shown below
utilizes a nozzle to direct flow onto an ideal location of the water wheel to maximize
torque. An inch of housing is left below to allow for any excess water buildup. Housing
width is confined tightly to not let water get by the turbine.
Figure 10 Exploded View
4
1 7
2
3
6
5
10
1 inlet 3/8 inch nozzle
2 outlet 3/8 standard outlet
3 casing clear acrylic casing for educational value
4 motor motor rated 2200 RPM at 2.5 volts
5 turbine water wheel turbine (3D printed)
6 dowel keeps motor water-proof and locks into turbine
(plastic)
7 pin Seals far side from water leakage (plastic)
Table 2: BOM
Detailed Drawings
Figure 11
Side isometric view of the assembly to illustrate how the waterproof pin fits in and
does not inhibit the turbine from rotation.
11
Figure 12
Side view showing transparent motor to show fitting between motor and turbine to
make effective seal.
Final Theoretical Analysis
Experiment 1: Faucet Analysis
A simple faucet analysis was performed to determine the pressure and flow rate that
produces the max power. The team connected a valve with a pressure gage to the end of a
faucet, the valve was completely shut and the faucet was opened so there was maximum
flow. The maximum pressure determined was 40 psi. The team then went down
increments of 5 psi, allowing flow rate to increase. At each increment of 5 psi, the team
calculated the time to fill up one gallon in a bucket. The results can be found in Appendix
C, table 9.The flow rate was determined by the equation:
Q = 1 gallon/T
Where Q is the flow rate, in gallons per minute, and T is the time it took to fill up the 1
gallon bucket. After going from 40 psi to 0 psi, the power was then calculated. The
equation to calculate power is:
Power = (Q*P)*.435
Where Q is the flow rate (GPM), P is the pressure (psi) and power is in the units of watts.
12
These values were then placed on the same graph and trend lines were placed on the
graph to determine the intersection point. The intersection point gives the pressure and
flow rate that produces the highest power input of the system. For a maximum power of
17.5 watts, the values for the flow rate and pressure were roughly 1 GPM at 33 Psi,
respectively.
Figure 13 Faucet Analysis
Experiment 2: Generator Analysis
Procedure: Attach generator to a height so that the mass has enough space to fall in order
to collect usable data. Put the mass on a string attached to the generator shaft. Drop the
mass a known length (L) and record the max voltage and time it takes to fall a distance L.
Repeat for different masses. The results can be found in Appendix C, table 8.
Equations:
Torque:
Rotational velocity:
Mechanical Power:
Electrical Power:
Efficiency:
13
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Torq
ue
(mN
*m)
Effi
cien
cy
RPM
Generator Analysis
Efficiency
Torque
Component and Material Selection Process for Mass
Production
The final product requires a turbine casing, a turbine, a nozzle, covering for support of
the motor, and a rod to connect the turbine with the generator. The casing will be made
with clear acrylic. The clear casing will allow for customers to see how the power is
generated in the system. Also the acrylic has adequate strength to hold everything
together, as seen in our testing phase. Acrylic costs only $14.50 per square foot, making
it much cheaper than its metal counterparts. The turbine was made with ABS
(Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic. ABS plastic is very lightweight which allows
for the water stream to spin the turbine faster. The ABS plastic costs $13.30 per square
foot. We purchased a brass nozzle. We purchased the nozzle from McMaster-Carr and
they only offered the nozzles in brass and stainless steel. Although stainless steel does
not rust, we chose the brass nozzle because it cost about $20 less. The covering of the
motor will be made of PVC (Polyvinylchloride). We chose PVC because it is a strong
material that has a cost of $10.00 per square foot. The rod will be made of nylon. The
rod needs to be able to hold on to the generator and spin with relative ease, meaning that
this material must be strong and mobile. Nylon has high wear resistance and a low
coefficient of friction, which makes it a good candidate for this connecting piece. Nylon
has a cost of $21.00 per square foot, however the pieces we will need will be nowhere
near a square foot.
Fabrication Process for Mass Production
The laser cutter will cut the acrylic pieces for the casing from a large slab of acrylic, the
turbines will be 3D printed, and the brass nozzles will be ordered from McMaster-Carr in
Figure 14: Generator Analysis
14
bulk. The pieces of nylon will be ordered in bulk. The nylon pieces will have a hole
drilled in the center matching the dimensions of the turbine’s shaft diameter. The first
part of the assembly process will first require the nylon to be connected to the turbine.
