Posted on 12/25/2007 7:01:54 AM PST by BfloGuy
There have been several items in the Buffalo News lately concerning the harvest of additional electrical energy from the Niagara River without diverting more water from the falls. I will comment here only on a scheme previously proposed in this column to place numerous turbines all along the river bottom.
(Excerpt) Read more at buffalonews.com ...
Any Freeper engineers out there who, after reading the piece, agree with him or disagree?
Yes, he is right and it is obvious to all but the completely mechanically illiterate. I once saw published the idea of sinking a pipe to the bottom of the ocean. Since the pressure down there is very high, it should then be possible to use the pressure differential between the bottom and the surface to drive turbines. Putting turbines in a stream bed is .0001% less stupid.
Sounds logical to me, although I’m unclear why free-spinning propellors wouldn’t work to some extent. They can be used to produce power from moving air, why not from moving water?
Louise Slaughter is a weapons grade idiot.
Anything that this dolt has to say should be taken as a joke.
I live in her district too.
“although I’m unclear why free-spinning propellors wouldn’t work to some extent”
treetrunks, rope, wire, vines, rocks,- all sorts of stuff comes flying down the river to entangle stuff like that.
That makes sense. So it would work, just probably not for very long. :)
“So it would work, just probably not for very long. :)”
Yeah - the first big rain would wash all this junk down the river and clog it up - Hydro dams have a big settling pond so this stuff filters out but a plain riverbottom would get scoured.
If you ever boated at the mouth of a big river after a real heavy rain, you would see an icredible amount of junk - worst things are submerged, waterlogged tree trunks and telephone poles.
He's right.
My expertise (37 yrs, 38 in Jan) is in HVAC with air & ductwork (Ventilation Systems) but the Laws of Physics don't change. The principles for pipe, water and 'Head Pressure' for a Turbine is the same as for air, ductwork and 'static pressure' for fans (or Air Handling Unit).
This 'plan' is a boondoggle of the Nth degree.
Well, that would be me, and that's why I asked -- no offense taken, though. Meanwhile we have two proposals for "clean" coal powerplants in Western New York.
One doesn't make sense economically and the other is being held up by the enviros who've made it clear they won't tolerate a single molecule of CO2 being emitted into the air.
I suppose that once we've all switched to fluorescent bulbs, the whole problem will have been solved. Meanwhile Louise will spend a few millions of our money on a project that won't work.
This is the kind of stuff that used to come out of all-night sessions in college dorm rooms. Is that really the best our political class can do?
I’ll bet Nikola Tesla would have had some interesting ideas about this!
I once saw published the idea of sinking a pipe to the bottom of the ocean. Since the pressure down there is very high, it should then be possible to use the pressure differential between the bottom and the surface to drive turbines.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That must have been published by the brother of the financial writer who wrote about all the “new wealth” that had been created by the rapid rise in housing prices.
Upon re-reading, my response is rude, sorry.
Someone mentioned a comparison to a windmill, and it would work about the same if it weren’t for the trash in the water. Consider however that a windmill has to be 200 feet in diameter to produce meaningful power. I don’t think the river is that deep.
NO different than ethanol then.
“enviros... made it clear they won’t tolerate a single molecule of CO2 being emitted into the air.”
When the environmentalist wackos don’t exhale a single molecule of CO2, that’s the day I’m longing to see.
yes. Lots of rewards up front, no penalties downstream.
Blunt maybe, but not all that rude. As I say, I'm as mechanically illiterate as the Slaughter woman, I just have the sense to realize it. I'm also quite averse to spending our money on stuff the private sector (as pointed out above) would if there were a chance of its being profitable.
So few people know of Tesla’s impact on the world, and how much his inventions influence our daily lives! It’s kinda sad. I believe he is much more important than his great rival, Edison.
Louise Slaughter is one of the DUMBEST people on the hill!
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