Week 3 Reflection-Isaac

Some questions that are still going around in my head
1] How are we going to make or gather the materials needed to substitute the materials used to make a actual life size boat?
2] Which turbine to use for our hydroelectric boat?

3 things i learned
1] I learned that there are water is channeled at high speeds through turbines which generate electrical energy when the water turns them.
2] I learned that reaction turbines are acted on by water, which changes pressure as it moves through the turbine and gives up its energy.
3] I learned that a water turbine is a rotary engine that takes the movement of water and convert it into other forms of energy mainly electricity.
Ideas that i agree with
I agree that hydroelectric energy is a renewable energy that could be used to replace fuels. I also agree that we should decide how fast the boat can go before deciding what turbines are suitable to use in the boat.

Week 3 Reflection--Jun Jie

In this week, we have discussed on the main focus of the project, which is to give the members a better understanding of hydroelectricity and its concept, like how to calculate it and the factors affecting it.

Some questions that are still going around in my head:

What materials are we gonna use to replace those that are used on an actual life size boat?

How are we going to substitute the turbine with a turbine that is smaller?

3 things that I learnt:

1) The formulae to calculate hydroelectricity is P = ρhrgk

2) The turbine that we have to installed is known as Hydraulic Turbine

3) Water turbines are divided into two groups; reaction turbines and impulse turbines.

Ideas I agree with:

In order to power the boat, we have to find the amount of energy required to run the boat first before we can find out the speed at which the boat should move in order to gather enough water which would turn the turbine.

New Research Details

Question: What materials are needed to make the turbine and engine of both the boat and the generator? What type of turbines and engines ? What are the concept behind the creation of the turbine and electric generator?

Hydraulic Turbine also know as water turbine. A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes the movement of water and convert it into other forms of energy mainly electricity. It is a clean and renewable source of energy.
Water wheels have been used for thousands of years for industrial power. Their main shortcoming is size, which limits the flow rate and head that can be harnessed. The transformation from water wheels to modern turbines took about a hundred years. Development occurred during the Industrial revolution, using scientific principles and methods. They also made extensive use of new materials and manufacturing methods developed at the time.
Flowing water is directed on to the blades of a turbine runner, creating a force on the blades. Since the runner is spinning, the force acts through a distance (force acting through a distance is the definition of work). In this way, energy is transferred from the water flow to the turbine.
Water turbines are divided into two groups; reaction turbines and impulse turbines.
The precise shape of water turbine blades is a function of the supply pressure of water, and the type of impeller selected.
Reaction turbines
Reaction turbines are acted on by water, which changes pressure as it moves through the turbine and gives up its energy.
They must be encased to contain the water pressure (or suction), or they must be fully submerged in the water flow. Newton's third law describes the transfer of energy for reaction turbines.
Most water turbines in use are reaction turbines and are used in low (<30m/98ft) and medium (30-300m/98-984ft)head applications. In reaction turbine pressure drop occurs in both fixed and moving blades.
Impulse turbines
Impulse turbines change the velocity of a water jet. The jet impinges on the turbine's curved blades which change the direction of the flow. The resulting change in momentum causes a force on the turbine blades. Since the turbine is spinning, the force acts through a distance (work) and the diverted water flow is left with diminished energy.
Prior to hitting the turbine blades, the water's pressure (potential energy) is converted to kinetic energy by a nozzle and focused on the turbine. No pressure change occurs at the turbine blades, and the turbine doesn't require a housing for operation.
Newton's second law describes the transfer of energy for impulse turbines.
Impulse turbines are most often used in very high (>300m/984ft) head applications .
Pumped storage
Some water turbines are designed for pumped storage hydroelectricity. They can reverse flow and operate as a pump to fill a high reservoir during off-peak electrical hours, and then revert to a turbine for power generation during peak electrical demand. This type of turbine is usually a Deriaz or Francis in design. Types of water turbines


Various types of water turbine runners. From left to right: Pelton Wheel, two types of Francis Turbine and Kaplan Turbine
Reaction turbines:
Francis
Kaplan, Propeller, Bulb, Tube, Straflo
Tyson, Gorlov (Free-flow types)
Water wheel
Archimedean screw turbine
Impulse turbines:
Pelton
Turgo
Michell-Banki (also known as the Crossflow or Ossberger turbine)

