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Am working on a solar/steam generator to make electricity for my house. I need to design a "waterwheel" that the steam can spin and therefore turn my generator. I have never done anything like this but I can see it in my head all day. I also need to design a housing for the "wheel" that will hold the heat and pressure. Thanks for any info.
FRED ROSSE
Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:20 pm
What you want is a Steam Turbine, similar in some ways to a waterwheel, but a steam turbine is a highly evolved machine that has been developing for a time that is longer than the automobile engine.
Compare automobile engines of 100 years ago to the ones we have today, this will give you some idea of how machine technology evolves.
It would be highly unlikley that a well educated engineer could design a reasonable steam turbine without the experience of the 100+ years history of this machine.
A small steam turbine suitable for home size power generation would require a design effort of several thousand manhours if any meaningful efficiency were to be obtained. There are also real safety issues here, boilers and high pressure steam is not the realm for amatures in designing this equipment. I have been an engineer in the steam power industry for over 40 years, and the advice I offer is to stay away fron this technology, or get someone who has the proper credentials to develop such a machine.
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