Exploring alternative methods to store energy from solar arrays.

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evolvingape

Re: Exploring alternative methods to store energy from solar arrays. « Reply #25 on: 2017-11-19, 21:02:30 »

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There are four springs in the governed hhop hybrid. The snapvalve governor spring, the piston return spring, the hydraulic outlet cracking pressure spring (accumulator), and the water inlet valve return spring.

In order to reach snapvalve triggering pressure I sleeved a thin metal tube inside the piston bore which acted as a piston stop. When the desired volume of water had been pumped, and the piston had traveled the distance I required compressing the spring, it hit the piston stop and at this point gas pressure would continue to build until the snapvalve triggered and the system would then reset.

This snapvalve triggering overpressure is in essence "wasted work", so it only wants to be a small value above system operating pressure. If you choose to run with a piston spring compressed at 15 psi, and an accumulator inlet pressure of 15 psi, for example, then a snapvalve set at 35 psi would require 5 psi of "wasted work" to trigger the reset.

I used nylon spacers as a piston because batch to batch variance in diameter from nominal meant that buying a few every now and again would give me a nice range to find a tight fit inside the piston bore. I got them from nylon alloys in the uk and they came in packets of 100 so lots of spares, cost a couple of quid per packet!

http://www.nylonalloys.co.uk/en/catalog/nylon-plastics/nylon/spacers/n6000.66n.5

It appears they have changed the policy on small orders and now as a private individual specify a minimum order of £50 (must have got annoyed with me ordering a fivers worth every so often

) oh well at least you will have spares, maybe you can request them from different batches or ask them to check the diameter with a vernier caliper before you order ? Of course if you have a lathe you can turn your own pistons, or you can cast your own piston using a fast cast resin. Keep the annular gap between 0.001" to 0.002" to achieve decent gas compression without an oring (no leaks past the piston) and use three spacers to make an oring groove for perfect sealing. The central spacer is obviously smaller to account for the oring wall thickness. (aim for 10% - 15% compression of the oring on fit, but the compression adds resistance to be overcome by gas pressure!)

Araldite the threaded rod gap through the bore of the spacer to make a good seal up to the top and bottom securing nuts, and you can easily hold 35 psi of pressure.. and that's about it.. have fun!

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hhop hybrid automatic snapvalve governor.png

Exploring alternative methods to store energy from solar arrays.

hhop hybrid automatic snapvalve governor.png (26.46 kB, 1047x702 - viewed 367 times.)

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Everyman Standing Order 01: In the Face of Tyranny; Everybody Stands, Nobody Runs.
Everyman Standing Order 02: Everyman is Responsible for Energy and Security.
Everyman Standing Order 03: Everyman knows Timing is Critical in any Movement.

evolvingape	Re: Exploring alternative methods to store energy from solar arrays. « Reply #26 on: 2017-12-03, 10:10:02 »
Group: Professor Hero Member Posts: 2502 Everyman decries immorality	I have drawn you the hhop hybrid system showing the expansion chambers necessary to step down the pressure in order to feed your hho flame feed reservoir. If you can remember the video I showed you there was no piston, and no water pumped.. the hho was generated in zero space volume which was achieved by the hhop cell starting conditions of the fully bled condition. This means that only liquid was present with zero space for the gas to expand into. The hho gas was generated and because of it's less dense / more buoyant than water property accumulated at the top of the cell and pushed on the small area of the snapvalve piston. When triggering pressure was reached the gas rapidly vented to atmosphere (a resistance of 15 psi gas air pressure). In the new drawing the snapvalve internal volume (space above the piston around the spring) is used as an expansion chamber, as it is much larger in volume than the zero volume of the hhop hho cell a pressure gauge placed here would show a proportionally reduced hho gas pressure. The flashback arrestor between the two NRV's serves the dual purpose of allowing further expansion and lowering of gas pressure as well as preventing any combustion event triggering the gas in the snapvalve governor or the hhop cell. The final reservoir feeds your hho flame torches and only needs to be at around 1 atm of gas pressure (hho gas burner ring). In this configuration the heat generated is designed to run an off the shelf absorption refrigeration system. This part of the system arose from conversations I had with Graham a good while ago now, an invaluable contribution to the hhop hybrid system! Thankyou Grum https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hho+gas+burner+ring I have explained in the main hhop thread how to wire micro hhop hybrids into a series parallel system to match the electrical output from your solar panels. You just need to measure the natural Watt draw of each micro hhop hybrid and expand them out to create the electrical resistance you need. Multiple hhop hho cells (or any design of hho cell electrolyser at the correct resistance for the solar panel) mounted in a manifold can feed a single snapvalve governor and flashback arrestor. I prefer the full hhop hybrid design with the spring assisted piston as it allows you to pump water and either use that potential directly as a nutrient circulation pump for a fish / algae / food farm, or store that energy for later in a potential energy accumulator. (for use at night for example) The key point about hhop is that it allows you to do all this without electronic control and is automatically pressure regulated governed.. ------------------------ Exploring alternative methods to store energy from solar arrays. hhop hybrid pressure reduction expansion chambers.png (46 kB, 1047x725 - viewed 350 times.) --------------------------- Everyman Standing Order 01: In the Face of Tyranny; Everybody Stands, Nobody Runs. Everyman Standing Order 02: Everyman is Responsible for Energy and Security. Everyman Standing Order 03: Everyman knows Timing is Critical in any Movement.