pelton wheel generator assm. 30kw

First post,
Just stumbled across a Platt Iron Works Pelton wheel turbine, attached to a General Electrics ATB generator.
Tag on generator,
240 volt
90 amp
3 phase
30kw.
Pelton turbine assembly looks to be unused, generator is complete and has been used. Both turn freely by hand. have no history other than it has been stored in a barn for decades.
Is there a market for these items? I have done a little searching and have not really found anything this heavy duty in the 30kw range and the few that were close are pricy buggers.
This unit has an 18 inch down to 12 adapter tube that bolts to the intake, at 18 inch penstock it will need a bit of water to run.
mark

Welcome, Mark!

What an amazing find! I love rooting through old barns.

Am I correct in assuming you want to sell it? I think somebody will definitely want it. But it's a three-phase unit, making it industrial as opposed to residential. And, the large size (and weight) makes shipping complicated.

It would be useful to test the genny before selling. You should be able to do some static tests with a multimeter to see if the windings are intact. An electrician could advise you, and maybe has a network of people who would be interested in buying it.

I almost wonder if offering the turbine and the genny separately may be a more viable way to sell it.

That's awesome! It's awful big, and a person would need a high head source of water. I think you should be able to wire single phase from it if desired. Just run one leg from the generator to any circuit for single phase. Three phase would be a godsend for me.

Agreed, the water requirements limits the pool of buyers. You could almost run a small mountain resort on 30kW.

I'm no expert, but I suspect the turbine by itself could be used in a lower flow situation and, with appropriate gearing, could run a small generating system or direct mechanical shop setup quite nicely.

The genny, by itself, may be of use for someone who wants to couple it to a diesel engine for a remote facility, or maybe a welding truck.

It's true that you can tap one phase. I'm not sure of the implications of that. Your efficiency would take a major hit. I'm not sure what the imbalanced load would do to the generator itself over time.

This unit came from a small mine, several houses and the bunk house as well as the mine operation. I would think this belongs in a run of the river hydro electric project to feed the grid as it is very industrial not home hobby.

I think you're right, Mark. The primary reason for 3-phase is that it's the most efficient way to run high-powered electric motors in industrial applications. Like a mining operation. Or, say, a ski lift?

I’m looking for a micro hydro turbine but not that big. It sounds really interesting however. Any pictures?
Ive looked in the powerhouse of a turbine about that size in Costa Rica. They built a big dump load out of rebar and it was glowing red from the surplus power.
If anyone has a extra small Pelton wheel, turbo wheel, or crossflow turbine please PM me.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I think you're right, Mark. The primary reason for 3-phase is that it's the most efficient way to run high-powered electric motors in industrial applications. Like a mining operation. Or, say, a ski lift?

When Tesla thought up the poly-phase motor, it was probably one of the greatest ideas of all time. It's not just good for high-power motors, but for any sized motor. The real beauty is that it requires no starting mechanism with brushes or capacitors to wear out. And...it's REVERSIBLE just by reversing coils one and three!

Yes, absolutely brilliant.

And reversible in theory; in practice and under load, the thrust bearings would be on the opposite end, which would lead to an unhappy ending (with shrapnel).

that sounds awesome, 30kw is a bunch of power, I'm sure if you wanted to part with it there is someone that would put it to use. it probably weighs a bunch, eBay, craigslist are just a couple ways to advertise.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Yes, absolutely brilliant.

And reversible in theory; in practice and under load, the thrust bearings would be on the opposite end, which would lead to an unhappy ending (with shrapnel).

I don't understand what you mean about thrust bearings (I've never seen thrust bearings on a three phase motor), but they are indeed reversible. It would not be good to try while in motion, but I would imagine it would trip a breaker before too much bad stuff happens. I have accidentally flipped the switch on a lathe from forward to reverse, but it had been converted to a single phase motor, so it just kept going. Probably a good thing it was single phase, now that I think about it.

Fair enough. I guess my understanding of 3-phase motors is in the range from 2500 to 5000 HP. Different beast entirely.

I have it listed on several sites, asking $12500.00. about 20% of what I have found comparable new for sale. I have had a bunch of interest, the price is negotiable. I did get a bit more information on it. it was operational when removed from its last installation, unfortunately the control panel got sold before buddy died.

Do you have any pictures of the turbine? Thanks

30kW of net power requires around 100ft of head and 3,000gpm (6.7cubic feet per second).
P= 1/10 x Flow x Head
300,000 = 3000gpm x 100ft

Building the dam sounds like another big outlay of money. I wonder how much that would cost.  (30kwx24hrs) 720KWH per day production can power 25-30 houses. Sounds like a wonderful setup