Windmill for your home

‘Wind` it’s a gift to us. Wind fuels the spirit. Nowadays its fuels the machines and gadgets as in the form of good renewable energy source. In Tamilnadu it’s a business in Rameswaram,Tirunelveli ,Thoothukudi districts.

However our requirements are more to go, but the cost of the total windmill system in mega size is not tolerable.

Even we have to pay electricity bill monthly, although we have cost less wind everywhere then why should we have to pay, Can’t we get it free?

Yes we can get it by make a small level windmills for a single house or very limited for compound lights … etc.,

Is it possible ???? Yes

About 20-30 volts of electricity is generated when there is a strong wind

—

Necessity, invention: Subramaniam and his windmill on the rooftop of his house in Tamil Nadu.

Good growth of a crop depends mainly on timely irrigation. For irrigation, electricity supply is required (though some use diesel pumps).

A group of farmers in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, who do not want to be identified say:

“Even though the government grants free power supply, timely supply and the procedures for obtaining the connection are complicated.

The local officials who should be giving the connection simply do not bother. Several attempts to even meet the higher officials proved futile.”

A farmer C.M. Subramanian says:

“Already we farmers experience the effects of regular load shedding and frequent power cuts, which make our daily lives miserable. I never thought that getting a power connection would be so tedious and the supply erratic.

An alternative

“Even though my house and fields are near the main highway, the electricity board officials made me run from pillar to post. After months of running around I realized they expect something more than the required documents.

“Determined not to pay a single paisa more than the required deposit.I decided to find some alternative. Since our region experiences a good wind flow I decided to erect a windmill on top of my house,” he says.

With some basic ideas and some imagination I scouted around for the required materials. I made the blades of the windmill from thick iron sheets, which I bought at a local hardware store.

Except for the used inverter, (which he bought at a second hand price), I personally fixed all other materials including the wiring,” he claims.

Electricity generation

By using the current generated by the windmill the farmer powers his two tube lights, a table fan and a mobile charger inside his house. A strong gust of wind generates 20-30 volts of electricity stored in three automobile batteries. The batteries are connected to an inverter, which supplies the current.

Financial constraints

“I am also planning to erect another windmill for irrigating my fields soon. Due to financial constraints I am unable to work on it now,” he says.

The farmer spent about Rs. 20,000 for erecting the windmill which he terms as “once in a lifetime investment.”

Unlike power connection, windmill power does not require bimonthly payments. There are no power cuts during summer or heavy showers too.

Initial expense

“Though initially farmers need to spend about Rs 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 for erection and laying the pipelines for irrigation, in the long run they will realise its benefits, as it does not require regular maintenance and does not breakdown due to frequent powercuts,” says Mr. N. Janardhanan agro social educator.

“Individual farmers can erect such windmills on their roof tops or a few of them form a group and erect bigger ones to meet their domestic and irrigation needs.

Save money

This will greatly bring down the electricity consumption and also save money for both the farmer and the government,” says Mr. Janardhanan.

But he is ready to help interested farmers or organisations in erecting similar windmills on their land.

For more information please contact Mr.G.Vijayakumar

(Mob: +91-9884154528, Ph: +91-44-30223983, e-mail: vijitron@gmail.com)

What is LPG?

What is LPG? LPG or LP Gas is the abbreviation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. This group of products includes saturated Hydrocarbons - Propane (C3H8) and Butane (C4H10), which can be stored/transported separately or as a mixture. They exist as gases at normal room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

Why is it called Liquefied Petroleum Gas? This is because these gases liquefy under moderate pressure. They liquefy at moderate pressures, readily vaporizing upon release of pressure. It is this property that permits transportation of and storage of LP Gas in concentrated liquid form.

Where does LPG come from? LPG comes from two sources. It can be obtained from the refining of crude oil. When produced this way it is generally in pressurized form. LPG is also extracted from natural gas or crude oil streams coming from underground reservoirs. 60% of LPG in the world today is produced this way whereas 40% of LPG is extracted from refining of crude oil.

