The nearby town of Bellefonte, PA features the Gamble Mill, an old mill original
ID: 160109 • Letter: T
Question
The nearby town of Bellefonte, PA features the Gamble Mill, an old mill originally used to grind grain into flour - 1800s hydropower. The mill dam, pond, millrace and tail race are still in place and functional. The mill building is now a restaurant, but the all the water-works are owned by the borough. The municipal manager wants to put the system back to work as a small hydroelectric system to help supply the borough's electricity. Does this idea make sense? How much power could this system produce? The height difference between the mill race and the tailrace is ten feet (3 meters), and the stream can supply, on average, 100 cubic feet of water per second (2.8 m^3 / sec). The planned turbine would be 80% efficient under those conditions. Power (watts) = density of water * height * flow rate * acceleration of gravity * coefficient of efficiency
Don't round your answers.
How many watts?
At $0.07 per kWh, what is this energy worth per day?
The system will cost $60,000 to install. How many years will it take to pay off the system from the savings?
Explanation / Answer
a)
Power
P=Density of water *height*Flow rate *acceleratio due to gravity*Coefficent of efficency
P=1000*3*2.8*9.8*0.8
P=65856 Watts
since 1KW =1000 Watts
P=65856/1000 =65.856 KW
Total Energy Per day
E=65.856*24 =1580.5 KWH
Energy Cost per day
C =0.07*1580.5 =$110.64
b)
Number of Days to pay off the system is
N = 60000/110.64 =542.3 days
In years
N=542.3/365 =1.486 years
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