Part 6 of How Can A Flood Damage Your Home. Floodwaters can pick up and carry objects of all types – from small to large, from light to heavy – including trees, portions of flood-damaged buildings, automobiles, boats, storage tanks, mobile homes, and even entire homes. In cold climates, wintertime floods can also carry large […]
Part 3 of How Can A Flood Damage Your Home. Flow velocity is the speed at which floodwaters move. It is usually measured in feet per second (fps). Flow velocities during riverine floods can easily reach 5 to 10 fps and, in some situations, may be even greater. Expressing velocities in fps is common in […]
Part 3 of Small Hydropower Systems. Small run-of-the-river hydropower systems consist of these basic components: Water conveyance—channel, pipeline, or pressurized pipeline (penstock) that delivers the water Turbine or waterwheel—transforms the energy of flowing water into rotational energy Alternator or generator—transforms the rotational energy into electricity Regulator—controls the generator Wiring—delivers the electricity. Many systems also use […]
Part 2 of Small Hydropower Systems. Of course to build a small hydropower system, you need access to flowing water. A sufficient quantity of falling water must be available, which usually, but not always, means that hilly or mountainous sites are best. Next you’ll want to determine the amount of power that you can obtain […]