What is commercial Propane & Butane? Ideally products referred to as "propane" and "butane" consist very largely of these saturated hydrocarbons; but during the process of extraction/production certain allowable unsaturated hydrocarbons like ethylene, propylene, butylenes etc. may be included in the mixture along with pure propane and butane. The presence of these in moderate amounts would not affect LPG in terms of combustion but may affect other properties slightly (such as corrosiveness or gum formation).

Advantages of LPG?

• Because of its relatively fewer components, it is easy to achieve the correct fuel to air mix ratio that allows the complete combustion of the product. This gives LPG its clean burning characteristics.
• Both Propane and Butane are easily liquefied and stored in pressure containers. These properties make the fuel highly portable, and hence, can be easily transported in cylinders or tanks to end-users.
• LPG is a good substitute for petrol in spark ignition engines. Its clean burning properties, in a properly tuned engine, give reduced exhaust emissions, extended lubricant and spark plug life.
• As a replacement for aerosol propellants and refrigerants, LPG provides alternatives to fluorocarbons, which are known to cause deterioration of the earth's ozone layer.

The clean burning properties and portability of LPG provide a substitute for traditional fuels such as wood, coal, and other organic matter. This provides a solution to de-forestation and the reduction of particulate matter in the atmosphere (haze), caused by burning the traditional fuels.

Petro Product - What is HSD?

High Speed Diesel

(Simply Called Diesel)

A diesel fuel is any fuel suitable for burning in diesel or compression ignition engines. Petroleum diesel fuels may be distillates or blends of distillates and residual fuels.

In a compression ignition engine, air alone is drawn into cylinder and compressed until it is very hot (about 500 deg C). At this stage, finely atomized fuel is injected at a very high pressure, which is ignited by the heat of compression and hence the term compression ignition (C.I.). A spark ignition engine on the other hand, relies upon a carburetor to supply into the cylinder a mixture of gasoline vapour and air, which after compression, is ignited by a spark.

The average compression ratio of a diesel engine is much higher (about 15:1) than that of a gasoline engine (about 8:1) and this is the reason for the higher thermal efficiency of the diesel engine (about 33% as compared to about 25% of the gasoline engine) which makes for economy in operation.

Two main grades of diesel fuel are marketed in India, High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Light diesel oil (LDO). The former is a 100% distillate fuel while the latter is a blend of distillate fuel with a small proportion of residual fuel.

HSD is normally used as a fuel for high speed diesel engines operating above 750 rpm i.e. buses, lorries, generating sets, locomotives, pumping sets etc. Gas turbine requiring distillate fuels normally make use of HSD as fuel. LDO is used for diesel engines, generally of the stationery type operating below 750 rpm

CETANE NUMBER

The most accurate method of assessing the ignition quality of a diesel fuel is by measuring its cetane number in a test engine, the higher the cetane number the higher the ignition quality. The cetane number of a fuel is defined as the percentage of cetane, arbitrarily given a cetane number of 100, in a blend with alphamethyl-naphthaline (cetane number -0 ), which is equivalent in ignition quality to that of the test fuel.

CARBON RESIDUE

Different fuels have different tendencies to crack and leave carbon deposits when heated under similar conditions. This property is normally measured by the Conradson or the Ramsbottom coke tests. In these tests, a sample of the fuel is heated without contact with air under specified conditions and the weight of carbon residue remaining after the test is expressed as a percentage of the weight of the sample.

Petrol Products - What is Motor Sprit

(Simply Called Petrol)

Motor gasoline is meant a mixture of the lighter fractions of petroleum composed of hydrocarbons having boiling points in the range approximately 30 ⁰C to 215 ⁰C. Straighfluidizet run stream from Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and cracked stream from d Catalytic Cracker Unit (FCCU) with the above boiling range are blended to obtain required quality Motor Gasoline. It may contain small quantities of chemical e.g. tetraethyl lead, etc. added to improve its performance.

Motor spirit, Petrol and Gasoline are different nomenclatures for the same product. Motor spirit is of British origin while Gasoline is of American origin.

