Generating Green Electricity With Rain Chains

This small prototype of a Turbine is a cross between the 'Turgo turbine' and a 'Convex-Parabolic-Cone'. In a Turgo turbine, the water enters and hits the blades at the width of the turbine (Tangentially) or it enter at the side of the turbine where the blades are curved in such a way that water enters from one side and exits from the other side. In this case the water falls from a height or flows at high pressure at the tip of the conical structure and the cone distributes the water evenly (Given it falls at the centre of the cone) and the distributed water splashes at the blades on the base of the cone. When the water hits the blades, the blades experience a lift force and pushes the turbine along its axis.

This turbine can be used under the rain chains (kusari-doi) and under pipes of flowing water.

I got this idea and would love to give the credit to Sir Robert Murray Smith.

1884 A Vortex Turbine In The Making (youtube.com)

I would like to say he is very inspirational and those how are interested in green energy should check it out.

The tools and materials required:

1. 3D printer (or any 3d printing shop).
2. PLA filament or resin.
3. Spray paint for plastic surfaces.
4. Super glue.
5. Water!
6. 1X Thrust bearing (25mm ID, 42mm OD, 11mm thick).
7. 1X Axial bearing (10mm ID, 26mm OD, 8mm thick).

The Energy sector of the world generated about 172 PWh/year of energy or about 19.6 TW of raw power in 2021(Wikipedia). While producing so much of this useful energy to run our day to day lives, the energy sector was accountable for about 73% of the total Greenhouse gases emissions globally in 2022. This sector consists of electricity and heat production, transportation, and various industrial processes. If we consider only the electric production sector, then it accounts for up to 42% of the total emissions, making it the largest contributor. Agreed that the numbers are not at all in the favour of reduction in our summer costs... there are multiple reasons that fossil fuels are predominant. Some of the reasons are:

1. Economy: Using fossil fuels are a cheap way for countries (Especially developing countries) to fuel their growth. Much like how the developed countries have paved their way through fossil fuels, the developing countries are tempted to follow their paths.
2. Technology: Tech involved in extraction of fossil fuels and turning them to power is faaaaarrr more advanced (in terms of profits!) then the renewable sources. It is faster to install and faster to produce power (and money).
3. Political factors: At this current age we do have the tech and resources (in government funds too!) to rely completely in renewables... but that's a very faaaarrr fetched thought. There are several power companies and countries that monopolize the fossil fuels that makes us inclined to using them more. There are more factors to this point as there are political parties that look for short term benefits than the long term ones, corruption etc.
4. Market Entrenchment: The fossil fuel industry is well-established, with deeply entrenched market players that dominate the global energy market. This makes it challenging for new entrants, like renewable energy companies, to gain a significant market share. and finally:
5. Transition Costs: Transitioning to renewable energy sources involves substantial upfront costs for new infrastructure, technology development, and grid integration. These costs can be a barrier for many regions and industries.

*(Our World in Data)​​ (IEA)​​ (McKinsey & Company)​​ (IEA)​.

Now there are many ways to cure these problems like: Making a shift to electric than using fuel (heating, cooking etc), electric vehicles, policy changes that force companies to go electric and use greener sources to obtain the electricity, carbon capture etc.

So, how does a this turbine come in play among all this? well, it is simple: It is a small part of a great effort by many people, communities, companies, countries etc to produce more green electricity every year to battle the climate change. Little by little we all can make a great impact so i decided to contribute a concept.

Now for some actual to the point reasons to why I chose this topic:

1. This type turbines are smaller in scale in comparison to traditional turbines that require a large infrastructure (reservoir) to hold water to generate electricity, hence its much simpler.
2. It's easier to build and maintain due to less moving parts and cheaper.
3. Since it does not require a large reservoir (most cases) and hence it does not alter the flow of the river or streams to a great extent. It does not flood existing forest with water.
4. Though its lesser efficiency of 30-60% compared to 80-90% of the larger turbines, it may generate enough electricity at a cheaper rate to power a few Appliances (Depending on the size and flow of river/stream and the turbine).
5. It is easy to design in my computer than a full-scale (or smaller) reservoir and turbine! :)

From here I will be showing the way i created the CAD designs of the turbine:

Each step will have a video of the process.

Software: Fusion 360.

1. First, I create a circle of diameter 16cm. Then I create the curved shape by using 'Fit Point Spline' tool and offset it by 0.2cm inwards to make a hollow conical shape. (this lightens the turbine, reducing cost in 3d printing).
2. We can then use the revolve tool to make the conical structure.
3. Now, for the blades, I used an air foil as shown in the third picture.
4. I used the 'offset plane' tool to offset the base plane (here XY plane) to a height of 2cms above the absolute bottom of the turbine.
5. Then I clicked on the plane and chose created a sketch as shown.
6. then i extruded the sketch till it touches the base of the turbine with 'join option' selected.
7. Now we can use the 'pattern' tool to create a circular pattern of 33 blades at the base of the cone.
8. We shall create a sketch at the tip of one of the blades (flat side on top) and create a circular ring as shown. This ring helps in strengthening the turbine.

