EXTENSIVE FLOW HYDROPOWER
The need for a novel hydropower generation technology
In modern history, a new source of energy is discovered every century, entirely transforming the human civilisation. Steam power fired the industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century. Nuclear energy provided for the growing request for energy at the second half of the 20th. A new energy crisis is developing at the beginning of the 21th century. The disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima increased public awareness of nuclear energy risks. Global climate changes, associated with greenhouse gases pollution, coupled with other environmental concerns, drive a frantic search for renewable energy sources.
Current renewable energy
Wind-power and solar energy provide only partial solution, as their availability depends on day-time or on meteorological conditions. Hydroelectric energy could fill the gap - if extracted efficiently out of flat-flowing rivers. However current run-of-river technologies, capped by the limit of Betz Law, cannot deliver sufficiently.
Betz Law of hydrokinetic energy extraction
Betz law - the benchmark of run-of-river hydropower generation - postulates an upper theoretical limit of hydrokinetic energy extraction at 16/27 (59.3%) of the total kinetic energy flowing through the runner of the turbine. Current runner designs reach some 80% of that upper limit.
XFH - Extensive Flow Hydropower generation technology
Based on a novel scientific concept, the novel, innovative, XFH hydropower generation technology generates extensive hydropower out of flat flows. Profusion of numerical-analysis simulations were performed for transforming the theoretical innovative concept into functioning technology. The power output achieved by that new technology transcends significantly the upper limit determined by Betz law.
XFH hydropower generation transcends Betz Law upper limit
The following examples demonstrate how XFH hydropower generation technlogy allows transcending the upper limit postulated by Betz Law:-
- The TREK turbine in the Saint-Laurence river is rated at 250 KW, whereas the Betz law upper limit there is 340 KW. XFH hydropower turbine, with similar dimensions to the TREK turbine, can generate there some 560 KW.
- The Cape Sharp turbine in the Bay of Fundy was rated at 2 MW, whereas the Betz law upper limit there is 7.5 MW. XFH hydropower turbine, with similar dimensions to the Cape Sharp turbine, can generate there more than 12 MW.
The novel patented Extensive-Flow-Hydropower generation technology revolutionizes run-of-river power generation. XFH opens new horizons for the world renewable energy industry.
- The TREK turbine in the Saint-Laurence river is rated at 250 KW, whereas the Betz law upper limit there is 340 KW. XFH hydropower turbine, with similar dimensions to the TREK turbine, can generate there some 560 KW.
- The Cape Sharp turbine in the Bay of Fundy was rated at 2 MW, whereas the Betz law upper limit there is 7.5 MW. XFH hydropower turbine, with similar dimensions to the Cape Sharp turbine, can generate there more than 12 MW.
The novel patented Extensive-Flow-Hydropower generation technology revolutionizes run-of-river power generation. XFH opens new horizons for the world renewable energy industry.
Hydroelectric power generation
Hydropower generation
Intensive hydropower generation requires currently sufficient 'head' - a vertical drop of the water level between the inlet and the outlet of the installation - for converting the potential energy of the flow into electrical power. Dams were built wherever was topographically possible.
Run-of-river power generation
As more then 70% of the continental surface of the earth is flat, the aggregated flow of flat-flowing rivers can provide abundance of green renewable energy at very economical costs. However, the output of current run-of-river hydrokinetic power generation technologies is limited by Betz Law.
XFH hydropower technology
A novel scientific break-through and an innovative technological concept inspired the development of a method and apparatus for generating efficiently run-of-river hydropower.
XFH hydropower generation
The XFH hydropower generation technology enables extensive power generation out of flat-flowing rivers, providing abundance of renewable energy 24/7, at markedly competitive costs.