Hales Tidal Turbine
The hales turbine is a means of combining the simple and proven designs of the past with modern materials and technology of today to produce renewable energy. Water powered grist mills were a common device in the middle east 2,000 years ago to grind corn, powered by slow moving water, rivers and streams. driving a horizontal wheel. Limited by lack of bearings and fixings, these early mills were inefficent and only in use for 1,500 years until surpassed by easier to maintain undershot and overshot horizontal water wheels, examples still seen today. The hales turbine is a modern form of that early horizontal design. In this modern design, (see sketches and schematics) the vertical shaft is metal, rotating and supported by race bearings, reducing friction and drag to almost zero, the water sections of the turbine are made from thin sheets of material, strong but mallable, easy to procure and cut to size. a few pegs and nuts and bolts and you have a turbine , far exceeding the output of those early days and with the potential to produce useful & renewable power of many kinds. Slow velocity water power is everywhere, in the streams and rivers near your home, in all the worlds oceans in the form of tidal streams and ocean currents. The density of water being over 800 times than that of air carries energy in its movement greater by that same proportion. Ocean currents and river flows are singular in direction and normally predictable in size and flow rate. the hales turbine in its simplest form with only the upper and lower discs on the vertical drive shaft and 4 or 5 power blades controlled by the fixed pegs will absorb power from water flows at the very low end of the speed scale. The principle is simple, any flat surface, in this case a power blade at right angles to the fluid flow which will try to force the blade back, and as this blade is hinged one end and limited in movement the other, the force is transmitted through the peg and hinge into the disc which is pivoted on its centre by the vertical drive shaft so it can only rotate. as the first blade moves around so the next blade starts to feel the effect of the water flow and begins to provide power/energy to the device and continues the rotation As the first blade reaches a point 180 degrees from the water flow it will start to feel the water pressure on its other side, this, combine with the clockwise rotation on the hinged end of the blade, will make the blade itself rotate through 180 degrees, ready again for a power stroke. this returning blade has half the device’s rotation to achieve the start position and produces only small amounts of drag in comparision to the high amounts of torque energy now rotating the vertical power shaft. Hales turbine in tidal(multi directional) conditions. This turbine will restart in the same rotation as soon as the tide starts to flow when the additional exciter blades are fitted, these blades , normally dormant and close fitting to the vertical drive shaft, act when the water flow reverses, they feelthe pressure and open to drive the turbine around more than 90 degree so the next power blade is active. For more information, contact: For further information or comments Paul Hales Hales Energy HPM Normans Bay, East Sussex BN24 6PU, England. E-mail: info@halesenergy.co.uk
Sector: Renewable Energy Technologies
Country: India
Area of Application: Tidal / Ocean Energy
Keywords: Wave energy, Hales Tidal Turbine
Advantages: Simple, highly efficient device
Environmental aspects: Energy efficiency
Development Status: Commercial Prototype
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Technical specifications:
Transfer Terms: Consultancy , Equipment Supply
Target Countries:
Estimated cost (US$):
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Contact Person: APCTT (UNESCAP)
Address: Asian and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) C-2, Qutab Instituational Area
City: New Delhi
Country: India
Zip/Pin Code: 110016