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I am a Grade 7 student and I am doing a project on water/hydro-power and I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions.

Question:
How do you feel about hydro-power?

Answer:
I think hydro-power is very important for the future of our planet. Hydro-power is an amazing technology that uses gravity and water to turn a turbine generator and create electricity. It is much cleaner than using coal and other fossil fuels, so it is very good for the environment if it is used in a responsible way. It is important to consider the safety of fish and other wildlife when building hydro-power plants, but if done correctly, it can be a great source on electricity for homes, and help the environment and earth become more safe and clean for future generations.

Question:
How do you respond to people opposed to you?

Answer:
I understand that some people will oppose me, and that is OK. Everyone has the right to their own opinion. However, I think that as long as a hydro-power plant does not hurt the fish and other wildlife in the area, then the facts show that it is much cleaner than using coal or fossil fuels. One downside of hydro-power is that it is very expensive.

Question:
Why do you think this issue is important/non-important?

Answer:
I think it is important because the climate is changing and global temperatures are rising. It is important to use cleaner forms of energy and energy demands are rising on the earth because more people are being born each year. It is important that future generations have clean air and water just like many of us do today.
Thank you in advance for your answers,

The post Hydro Power Questions From a 7th Grader appeared first on TurbineGenerator.

So, hydroelectric power generation occurs when the mechanical energy of moving water is used to rotate a hydro-turbine generator, which generates electricity.  Setting aside the size and design of the turbine generator and the turbine blades, three things that greatly contribute to hydroelectric output are volume of water flow, head height, and gravity.

Head height is the distance that the water falls, measured by the distance from its static origin to the turbine generator.  Volume of water flow is a measurement of how much water passes a certain point (usually the hydro-turbine generator) per a unit of time.  Gravity is gravity, a mysterious force that accelerates objects together in proportion to their mass.

Water flow that is used in a hydro-turbine generator gains mechanical energy as gravity accelerates water towards the earth’s surface and through the generator.  Once the water passes through the generator it may continue to flow somewhere else or it may come to rest somewhere.

So what I’m proposing is this: Imagine a hydroelectric generator system that is in some sort of cosmic bubble in which an operator can change the local force of gravity inside the system at any given moment. The system is also designed with some sort of elevator system that can transport the water that has already passed through the turbine back up into the penstock of the system.

So, the operator turns the force of gravity up really high as the water flows down through the penstock and towards the system, electricity is created.  Then, the operator turns the gravity way down (perhaps just above zero so the water stays contained) and the elevator carries the water back into the penstock using very little energy because the force of gravity is so low that the water being carried weighs practically nothing.

Seems simple enough!  All we need to invent now is a gravity controlling “bubble” that uses less energy to change the force of gravity than the hydro-turbine generator can create?  So, maybe we can put a hydro-generator in one of those zero gravity airplanes that trains astronauts? Or maybe we can put a hydro turbine on a spaceship that can change speeds quickly and in any direction?

Perhaps a spaceship that is constantly spinning, forcing water inside it to constantly spin through a circular hydro-turbine?  Take a look at the diagram below:

Say that this rotating ship was in zero gravity outer space.  It is built with some sort of propulsion jet that will force the ship to rotate at high speeds.  Inside is a circular tube of water with a set of hydro-turbine generators.  Would the rotating force of the jets send the zero-gravity water in the other direction at the same speed and through the hydro-turbine generators?  Maybe it could be a fluid more dense than water for better results?  Would this work?

The post Zero Gravity Hydroelectricity appeared first on TurbineGenerator.

An underwater turbine is a device that generates electricity from moving water currents or ocean tides.  Strong water currents and ocean tides are a great source of kinetic energy.  An underwater turbine exploits the kinetic energy from water using turbine blades that rotate with an attached turbine generator that can generate electricity.

An underwater turbine closely resembles a wind turbine but instead of passing air molecules, the water is what spins the blade of the turbine.  Underwater turbines can be strategically located in areas with consistently strong currents which will provide ample water flow needed for electric generation.

The Advantages of Underwater Turbines

An important advantage of underwater turbines is that water is more dense than air, which means that an underwater turbine can reach the necessary rotating speeds for electrical generation from slowly moving water. A wind turbine needs much higher wind speeds to operate efficiently than the water current speed needed to operate an underwater turbine.

These turbines also require no land space, only underwater space for construction.  Another advantage is that they release no carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere while being operated.

Disadvantages of Underwater Turbines

Underwater turbines can disrupt natural underwater environments.  They can be hazardous to fish or other mammals that used the ocean current for migration, feeding, or breeding.  The construction of underwater turbines can release harmful pollutants into the water and the atmosphere.

There are also theories about how underwater turbines could potentially disrupt other ocean currents and the general water flow of different areas of the ocean.  There is little data to support the potential changes underwater turbines could support in the ocean, but these underwater energy exchanges could eventually have drastic effects in natural ocean environments.

Underwater Turbines in the East River

There will be 30 underwater turbines mounted in the East River in New York off the coast of Roosevelt Island.  The total electric capacity will be around 1 megawatt, which could be enough to power 1,000 homes with electricity.

The post Underwater Turbine appeared first on TurbineGenerator.

No, the Hoover Dam does not contain any buried human remains within the thick cement walls of the dam. Although, there were around 100 reported deaths during the construction of the Hoover Dam, no bodies are buried in the cement.

There was one reported death of a man who was crushed and killed under a falling wall of recently poured cement.  His body was quickly recovered, in a matter of hours, because leaving anything other than cement mix in the walls of the dam would greatly jeopardize the strength of the dam infrastructure and potentially cost millions of dollars in future structural damage.

Actually, cement was poured slowly and in very small portions while constructing the dam.  All a worker needed to do to escape death or injury was to simply step out of the newly poured cement.  The one reported death of the man being crushed by falling cement was a rare case of already poured and drying cement unexpectedly collapsing.

The original myths and legends of men being buried under the cement was supposedly conjured up by Hoover Dam construction workers to scare the public, and simply because it made a good story.

Were Hard Hats Invented During the Construction of the Hoover Dam?

No, hard hats were invented before the construction of the Hoover Dam had begun.  This myth is commonly mistaken for truth because the construction of the Hoover Dam was one of the first large, and public construction projects that required workers to wear hard hats.

Although it is hard to track the exact origin of the invention of the hard hat, Edward W. Bullard is commonly refereed to as creating the original hard hat in 1919.  Bullard’s original hard hat design was inspired by the helmets that he and other soldiers were required to wear during World War 1.

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