Design and application

Turbine selection is based mostly on the available water head, and less so on the available flow rate. In general, impulse turbines are used for high head sites, and reaction turbines are used for low head sites. Kaplan turbines with adjustable blade pitch are well-adapted to wide ranges of flow or head conditions, since their peak efficiency can be achieved over a wide range of flow conditions.
Small turbines (mostly under 10 MW) may have horizontal shafts, and even fairly large bulb-type turbines up to 100 MW or so may be horizontal. Very large Francis and Kaplan machines usually have vertical shafts because this makes best use of the available head, and makes installation of a generator more economical. Pelton wheels may be either vertical or horizontal shaft machines because the size of the machine is so much less than the available head. Some impulse turbines use multiple water jets per runner to increase specific speed and balance shaft thrust.Runaway speed
The runaway speed of a water turbine is its speed at full flow, and no shaft load. The turbine will be designed to survive the mechanical forces of this speed. The manufacturer will supply the runaway speed rating
Maintenance
Turbines are designed to run for decades with very little maintenance of the main elements; overhaul intervals are on the order of several years. Maintenance of the runners and parts exposed to water include removal, inspection, and repair of worn parts.
Normal wear and tear includes pitting from cavitation, fatigue cracking, and abrasion from suspended solids in the water. Steel elements are repaired by welding, usually with stainless steel rod. Damaged areas are cut or ground out, then welded back up to their original or an improved profile. Old turbine runners may have a significant amount of stainless steel added this way by the end of their lifetime. Elaborate welding procedures may be used to achieve the highest quality repairs.
Other elements requiring inspection and repair during overhauls include bearings, packing box and shaft sleeves, servomotors, cooling systems for the bearings and generator coils, seal rings, wicket gate linkage elements and all surfaces.

Week 2 Reflection- Isaac Phua

In this week, our group have decided on the topic to work on, it is the Theme of Champions of the Earth. All of us have been assign a job, which is to research on a question we thought of and discuss
it on the next IPW lesson. My question is what materials are needed to make the turbine and engine of both the boat and the generator.

What i already know about the topic?
I know that the earth is currently suffering from global warming which is carbon emissions released by burning fuel and other objects will create a hole in the atmosphere allowing sunlight to pass through directly causing the earth to heat up. Thus, causing the ice in the north and south poles to melt. Due to this phenomenon many animals will become extinct as they will lose their habitats.

What questions i want to ask about this topic?
What materials are needed to make the turbine and engine of both the boat and the generator? What type of turbines and engines ?

What are the subject/skills i can make of ?
I can use the skills of research and analysing to understand the topic i am researching. I can also use the skill of brainstorming and creativity.

Where can i go to find information for our project ?
I can find the information for our project in the internet or the library

What do i want to tell others about our project?
I am going to tell other about the type of turbine and engines and the materials needed to make them.

A few useful videos

I will like to share a few useful videos about the concepts of converting kinetic energy to electrical energy.

Here are the links for the videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt_lqFyc6Co&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htT_8sFJx1w

So basically the concepts behind these videos are kinetic energy can be converted to electrical energy using hydraulic dams, sea barrages etc. The water ( in this case ) is channeled at high speeds through massive turbines which generate electrical energy when the water turns them.

Grace week2 reflection-- Jun Rong

In this week, we had discuss on what our topic is which is building the hydro-electric power boat which is about saving the environment. Each members had been assigned on what are we going to do for this project after gathering all the important facts, we will build a hydro-electric boat and then create a video on how it works

Here are the topics

How is Hydroelectricity calculated?

How is Hydroelectricity converted to the electricity needed to power the boat?

How does the kinetic energy convert into electricity to jump start the boat?

What materials are used to make the turbines and engine of both the boat and the generator.

I will be doing

How does the kinetic energy convert into electricity to jump start the boat?


Grace worksheet

1.What is our topic?
Saving the environment through a few simple ways

2. What do I already know about the topic?
I know that one of the ways we are going to face this topic is to build a hydro-electric boat to show that we can help out in saving the environment

3. What are the questions I want to ask about this topic?

What are the structures of a boat which allows it to float?

How is Hydroelectricity calculated?

How is Hydroelectricity converted to the electricity needed to power the boat?

How does the kinetic energy convert into electricity to jump start the boat?

What materials are used to make the turbines and engine of both the boat and the generator.

4. What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?
Researching, brainstorming, be creative, innovative

5. Where can I go to find information for our project?
I can find out more about this topic by going to the library or reading more books about boats. I can also go to the internet or through youtube to find out more about this topic

6 What do I want to prepare to tell others about our project?
I am going to tell my team-members what I have researched on and some post some important videos about this topic so that on our final presentation, we can simply gather all the resources we need.

Week 2 Reflection-- YongHwa

This week, we split up our jobs and contribute to this project. My part is to find main structure of ships so that we can start on our project: to make a hydroelectric boat. This week's reflection is rather short.

(1) What is our topic?
Saving the Earth

(2) What do I already know about the topic?
It is about ways to save earth, using various methods

(3) What are the questions I want to ask about this topic?
What is our product? How are we going to make it?

(4) What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?
Analysing, Brainstorming

(5) Where can I go to find information for our project?
We can find them at the library, or by using our macbooks.

(6) What do I want to prepare to tell others about our project?
We have to get ready our product, and a presentation.

