There are mechanical control systems that automatically control the flow (such as the old fly-ball mechanisms), but these are very expensive, and generally not such a good idea until you get up to the larger sizes.
The introduction of electronic load control (where you accept all of the flow and produce 100% of the electricity, but divert what you don't need) has made the control systems much more affordable. The use of the MPPT controlling is probably a good solution for this, but this (as far as I understand it) is not controlling the water flow, but the electricity flow... Walt -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Darryl Thayer Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 7:35 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro Hydro control HI I should not speak, but, I thought the nozzel had to be sized to the flow to attain efficiency. So if you have a 4 kW it can not be throtted except by changing nozzle size or stopping the flow in some nozzles, does this mean you could use solinoid valves? Also a MPPT controller for Hydro would be better? See I dont know about this. Darryl --- On Mon, 9/29/08, Carl Emerson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Carl Emerson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [RE-wrenches] Micro Hydro control > To: "'RE-wrenches'" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 11:36 PM > Hi there gang, > > > > We are looking at a 4kW PM hydro for a client and was > wondering if anyone > has done an automated control of flow into such a unit so > as to limit the > amount of water being taken from the stream in the Summer. > > This is usually done manually by closing down nozzles on > the unit but here > in NZ weather changes fast and the unit is 500M from the > house. Summer rains > can be significant and sudden. > > We are planning a 6inch pipe with around 100 ft of fall, > the stream when low > will allow a flow of 20Litres/sec but when high will > deliver twice that > amount. > > Any suggestions?? > > > > Thanks > > > > Carl Emerson > > Freepower Ltd. > > Auckland NZ > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Options & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3483 (20080930) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3483 (20080930) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