The design of the turbine is complete!!!

The Stator is the part that houses the magnets.

1. Simply create a circle of diameter 11.6cm and offset it by 0.8cm and make a rectangle at the end of the circle of the size of the magnet that you wish to put.
2. extrude only the circle part ignoring the rectangle to a height of 4.1 cm.
3. now select the sides of the indented rectangle on the circular stator.
4. after selecting, use the 'pattern' tool to make a circular pattern of 20.
5. extrude a hollow cylindrical structure that will hold the axial bearing (which will help in stabilizing the stator on the thrust bearing).

The design of the Stator is complete!!!

1. Create a circle of diameter 15cm and offset it by 1.2cm.
2. Further offset by 0.3cm.
3. extrude only the thin circle part and make a rectangle of 1cm breadth.
4. now select the flat part of the rectangle on the cylindrical surface and offset the edge of the rectangles by 0.2cm.
5. extrude till it makes a hole in the cylinder.
6. now select the sides of the indented rectangle on the circular stator.
7. after selecting, use the 'pattern' tool to make a circular pattern of 20.
8. extrude a cylindrical structure of diameter 1cm that will go in the axial bearing.
9. The case is a simple structure that covers the coils.

The design of the Coils Holder and Case is complete!!!

Unfortunately, I will not be able to build this design as i tried to build a similar design and it did not work (as shown above)... I blew up my pocket money as I got the alternate design 3d printed (I don't have a 3d printer and getting 3d printed in a shop is a little expensive where i live.) I shall try to build it later to show how it would look like for if it is done and also how it should function. Since my Fusion app is free for now, i have tried my best to render it 3d and show how it is assembled.

The mistake i made was that there was too little space for the coils and the magnets, also the turbine's cone was not tall enough and the blades too large to be efficient.

The .stl files are included for those who wish to get this printed.

We shall wind what is called the "Serpentine Coil". It is more efficient, cheaper and most importantly very easy to do so. Usually when we wind normal coils, we have to make numerous numbers of smaller coils that takes more time and material to make. Moreover, when the magnets move across the coils, the top and bottom part of the coils produce no current as it is not perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field. This makes serpentine coils more energy dense for smaller scale turbines as it removes one of the parallel facing parts of the coils.

For winding the coils:

1. Take a thread or a bendable wire and run it across up and down (Over and Under) each hollow protruding sections of the coils holder as shown in the image.
2. Once all the way around, add about 10%-5% of the total length and you have the length of the loop!
3. Now, find an object the size of the loop or which can fit the loop tightly and fit the loop over it.
4. For a people with tools, take a large plywood plank and a small bit of wood (about 5cm by 5cm by 5cm) and fix it to one end of the board.
5. Now, we place the wire/thread loop at that one piece of wood and take another piece of wood and stretch the wire until it is tight and fix the second piece of wood to the board. Now we have a place to wind the coils
6. For the coils, i used a 0.2mm enamelled copper wire and did about 200 turns across the loop.
7. once all the loops are done, tape the two-middle bunch of wires so it doesn't come undone after all the effort.
8. Tape it at various intervals or as per the number of turns you have to make on the 'coils holder' (here it will be 20 such tapes).
9. take the large loop of wires and shape it around the 'coils holder' as you did while taking the measurements.
10. Take the two ends of the coils and scrape off the enamel coating using sanding paper or a scissor (careful with scissors! either the thin coil or your finger might get a cut... we don't want any of that to happen!).

Your Generator is half complete!!!

While following these steps, please make sure that all the parts are well centred.

we shall assemble the parts by following these steps:

1. After all the parts are printed, set up all the required parts and tools for the build.
2. Then, Take the 'coils holder' and place it on a table and glue one of the flat side of the steel rings of the 'thrust bearing' to the indent at the middle of the 'coils holder'.
3. Carefully glue the 'inner' part of the 'axial bearing' to halfway down the cylindrical rod that sticks out of the 'coils holder'.
4. Keep the 'coils holder' aside, after this we glue all the magnets North South North South alternatingly to the stator.
5. Now take the 'stator' and the 'coils holder' and stick the other flat side of the metal ring of the 'thrust bearing' to the indent given on the base (flat side) of the 'stator'. once that is secured (and everything else is secured) put a bit of glue to the outer side of the axial bearing and slide the 'stator' onto the cylindrical shaft of the 'coils holder' and press it slightly down to confirm that the 'thrust bearing' is in full contact but not too compressed.
6. After that, we take the 'case' and glue it to the outer rim of the 'coils holder'.
7. Then we take the turbine and glue it to the top of the 'stator'.

The generator is Assembled!!!

1. First set the 'waters turbine' on a place that you won't mind getting wet on.
2. then take some long wires and connect them to the multimeter.
3. set the multimeter to DC voltage to check voltage.
4. put the multimeter to a place where you will not splish it with water.
5. pour some water from a bucket or a pipe and see it spin! take the multimeter readings.
6. for those who do not wish the multimeter to be near water or does not have to deal with the spilled water, spin the turbine with your hand and check the readings.

The Test is done!!!

Thats it for Now!!! Thanks for coming by!!!