Week 2 Reflection--Jun Jie

In this week, we have decided to work on the Theme of Champions of the Earth (Saving the Environment). All of us has been assigned a question which we are suppose to research on and talk about it the next IPW lesson.

What I already know about this topic:

Under this topic, I already know that the earth is suffering from Global Warming, which causes the melting of ice caps, causing floods and arctic animals, such as polar bears, to lose their habitats and become endangered. Therefore, we have to find a way to reduce the effect of Global Warming. We have decided to invent a Hydroelectrical power boat, which uses both the concept of kinetic energy and hydroelectricity.

What Questions I want to ask about this topic:

What are the structures of a boat which allows it to float?

How is Hydroelectricity calculated?

How is Hydroelectricity converted to the electricity needed to power the boat?

How does the kinetic energy convert into electricity to jump start the boat?

What materials are used to make the turbines and engine of both the boat and the generator.

What are the subject/skills I can make use of:

I can use the skill of research to know more about the topic. I can also use innovation to think of replacement objects to replace the actual objects used to make an actual life-size boat.

Where can I go to find information for our project:

I can learn more about the subject at the NLB, or the MRL, or even the internet from websites such as wikipedia.org

What do I want to prepare to tell others about out project:

I am required to prepare to tell my team members about the concept of hydroelectricity and how it is being calculated, as well as the amount of electricity we need to power the boat.

Week 2 Researches

Worksheet 2

Week 1 Reflection-Yong Hwa

This week, we managed to get the name of our group: "The Eco-Champs". We named this group as our theme is about going green. Global warming is becoming more inportant in the present world. Many people know about the effects of global warming. Yet, they are not taking any actions. Me and my fellow teammates are going to do our part for the world. We will be making innovative products that will help save the environment.

The first item I am thinking of is: a type of eco-friendly type of material that can be used to make into a kind of bag, that can be brought to market for shopping. It will reduce the plastic bags used and it can be used over and over again.

Week 1 Reflection-Isaac

In this week we did managed to decide our group name, thought of some ideas and decided the group roles. We decided to think of ways to prevent or slow down global warming. I had decided 2 ideas for the project.
1] It is to create an object like the fan which is normally powered by electricity but instead i would like to try using solar energy collected using solar panels to power the fan. That would allow us to save a lot of electricity as solar energy is renewable while electric energy produce by fuel is expensive and non renewable causes harm to the environment by emitting carbon emissions.
2] An torch light that can be powered by shaking it. The kinetic energy through shaking the torch light can be used by turning it into electricity.

Week 1 Reflection--Jun Jie

In this week, we have not done much. All we have completed is deciding our group name, which we concluded should be "The Eco-Champs", and assign roles to each members. We have also decided that our theme shall be "Champions of the Earth". 

Currently, I know that the earth is suffering from Global Warming, which causes the melting of ice caps, causing floods and arctic animals, such as polar bears, to lose their habitats and become endangered. 

Therefore, I would like to find out ways to make our future a "Greener" one by finding out ways to reduce the amount of Carbon Dioxide emissions from vehicles. I will therefore research further on both Global Warming and How to prevent it from happening, besides conserving energy by using green energy like solar or hydroelectric energy.

Here are the ideas of our project (our group has decided that each one of us shall think of at least 2 ideas for the project, and we will then vote for the best one to be carried out)

1) An object to either absorb or dissolve the carbon dioxide emissions. (Something like an air freshener, but an air freshener only refreshes the air and does not remove these emissions.)

2) A "membrane" type of material that would prevent the carbon dioxide emissions from coming out of the car. (Like a filter paper, but instead this blocks the gas from escaping)

3) A hydro-electrical Power Boat

Week1 refelction--- Jun Rong

In this week, we manage to do most of the basic stuff like naming the group and the roles of each and every members. What we going to do for this grace project is basically about global warming and become the "champion of the earth"

Currently the earth is suffering for great pollution by man-kind which causes global warming, therefore I will like to prevent all this events to happen by doing out. I will be research on conserving energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels, as well as researching on how to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide in our environment without using slow methods like growing more trees which will take quite some time for it to be fully-grown

Here are the ideas of our project (our group has decided that each one of us shall think of at least 2 ideas for the project, and we will then vote for the best one to be carried out)

1) Create a solar panel window which abosrbes light energy and converts it to different form of energy, it is different from the solar panel because it only needs a minimum of light, as long as it is not in the night, it can be able to function

2) A fan-like machine that absorbs carbon dioxide and when input into the computer, it cools the computer from overheating using the carbon dioxide absorbed. (something like a fan-control which uses the energy converted from carbon dioxide to cool down your computer)

Worksheet 1

GRACE Lesson 1

In this week, we basically had a rough introduction of what we are going to for our IPW. As I was away to help out in the Secondary 1 camp, I had to rely on my teammates to convey some instructions and other informations