wimpole wrote:I am used to guaging flow in gallons per hour over wiers. If each gallon of water weighs 8 pounds how can I calculate megawatts of electricity from the energy produced by X pounds of water falling Y feet over a wier - say?
Suggestions please
Well, I refuse to work in incoherent units, so lets talk metric.
The potential energy of the water is E = m*g*h.
If you introduce flow rate, the power of the falling water is (m/t)*g*h
Using flow in kg/s, g = 9.8 m/s², and height in meters, you get watts. Of course the generator won't be 100% efficient. High head generators at major dams may reach 85%. Low head hydro won't do that well; I'm guessing 70% or lower, but you might wish to research.
