By ZACK ZHAO, DAVID XU, TASIN MASHRIQI, ROSAN WANG, CRYSTAL ZHANG, JUSTIN CHOI, and THEO HAN
To combat the negative effects of climate change, the world has turned to harnessing renewable forms of energy such as hydropower. This water-powered energy source is the largest renewable energy source for electricity generation in the United States. According to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, in 2016 hydropower contributed to 6.5% of the electricity generated in the U.S. and 44% of total electricity generated from all renewable energy.
A fundamental aspect of hydropower with great potential for improvement is water turbine design. Flowing water is directed to the blades of a turbine runner, creating forces acting on the blades. In this way, kinetic energy is transferred from the water flow to the turbine.
The Fine Turbines, a group of Jericho High School science research students, has conducted an experiment using self-made turbines to elucidate the efficiency of using turbines powered by backwash of an initial turbine. They designed their own turbines based on traditional ones used in industrial settings and utilized a 3-D printer to make 2 turbines. They tested the turbines in an artificial water system consisting of a waterfall and a collecting pool, and proved the added efficiency of the dual system as compared to the performance of the single system. They posted the video on their Instagram and calculated RPM values for both systems.
The Fine Turbines team plans to continue to estimate and calculate electricity generated by self-designed turbines and promote the usage of turbines for electric generation. The group hopes that turbine-based hydropower is adopted in more places as an alternative or supplemental energy source thereby helping to slow down climate change.
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