Million dollar idea.
Discussion
Do you have high water pressure?
Not you personally, your plumbing. Oh you know what I mean.
It occurs to me that water generally comes out of your mains type taps at a far higher rate than you really need. So, why not knick a bit of this free energy rather than just using it to spray the front of your trousers? If one were to install a small turbine type thing in the pipe, it could be connected to a dynamo that would generate a DC voltage that could be used to charge a battery, say car sized or a bit more that could be used to power low power stuff around the house, say emergency lighting, radios etc. or just to recharge batteries for general use. In the event of a power cut you could even stick an inverter on it and power nornmal 240V stuff round you house such as the freezer. Best of all, apart from the kit itself ,its all free energy, every time you turn on a tap or flush the bog you charge the battery up a bit.
Good Idea / bad idea what do you reckon?
I appreciate now that this is now a bit less of a million dollar idea as I have just given it away on t'internet so if you do make millions out of it please buy me a pint.
Not you personally, your plumbing. Oh you know what I mean.
It occurs to me that water generally comes out of your mains type taps at a far higher rate than you really need. So, why not knick a bit of this free energy rather than just using it to spray the front of your trousers? If one were to install a small turbine type thing in the pipe, it could be connected to a dynamo that would generate a DC voltage that could be used to charge a battery, say car sized or a bit more that could be used to power low power stuff around the house, say emergency lighting, radios etc. or just to recharge batteries for general use. In the event of a power cut you could even stick an inverter on it and power nornmal 240V stuff round you house such as the freezer. Best of all, apart from the kit itself ,its all free energy, every time you turn on a tap or flush the bog you charge the battery up a bit.
Good Idea / bad idea what do you reckon?
I appreciate now that this is now a bit less of a million dollar idea as I have just given it away on t'internet so if you do make millions out of it please buy me a pint.
lunarscope said:
Copper coils around your c k and a glove containing embedded magnets.
Viola, a fun, pollution-free way to generate electricity (just need a way to get rid of all the tissues, though).
Perfect for powering up those nipple clamps...
Back on topic though, could you get enough power from a turbine powered by the flow to heat the water? Free hot water for everyone...
srebbe64 said:
You may well have had a million dollar idea, but, take this the right way, you've got a one dollar business brain. You've just poted it on the internet and people like me will investigate such a concept to see if we can earn a million or two from it!
Although its been subject to what is known as publication now, so its not likely that anyone is going to make any money out it...
AlexH said:
You may well have had a million dollar idea, but, take this the right way, you've got a one dollar business brain. You've just poted it on the internet and people like me will investigate such a concept to see if we can earn a million or two from it!
Although its been subject to what is known as publication now, so its not likely that anyone is going to make any money out it...
The funny thing is rustybin's occupation is "Investment Management Consultancy" - physician heal thy self.
Bad physics I'm afraid. You'll only get energy out as a function of flow, and the flow rate is actually very small even on full blast.
I think the typical flow rate of mains water is around 15 litres/minute - which gives us 0.25 litres a second. Head is around 15 metres. The energy in watts is (there's a formula somewhere) 10 * 0.25 * 15 = 37.5 watts. Take out about 50% for turbine efficiency, and you'd get about 19 watts.
Therefore to run your kettle (3kW) for 3 minutes, you'd need to have your tap on full for (3Kw/19watts)*3 = 8 hours.
Edited - I can do back of envelope maths, but can't type or spell.
>> Edited by Tuna on Wednesday 20th July 16:46
I think the typical flow rate of mains water is around 15 litres/minute - which gives us 0.25 litres a second. Head is around 15 metres. The energy in watts is (there's a formula somewhere) 10 * 0.25 * 15 = 37.5 watts. Take out about 50% for turbine efficiency, and you'd get about 19 watts.
Therefore to run your kettle (3kW) for 3 minutes, you'd need to have your tap on full for (3Kw/19watts)*3 = 8 hours.
Edited - I can do back of envelope maths, but can't type or spell.
>> Edited by Tuna on Wednesday 20th July 16:46
Tuna said:
Bad physics I'm afraid. You'll only get energy out as a function of flow, and the flow rate is actually very small even on full blast.