SPECIFICATIONS

Motor gasoline are currently marketed meeting Bureau of Indian Standards Specification, IS : 2796-1971, for Motor Gasoline 87 and 93 Octane. Besides Motor Gasoline (MT 80) is marketed as defense applications.

The most important property of a gasoline is its Octane Number, (ON), which indicates whether the fuel will knock in an engine. Knock or "Pink" is the audible explosion (detonation) produced when a portion of the fuel charge in the cylinder ignites spontaneously ahead of the normal flame front. All things being equal, knock is a direct function of the fuel alone, some fuels being more prone to it than others. It is determined in the CFR (Co-operative Fuel Research) engine and is defined as the percentage of iso-octane, arbitrarily given an O.N. of 100, in a blen with normal heptane (O.N.=0) which matches the fuel under examination.

Motor gasoline is normally rated in the CFR engines under two sets of conditions which differ in severity. The Research or F.1 method gives a rating more applicable to operation under mild conditions, while the Motor or F.2 method may be a better criterion when operating at higher speeds and loads.

The higher the compression ration of an engine the higher is its thermal efficiency. The limiting compression ration that can be utilized is set by the anti-knock characteristics of the fuel; thus increasing of the octane number permits the use of higher compression rations and gives more power, higher efficiency and lower fuel consumption. However, no advantage is gained by increasing the octane number beyond that necessary to give knock free performance.

The CFR octane number is a rating on one particular type of engine under a given set of conditions and cannot by itself be used to predict the road octane number (RON) of the fuel under varying conditions of operations.

IS- 2796-1971 SPECIFICATION OF MS (INDIA)

No.	Characteristics	Test Method	87 Octane	93 Octane
1	Colour, Visual	-	Orange	Red
2	Copper Strip Corrosion for 3 hours at 50 0C	P-15	Not worse than No.1
3	Density at 15 0C g/ml	P-16	0.730	0.735
4	Distillation
	Initial boiling point 0C		50	45
	Recovery upto 75 0C,%v,min.		10	10
	Recovery upto 125 0C,%v,min.		50	50
	Recovery upto 180 0C,%v,min.		90	90
	Final boiling point 0C, Max		2	2
5	Octane Number (research Method)	P-27	87	93
6	Oxidation stability in Minutes, min.	P-28	360	360
7	Residue on evaporation, mg/100 ml, max.	P-29	4.0	4.0
8	Sulphur, % wt.max.	P-34	0.25	0.20
9	Lead content, g/lmax	P-38 or 82	0.56	0.80
10	Reid vapour pressure at 38 0C kgf/cm2, max	P-39	0.70	0.70

Photovoltaic Terms 2

Load - Electrical power being consumed at any given moment. The load that an electric generating system supplies varies greatly with time of day and to some extent season of year. Also, in an electrical circuit, the load is any device or appliance that is using power.

Parallel connected - A method of connection in which positive terminals are connected together and negative terminals are connected together. Current output increases and voltage remains the same. (See also series connected.)

Photovoltaic cell - The semiconductor device that converts light into dc electricity. The building block of photovoltaic modules.

Series connected - A method of connection in which the positive terminal of one device is connected to the negative terminal of another. The voltages add and the current is limited to the least of any device in the string. (See also parallel connected.)

Solar constant - The rate at which energy is received from the sun just outside the earth's atmosphere on a surface perpendicular to the sun's rays. Approximately equal to 1.36 kW/m2.

Thick cells - Conventional cells, such as crystalline silicon cells, which are typically from 4 to 17 mils thick. In contrast, thin-film cells are several microns thick.

Thin-film cells - Photovoltaic cells made from a number of layers of photo-sensitive materials. These layers are typically applied using a chemical vapor deposition process in the presence of an electric field.

Voltage regulator - A device that controls the operating voltage of a photovoltaic array.

Photovoltaic Terms 1

Cell efficiency - The ratio of the electrical energy produced by a photovoltaic cell (under full sun conditions or 1 kW/m2) to the energy from sunlight falling upon the cell.

Charge controller - A component that controls the flow of current to and from the battery subsystem to protect the batteries from overcharge and over discharge. The charge controller may also monitor system performance and provide system protection.