The piece of nylon will then be put through the hole in the acrylic casing where it can be
connected to the generator. The thread will then be put through the hole in the top piece
of the casing. The nozzle will be put on the piece of thread. The last part of the assembly
will be to glue all the pieces of the casing together. The assembly is very simple and
inexpensive.
Industrial Design
This product was designed so that it comes fully assembled. This makes for better
usability for the customer. The user simply has to take the inlet of the product and twist it
on the end of their faucet.
The product is also aesthetically pleasing. Since the casing is made from acrylic, it will
be clear allowing for the customer to see its inner workings. The final product, if
machining permits, will have a bright green turbine which also contributes to better
aesthetics. PVC piping will cover the motor to hold it in place and help limit water
damage.
The product will also be safe. The PVC and the close tolerance between the shaft and the
casing shows that water will not come into contact with the motor, preventing any risk of
electrical shock. Since the system is compact (length is less than four inches), it will not
interfere with any daily faucet uses, meaning the user will not accidentally break the
product.
Safety
The only safety hazard of this product is the containment of the electrical equipment. All
materials used in the product are environmentally safe. Some of the safety standards that
would be met were taken from the UL and IEC safety standards. The safety standards that
the product would most likely be checked for are:
15
Commission Standard Code Standard Description
International
Electrotechnical Commision
(IEC)
IEC 62006 Acceptance tests of small
hydroelectric installations
International
Electrotechnical Commision
(IEC)
IEC 61116 Electromechanical
equipment guide for small
hydroelectric installations
Underwriters Laboratories
(UL)
UL 50 Standard for enclosures for
electrical equipment
Underwriters Laboratories
(UL)
UL 1004-4 Standard for electric
generators
Underwriters Laboratories
(UL)
UL 674 Electric motors and
generators for use in
hazardous locations
Table 3: Safety Standards
New standards are created for products all of the time. In combination with these
standards above, commissions may even develop a whole new standard that specifically
apply to faucet powered turbine generators.
Testing
1. Purpose of prototype: test power outputted.
In testing, our max voltage for the alpha prototype was 0.5 Volts.
Ways to maximize voltage include building a new turbine, refining housing,
minimizing axial friction within motor-turbine coupling, and adjusting flow
location to turbine.
Figure 15: Alpha Prototype
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2. Planning a prototype: How to improve upon alpha-prototype.
Building motor generator coupling is crucial to creating prototype that effectively
uses flow rate. After this is created we will construct a compact housing around
coupling. We found this is the most effective method from building the alpha
prototype.
3. Experimental plan:
Variables we will be testing include angular velocity, flow rate, torque,
mechanical and electrical power. Ways to improve performance include using a
waterproof dowel and pin, using different sized generators, and using waterproof
sealant .
Equipment: voltmeter, weights, flow restrictor, stopwatch, control volume,
dynamometer.
Tests include flow rate from outlet, documenting angular velocity from
dynamometer, and outputted power and various flow rates.
4. Schedule for testing:
Our testing for our beta prototype has already begun; we will have another week
to refine a design based off of the experimental variables mentioned above. We
plan on having a smoke test next week to see where we can make final
improvements. From there we have several more days at the learning factory to
produce a final beta prototype.
Conclusion
We have made it through the beginning phases of the design process. We first considered
the project specifications and the customer needs, which lead to us coming up with
criteria that we used in our concept selection process. A survey was then given to our
peers so we could correctly weight these criteria for the concept-ranking table. We then
started to do some external research on other hydroelectric turbine generators. From
there we came across a few patented designs that we used in our concept generation.
Each of us then came up with one design to put into our concept-ranking table. When
Concept B came out on top, we began to start our CAD drawings on Solidworks.
We believe that our design will attract customers because of its simplicity and ease of
use. It will be small and able to fit to an ordinary residential faucet. Customers looking
for a little extra power for their phone or toothbrush in the bathroom or to be a little more
eco-friendly will be interested in this product. Since our design is simple and compact it
will most likely come out cheaper than many of our competitor’s designs. We would like
to continue in our design process and see this project through to the end.
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References
[1] "Energy.gov." Types of Hydropower Turbines. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.