I think the typical flow rate of mains water is around 15 litres/minute - which gives us 0.25 litres a second. Head is around 15 metres. The energy in watts is (there's a formula somewhere) 10 * 0.25 * 15 = 37.5 watts. Take out about 50% for turbine efficiency, and you'd get about 19 watts.
Therefore to run your kettle (3kW) for 3 minutes, you'd need to have your tap on full for (3Kw/19watts)*3 = 8 hours.
Edited - I can do back of envelope maths, but can't type or spell.
>> Edited by Tuna on Wednesday 20th July 16:46
The feedback from my colleague is pretty much what he said. Not enough energy to be of any real use!
srebbe64 said:
Seriously rusty. I've emailed your concept to a colleague who knows about such things. If he feels it's an idea with legs, I'll drop you an email.
Very decent of you.
I take your point about my $1 business mind but I take that view that it is not something I am likely to do anything about therefore I would have gained nothing by keeping schtum. If someone does something about it and feels indebted enough to throw something in my direction I am up on the deal. If not I am still even but I at least get to find out if it works.
nubbin said:
The only problem is that if you're on a water meter, the cost of running the water will exceed the money saved from charging a battery, I imagine.
The idea is not to turn the tap on when you need power just to exploit it when it is on anyway so you wouldn't have any higher bills.
rustybin said:
Seriously rusty. I've emailed your concept to a colleague who knows about such things. If he feels it's an idea with legs, I'll drop you an email.
Very decent of you.
I take your point about my $1 business mind but I take that view that it is not something I am likely to do anything about therefore I would have gained nothing by keeping schtum. If someone does something about it and feels indebted enough to throw something in my direction I am up on the deal. If not I am still even but I at least get to find out if it works.
Rusty - unfortunately though as I said before, letting everyone know an idea is called publication, which will most likely stop anyone getting a patent and therefore making any money out of it...and if people see this, they are unlikely to put any time and/or effort in to investigating if something can work. Next time best to email it to a likely candidate!
AlexH said:
Rusty - unfortunately though as I said before, letting everyone know an idea is called publication, which will most likely stop anyone getting a patent and therefore making any money out of it...and if people see this, they are unlikely to put any time and/or effort in to investigating if something can work. Next time best to email it to a likely candidate!
I concur with Alex. If anyone has an intriging idea, please feel free to email me and I'll sign all the appropriate NDA's and will investigate the concept. If there are any good ideas I'll sort out the patent and ensure the inventor receives a royalty.
srebbe64 said:
Rusty - unfortunately though as I said before, letting everyone know an idea is called publication, which will most likely stop anyone getting a patent and therefore making any money out of it...and if people see this, they are unlikely to put any time and/or effort in to investigating if something can work. Next time best to email it to a likely candidate!
I concur with Alex. If anyone has an intriging idea, please feel free to email me and I'll sign all the appropriate NDA's and will investigate the concept. If there are any good ideas I'll sort out the patent and ensure the inventor receives a royalty.
No! Email me instead!
AlexH said:
AlexH said:
Rusty - unfortunately though as I said before, letting everyone know an idea is called publication, which will most likely stop anyone getting a patent and therefore making any money out of it...and if people see this, they are unlikely to put any time and/or effort in to investigating if something can work. Next time best to email it to a likely candidate!
I concur with Alex. If anyone has an intriging idea, please feel free to email me and I'll sign all the appropriate NDA's and will investigate the concept. If there are any good ideas I'll sort out the patent and ensure the inventor receives a royalty.
No! Email me instead!
Bagsie me
srebbe64 said:
Bad physics I'm afraid. You'll only get energy out as a function of flow, and the flow rate is actually very small even on full blast.
I think the typical flow rate of mains water is around 15 litres/minute - which gives us 0.25 litres a second. Head is around 15 metres. The energy in watts is (there's a formula somewhere) 10 * 0.25 * 15 = 37.5 watts. Take out about 50% for turbine efficiency, and you'd get about 19 watts.
Therefore to run your kettle (3kW) for 3 minutes, you'd need to have your tap on full for (3Kw/19watts)*3 = 8 hours.
Edited - I can do back of envelope maths, but can't type or spell.
>> Edited by Tuna on Wednesday 20th July 16:46
The feedback from my colleague is pretty much what he said. Not enough energy to be of any real use!
The back of my envelope makes it three days to charge a car battery at a grand saving of 11p. So a fairly long pay-back period on the initial investment.
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