SinkScience #01 -Tesla CD Turbine: Fun Science Learning Tool

[4grizlybear4]

arent you wasting a lot of water?



[RonRay]

Whoa! That is so neat!

With a field that strong surrounding the case, I can imagine that with properly spaced copper coils (and wiring), you could generate a lot of current!

I've never seen anything like this before! ... NEAT!

[MrfixitRick]

@RonRay

Thanks for recognizing the possibilities!

Now, imagine this idea running on fuel at high rpm, perhaps in a Tesla car as a range-extender /battery charger. ;)

A high-efficiency vortex external combustion chamber that runs on any fuel including wood would be ideal.

[BogMonkey53]

When the water goes in does it travel around the CD case in a circular motion before it exits out the spindle? Do the disks always rotate in the same direction? If you had the water going in the left side would the CD's rotate clockwise and if you had it go in the right side would they rotate counterclockwise?

[MrfixitRick]

@BogMonkey53

In all Tesla Turbines, the fluid (whether air or water or steam, etc) always travels in a spiral, rotating several times inside the case in smaller and smaller spirals, before exiting out the centre spindle or exhaust.

The discs rotate in the same direction as the inlet nozzle flow, just as you suggest. You can have two nozzles, one for each flow direction, and then reverse the turbine at will.

[thaiboxerty]

Thats pretty impresive. Have you any videos on tesla homemade water filteration/distillation devices

[MrfixitRick]

@thaiboxerty

Lots of other fun videos, but nothing (yet!) on filtration. I have some ideas, though...;)

[Weltar]

Good job! But i think you would use more water, than you will make eletricity (money talking)

[cfishfly]

its cool, but u should figure out how to use water hydrolics to use the same water to spin the turbine...no waste of energy :}

[MrfixitRick]

For a self-contained CD Turbine set-up using a recirculating pump in a bucket and solar energy to run it, see my video YouTube/watch?v=tIWPsckaiCw

[RomanStinespring]

that attachment on top could work as a tire

[SauronsEye]

I don't understand what you're trying to show here in this overly complicated set up.

I can achieve the same thing by turning a garden hose onto a free standing bicycle wheel.

[MrfixitRick]

Running a garden hose onto a bicycle rim demonstrates the same boundary-layer effect and adhesion of a fluid to a surface, that exists inside a Tesla Turbine. That is what makes it different than any other turbine in use in the world today.

I have simplified the Tesla disc turbine design by eliminating the shaft, bearings and seals, through using a magnetic coupling between turbine and accessories. I think that is a major engineering step forward and it's something I pursue.

[evoteck]

true, but you get no cool points.

[wickedmuso]

Since watching the first water test and then this one... have you gone back to the air design and looked at any potential loss of power through air gaps (like you had loss through the gaps with the original water test)?

[ELFHUNTER50]

does that scratch the CDs in the turbine?

[MrfixitRick]

Most of the CD's I use are already scratched! They are glued together with crazy glue and magnet spacers.

However, it's interesting to note that the real Tesla Turbine designs feature little or no wear on the discs from abrasion.

[Error2058]

can we replace the magnets with other stuff ?????

[MrfixitRick]

Yes, other materials can be used for the spacer magnets such as washers made from stainless or polycarbonate. They will have to be no more than 1/16 inch thick and 3/8 inch diameter.

The top drive magnets need to be used if you want to get useful work out of the turbine with a magnetic coupling, otherwise you must have a shaft, bearings, and seals.

[bestamerica]

why no closed captioned in here video

[MrfixitRick]

Good question...and in response, I will be adding closed caption to all my videos. I will start with this video later today.

Thanks for the reminder!

[bestamerica]

hi rick,

thank email me and hope to see this video with C / C in few days later

[MrfixitRick]

Closed Caption is now available for this video, and I will be working on my other videos as time permits. I will do SinkScience #02 next.

It was a bit of a learning curve, but thanks again for the idea.

[bestamerica]

hi rick,

BIG THANK for set it up closed captioned in here video,,,

BRAVO,,,

thank

[MrfixitRick]

Thank-you too.

 SinkScience # 02, 03 and 04 are now available as Closed Captioned. (more to come!)

[eyeAMtwinkEE]

What is closed caption?

[MrfixitRick]

Closed caption is a feature on Youtube that can be turned on by clicking on the arrow at the lower right corner of the video, then click on the CC symbol. It makes text show up on the screen so you can read what someone is saying, or what sounds are happening. It's mostly for deaf folks, but it's great for language translations, too.

