Development of a hydrokinetic device for the generation of electricity suitable for low – speeds Hidropólio ®

Abstract

The difficulty of exploiting energy without damaging the environment is a highly discussed topic. The lack of energy (electricity) is actually an issue of nature preservation and it is also an obstacle. One solution to these problems is renewable energy, which affects the environment less. However, these energies are sometimes infeasible due to its high costs, by the potential energy generated that in most cases is not sufficient enough to enable them economically. However, there are some of them that have an acceptable power generation, as is in the case of hydrokinetic energy. There are many ways of taking advantage of this type of energy, some of them costly, some very complex and others still in development and/or unprecedented as is the case with "Hidropólio"®, presented in this article. This article describes the equipment and its operating principle and also presents the results obtained in laboratory tests at the National Center of References of SHPs – CERPCH (Centro Nacional de Referências em Pequenas Centrais Hidrelétricas- CERPCH) at the Federal University of Itajubá – UNIFEI, whose results proved quite promising, mainly for use in sections of shallow river and low speeds.