Water Wheel Concepts:

How the water wheel electric generator works?

The flowing, dropping water is spinning a wheel . The wheel shaft its connected to a
simple coil generator that produces electricity.
* **The higher the drop and the larger the flow the more electricity your water wheel generator
will produce.
*** Usually, for a water wheel electric generator you need at least 3 feet of fall and at least 20 gallons
per minute of flow. The more fall and flow you have, the more potential power you can generate.

***Water wheels convert energy from falling water into a mechanical energy

1. Following Ohms Law:

As Ohms Law states that current is directly proportional to voltage and indirectly

proportional to resistance, I= . The water wheel itself just acts as the power
supply.
Parts of our circuit?
1. Battery source of constant potential (9V/12V)
2. Wires- we have wires connecte to our battery
+lead (red wire) outflow from high potential
-lead (Black wire) inflow to low potential
3. LED light emitting diode
-> emits light when current flows through it
-> current can only flow in one direction, from + to ( like a water wheel that wont go in
reverse)
->can be damaged by high current
4. Resistor
-> will keep our led from getting damaged by too much current.
resistor, like a wire
Regulates the flow of current
The higher the resistance the less current will flow
Current = voltage /resistance
How to calculate water wheel power?
The net head is the distance from the source of the falling water to the water wheel. This figure is
usually degraded twists and turns in the flow and friction rates. These degradations can be
referenced for an estimated net head measurement. This is usually measured in meters or feet.
The flow rate is the volume of water moving onto the water wheel per unit time. This is usually
measured in liters per second, cubic meters per second or cubic feet per second.
Multiply the net head distance in meters times the flow rate in liters per second times 9.81, which
is the acceleration due to gravity, measured in meters per second. This calculates the hydro power
in watts. As an example, If the net head was 20 meters with a flow rate of 25 liters per second,
then the hydro power would be 20 times 25 times 9.81, or 4,905 watts.
If you are using feet, then the formula changes slightly to factor in the conversion. In this case,
multiply the head in feet times the flow rate in cubic feet per second times the conversion factor
of 84.6 to calculate hydro power in watts.
Multiply the hydro power by the unit's efficiency rating, usually listed as a percentage in its
specifications. In the example, if you had an efficiency rating of 60 percent, then you would divide
that number by 100 to convert it to decimal format. Then multiply that number by the hydro power
of 4,905 watts to calculate the water wheel's power of 2,943 watts.
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Power output:
Power Output in kilowatts-hour is calculated by the formula: KW = 0.004 x Q x V x H x C where:
Q = Weight of water (volume per sec x capacity of the buckets)
V = Velocity of the stream per second (meters)
H = Head, or height difference of water between the lip of the flume (head race) and the tailrace
meters
C = Efficiency Constant usually around 50%
This is how you can actually calculate the energy your water wheel electric generator will produce.

Calculating electrical power

1. record the circuits voltage.
A circuits voltage is analogous to the force applied in a mechanical movement. The
voltage tells you how much electrical charge is being passed through a circuit. Just as moving a
heavy block of cement requires great mechanical power, moving a high voltage requires a large
electrical power output. Voltage is measured in units calls volts, abbreviated V

2. Record the circuits current.

The current of an electrical circuit is analogous to the velocity applied in a mechanical
movement. The current tells you how fast the charge is being passed through the circuit. Current
is measured in units called Amperes, abbreviated as Amps or just A.

3. Define electrical Power

Just as power can be defined in the mechanical sense as the amount of work exerted over
time, electrical power is also an amount of work exerted over time. However, with electrical power,
the work that is calculated is the work of moving electrons through an electrical circuit. A circuit
that moves more electrons or moves them more quickly will be defined as having greater power.[8]
The unit of electrical power is the Watt. It is calculated as follows:
Power = Current x Voltage
P = IE
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