It only works on videos that it is enabled on. I had to type in words and set it up.

[Wakeupworld2009]

Great experiment, im going to try and make one :)

Peace

[steveelson]

bud, excellent shit man... i have been trying to figure out a way of generating enough electricty to power a very small home but im not a elecky minded person. would it be possible using ur concept to place a series of coper wires around enough of them to do so? how would it look and how much power could be generated? finding or creating running water wouldnt be a problem... would a car generator in reverse work? and ud also need a converter of some kind... dude please try a aproject like this

[MrfixitRick]

Just wrapping wires around this unit won't generate much power. I did mate a car alternator to the Tesla CD Turbine ( see the end of my SinkScience #9 , YouTube/watch?v=fogl6cFiOhE) The alternator would only put out milliwatts of power on faucet water pressure of 35 psi. It would require about 100 psi or more to generate perhaps 100 watts. Managing that kind of pressure inside a CD cakebox is not easy!

Better to go with a ready-made hydro mini-turbine generator, which is available.

[Anwarboy786]

how can you create the generating electricity part???

[GRIDKEEPER]

Truly inspiring video.

[MrfixitRick]

At one point, I demonstrate manually spinning the magnetic coupler clockwise against the rotation of the turbine and say it is "rotating counter to, that is, against, the rotation of the CD Turbine." I think I kind of stopped myself before uttering counter-clockwise there, when I realized the trap I was getting into..hehe.

[Spoonimo]

Awsome! So cool! How did you get the water to go so fast? I built one, but it didn't run as fast as your's. I don't think I built up enough pressure.

[MrfixitRick]

Here are several hints to go faster: The nozzle speeds up the water; size and angle are critical.

The nozzle tip should be no more than about a 1/8 inch hole.

It should aim towards the outer edge of the CD Case, not towards the middle at all.(which is a little difficult to do, with hot-glue and all...;)

I use a water power nozzle, specifically a Holland Greenhouse Plastic Power Nozzle ($1.29 !!)

Any tapered nozzle will work.

The gap between discs should be 1/32 to 1/16 inch.

Questions?

[Spoonimo]

Thanks. My hole was over 1/2 of an inch so I am going to make it smaller.

[MrfixitRick]

Yup, that's it! I know because I made the exact same error on my very first turbine...could not understand why the thing wouldn't work!

Now I know that it is very important to increase the velocity of the incoming fluid as much as possible. This is done by using a smaller orifice, preferably with a taper to it.

For water, tip size between 1/16 and 1/8 inch seems good. For air, about half that size is best.

Good luck, dude!

Note: The energy of the fluid is related to the velocity squared.

[jbartlett87]

I wonder what the increase in your water bill would be compared to the kind of cost-savings you would get to your electric bill? Obviously a sustainable resource would be needed (flowing water, maybe wind).

[MrfixitRick]

That's right. The system does work as long as there is an end use for the water...I just borrow some of it's energy before it dumps into a sink or garden anyway.

It would not make sense to generate power from the faucet unless you had to...it would add up to less than one cent a day of power.

I'm working on a solar-powered air compressor and water pump (Tesla!) combo to make the CD Turbine portable and self-sufficient. I will demo a powerful blender soon that does this!

[shadowslayer81]

if you spin it in the direction fast enough witll it "stick" like it does before? sorry it's a little hard to say

[MrfixitRick]

I think I know what you mean...

If the magnetic coupler(on top of the turbine) is spun by hand fast enough in the same direction as the turbine is running, it will engage with the rotating magnetic field and spin with it. Othwerwise it floats above the rotating magnets of the turbine.

Is that it? Or are you referring to another effect?

[shadowslayer81]

yes sorry that I sounded badly

[MrfixitRick]

It's fine... It's hard to describe a visual process, and these are not ideas that are talked about all the time. I even had to make up names for some of the parts, like "magnetic coupler"!

[ChemicalMikeUK]

have you tried a wind powered version?

[MrfixitRick]

My air-powered version requires about 20 psi to get going, and 120 psi to make any kind of power. I think it would be difficult to achieve this with wind.

However, I have seen the Tesla disc design used as part of a wind generator lately.

[JohnPaul2006]

question: When the coupler pops down and spins, is it touching the black base as it spins? And if so, do you get heat build up from friction between the coupler and the base?