Diffuse radiation - Sunlight received indirectly as a result of scattering due to clouds, fog, haze, dust or other substances in the atmosphere.

Direct radiation - Light that has traveled in a straight path from the sun (also referred to as beam radiation). An object in the path of direct radiation casts a shadow on a clear day.

Flat-plate array - A photovoltaic array in which the incident solar radiation strikes a flat surface and no concentration of sunlight is involved.

Fresnel Lens - A concentrating lens, positioned above and concave to a PV material to concentrate light on the material.

Grid-connected - An energy producing system connected to the utility transmission grid. (Also called utility interactive.)

Hybrid system - A power system consisting of two or more power generating subsystems (e.g., the combination of a wind turbine and a photovoltaic system).

Insolation - The amount of sunlight reaching an area, usually expressed in watts per square meter per day.

How does solar energy work?

Solar Electric or Photovoltaic Systems convert some of the energy in sunlight directly into electricity. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made primarily of silicon, the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, and the same semiconductor material used for computers. When the silicon is combined with one or more other materials, it exhibits unique electrical properties in the presence of sunlight. Electrons are excited by the light and move through the silicon. This is known as the photovoltaic effect and results in direct current (DC) electricity. PV modules have no moving parts, are virtually maintenance-free, and have a working life of 20 - 30 years.

Solar energy is a major contributor to the overall growth of renewable energy resources, and global output is expecting to be 26GWH by 2025.

Energy Links

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/index.html
http://www.edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/n_renew/energy.htm
http://www.scienceonline.co.uk/energy/renewable-energy.html
http://www.itpi.co.in/Resources/Renewable_energy/Renewable_energy.htm

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy is the natural heat generated from within the earth. Undemeath the earth’s relatively thin crust, temperatures range from 1000 to 4000 C and in some areas, pressure exceeds 20,000 pounds per square inch (Psl).

Geothermal energy is most likely generated from radioactive thorium, pot assium and uranium dispersed evenly throughout the earth’s interior which produce heat as part of the decaying process. Volcances, hot springs, geysers and fumaroles are natural clues as to the presence of geothermal resources near the surface and perhaps where economic drilling operations can tap their heat and pressure. About 10 percent of the worlds land mass contains accessible geothermal resources and could provide several million quads of energy annually.

Geothermal energy is derived using the earth’s natural fluids to extract thermal energy that can be sent through turbines to generate electricity or be used directly e.g. direct heating and industrial process heat. Conventional oil and gas drilling methods are primarily used to extract ge0thermal resources using harder drill bills to combal corrosion and high temperature. As it is uneconomical to transport the thermal energy over long distances, the end use is often located near the source.

OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONSERVATION

OTEC utilizes the temperature different between warm (26 C) surface waters of low latitude tropical oceans and the cool deep waters (5-10 C) lying below a depth of a few hundred meters to run a turbine and a generator via a heat exchanger and a suitable medium (e.g. ammonia or low pressure steam).

OTEC is a method of using solar energy stored as a temperature difference in the oceans.The earth’s oceans absorb solar radiation the major part of which they store as thermal energy in the warm surface waters. On the other hand, cold water layers move slowly from polar regions towards the equator at depths of less than 100 m. Thus, a vertical temperature difference of up to 25 C exists throughout the year at many tropical locations According to the fundamental laws of thermodynamics, this temperature gradient can be exploited as an energy source.

The ocean thermal gradient does not vary significantly from day to night and hence can be regarded as a steady source of energy. It does have however, a seasonal variation which increases with the distance from the equator.The natural power potential of the thermal gradient energy is estimated to be as large as 10 W (10 TW). Obviously it is not technically feasible to extract all this energy.

A fair estimation would be approximately 10 W as against the world installed electrical generation capacity of the order of 10 W.In India activities in this area are coordinated by the OTEC Cell at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. A feasibility study of setting up a 5 to 8 MW pilot R & D OTEC plant off the main Anandman Islands is ready and a proposal for a feasibility study for installation of a 100 MW OTEC plant off Madras is under consideration.