[MrfixitRick]

It touches the base, but at 1000 rpm max it has very little friction on the bottom. I've never noticed heat buid-up on the water-pressure based turbine. I did melt the centre top of the CD case in first testing of the gnarly skilsaw-bladed version of the CD Turbine on air pressure. It kinda over-revved on me, hehe!

[TWISTYTWAT]

that would make a good dring sterer mabay you could use vodka insted of water whith a bit of fruit then you will allways have a nice drink :3

[lostpinup]

i bet you have the best partys

[TWISTYTWAT]

why thank you ^^

[lesliejs]

also I'm wondering about safety when it comes to CDs...shouldn't inks on labels be a concern? Also I don't know what coatings CDs have on them...

[MrfixitRick]

I don't use CD discs with labels that might come off and clog the turbine. The CD's are coated with a lacquer to prevent scratches, etc. Some marker pens or glues can cause this protective layer to strip off and result in de-lamination. If the water out from the turbine was used for human consumption, there may be some minor concerns about cleanliness or safety. Stainless steel discs might be used in that case.

[lesliejs]

how practical might it be to use rainfall as a source of power as well? I'm thinking that a certain velocity would have to be built up before it can be used in the CD turbine setup. But still it could be done couldn't it? especially in rainy areas, or even taller buildings? Just wondering...

[MrfixitRick]

The rainfall on a tall building idea could work. Water psi pressure builds at the rate of about half a psi for every foot in elevation, so at about 5 psi per 10 feet. A large 10 story or more building could supply the pressure to run a small Tesla Turbine, or some small hydroelectric set-up. Interesting!

[maskfreak1]

now reverse that and thats antigravity aka an alternate fuel source than polluting gasoline

[MrfixitRick]

You know, it may be almost that easy...Although we have been conditioned to believe that "anti-gravity" is not possible, now I think it's time for mankind to suspend that mood of disbelief, and let the real magic begin.

[AdminOnDuty]

We should have one of these on every water tap generating electricity when we shower and flush and wash dishes and laundry etc.

Have you tested the pressure differentials? If you put a shower head on the exhaust, does it drop efficiency?

[MrfixitRick]

Yes, any restriction on the outlet will reduce the rpm's and power. For example, a 50 foot 5/8 inch garden hose will slow it down considerably, so as to not be able to run certain things. However, on the other hand, if one could make the hose have a good downhill run, it could provide a suction effect at the outlet and make the turbine more efficient.

[MrfixitRick]

Good point. On initial look it seems like good savings, but I think real savings could only be had in an industrial-type situation. The power from a household faucet is equivalent to a watt or two, maybe 10 watts max. A normal household uses about 360 gallons a day of water, probably 2 hours of open tap time, or 20 watt-hours max. Which is less than a penny a day.

[baghead17]

hot voice.

;)

[baghead17]

hot voice.

=)

[peeeepsi]

batteries? there these small power sources that save all this effort and mess.....you should try them sometime

[Quake120]

You sir or ma'am, are closed minded and of a non curious nature.

[xkwlx]

what could this be used for other than your "punch" bowl lol

[Zeriador]

Yeah BC. Canada.

This could come in use if the power goes out. :D

[MrfixitRick]

Yes, there is a possibility that it could actually generate power in an emergency. Not much from a tap...just a few watts. However, I'm going to tie into the creek nearby for 100 psi water pressure and improved performance!

[ArrowHate]

I'm really impressed with this. I never would have thought that a design like this would be this effective. I wonder - is it more efficient then a traditional turbine? Is there a lot of energy lost though the center?

God I'm a nerd...

[MrfixitRick]

Check wikipedia for Tesla Turbine...good info there re: efficiencies of bladed vs disc turbine. Tesla design can be up to 95% efficient in optimum conditions; design has been revived recently.

Energy is actually gained by the disc as the fluid goes thru to the center, where it exits in the center drilled post... This is due to the adhesion of the fluid on the disc as it moves in a spiral pattern from the edge to the center. It's taking advantage of the boundary layer effect.

[qbasicer]

Do you have any more details on you built this more elaborate version of the turbine? Perhaps a step my step video of how it was done would be good. This one seems a bit more advanced than the previous. I'm still waiting to see the coils added for A/C power. I'm wondering how many volts it will generate.

[MrfixitRick]

This CD Turbine is actually simpler to construct than other versions. See About This Video for a link to my latest instructable on how to build. This unit should develop between 1 and 50 watts of power, depending on several variables. I have only tried a shake flashlight with con rod to the turbine; could run several easily.