Wave Energy

Waves result from the inferaction of the wind with the surface of the sea and represent a transfer of energy from the wind to the sea, The amount transferred depends on the wind speed, the distance over which it interacts with the water, and the length of time for which it blows. The largest concentraction of potential wave energy is located between the 40 and 60 latitudes in both the northern and southern hemispheres.Wave power systems convert the motion of the waves into usable mechanical energy which in lum can be used to generate electricity. These systems can be floating or fixed to the seabed offshore, or may be constructed at the edge on a suitable shoreline.

Wave energy is being extensively researched in several industrial countries, particularly Japan, Norway, U.K. and U.S.A.In India the research and development activity for exploring wave energy started at the Ocean Engineering Centre, Indian Institute of Technology. Madras in 1982 Primary estimates indicate that the annual wave energy potential along the Indian coast is between 5 MW to 15 MW per meter.

Hence theoretical potential for a coast line of nearly 6000 KW works out to 60000 MW approximately. However, the realistic and economical potential is likely to be considerably less.Various wave energy systems are now being studied. Theoretical and experimental work is in progress on the optimisation of various system components. An oscillating water column device has been designed and tested at the IIT, Madras, in laboratory conditions. An experimental energy power plant of 150 MW capacity is going to be installed at Vizhinjam beach near Trivandrum in Kerala.

Tidal Energy

Energy can be extracted from tides by creating a reservoir or basin behind a barrage and then passing tidal waters through turbines in the barrage to generate electricity. Tidal energy is extremely site specific requires mean tidal differences greater than 4 metres and also favourable topographical conditions, such as estuaries or certain types of bays in order to bring down costs of dams etc.

Since India is surrounded by sea on three sides, its potential to hamess tidal energy has been recognised by the Government of India. Potential sites for tidal power development have already been located. The most attractive locations are the Gulf of Cambay and the Culf of Kachchh on the west coast where the maximum tidal range is 11 m and 8 m with average tidal range of 6.77 m and 5.23 m respectively. The Ganges Delta in the Sunderbans in West Bengal also has good locations for small scale tidal power development.

The maximum tidal range in Sunderbans is approximately 5 m with an average tidal range of 2.97 m. The identified economic tidal power potential in India is of the order of 8000-9000 MW with about 7000 MW in the Gulf of Cambay about 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kachchh and less than 100 MW in Sundarbans.

The Kachchh Tidal Power Project with an installed capacity of about 900 MW is estimated to cost about Rs. 1460/- crore generating lectricity at about 90 paise per unit. The techno-economic feasibility report is now being examined.

Energy Sources

The change which is threatening the existence of life is another factor forcing to consider alternate energy sources. However the energy sources to be adopted will have to meet the varying needs of different countries and at the same time enhance the security of each one against the energy crisis or energy shortage that have taken place in the past. The factors that need consideration for the search for new energy sources should include:

(i) The global energy situation and demand

(ii) The availability of fossil sources

(iii) The efficiency of the energy sources

(iv) The availability of renewable sources

(v) The options for nuclear fission and fusion.

Available Energy Sources
1. Petroleum
2. Natural Gas
3. Coal
4. Nuclear Fission
5. Nuclear Fusion
6. Introduction to Batteries
7. Solid State Batteries
8. Fuel Cells
9. Super capacitors
10. Photo-voltaic cells
11. Photo-electrochemical Cells
12. Hydrogen Production
13. Hydrogen Storage
14. Biochemical Energy Conversion Processes

Energy

Non - Renewable energy:

As we passed our days in routine life, we are in need of more energy to run the life without a vast change in lifestyle. Because of we are in lack of energy for more years.
Also we damage our environment by consuming non-renewable sources of energy generated from fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil.

Renewable energy:

Hence, alternative sources of energy have become very important to today’s world. These sources, such as the SUN and WIND, can never be played out and therefore these are called renewable.
Their use can, too long lives reduce chemical, radioactive and thermal pollutions.

"In inflation everything gets more valuable except money"
Yes, current inflation led us to hike prices. Mainly the inflation rate was marked by the crude oil prices.
Current crude oil price is shown below.