1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, jonvan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: tech are you? So Here in the Southeastern United States, 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: a hurricane called Helene has caused catastrophic damage with tragically 6 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: deadly consequences. We here in Atlanta, we were only grazed 7 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: by it. The storm passed largely to our east. But 8 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: even as Helene transformed from hurricane to tropical storm, it 9 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: caused lots of problems, particularly in eastern Tennessee and western 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: North Carolina. At one point there were reports that said 11 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: the Walters Dam, also known as the Waterville Dam, had failed. 12 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: While dam is on the Pigeon River at one end 13 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: of Waterville Lake, and it is a hydro electric dam. 14 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: So today I thought I would talk about how hydro 15 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: electric dams work while sending lots of love to the 16 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: folks in western North Carolina and up in Tennessee who 17 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: continue to endure dangerous and difficult circumstances. If any of 18 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: y'all are out that way, please please try and be 19 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: as safe and careful as possible. Fortunately, the reports of 20 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: the dam failing. It turned out to be false, but 21 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: it also meant that people were urged to evacuate, which 22 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: was probably a good thing considering the massive flooding conditions 23 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: that have persisted in those areas. So let's talk about 24 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: hydro electric dams. And there are quite a few things 25 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: we need to talk about before we even get to 26 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,279 Speaker 1: hydro electric dams. One of those our use of water 27 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: power in order to do work that's been going on 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: for more than a millennium. The Greeks invented a water 29 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: wheel for doing stuff like milling grain, and early reference 30 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: can actually be found in the works of Philo of Byzantium, 31 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: who lived between two eighty BCE and two twenty BCE. 32 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: It is probably wondering why the heck they were counting 33 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: backwards with their years, that's a joke. Similar engineering was 34 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: going on in China, so it wasn't just the Greeks 35 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: who had thought this up. Chinese engineers had come up 36 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: with similar approaches. So this was kind of spun not spontaneously, 37 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: that's giving the wrong word, but emerging in different parts 38 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: of the world around the same time period. And folks 39 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: had figured out that the flow of water was a 40 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: really good source of work power if you could harness 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: that water properly, and water wheels were the way to go. 42 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: This early work would evolve over time, with mills and 43 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: such becoming much more complex over the following centuries, but 44 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: that it's an important thing to start with, this idea 45 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: of harnessing the power of moving water. You typically would 46 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: have a wheel outfitted with blades. The water would make 47 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: contact with those blades, pushing the wheel to rotate, and 48 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: you would use that rotational energy to operate something like 49 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: the grindstone for a mill, so you could grind grain 50 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: down into flour, that kind of thing. That wasn't the 51 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: only application, but it was a common one. So that 52 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: sets the stage for part of our equation. Now let's 53 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: skip way ahead to the early to mid seventeen hundreds, 54 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: so more than a millennia has passed at this point 55 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: from the original water wheels. In the mid seventeen hundreds, 56 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: a French engineer named Bernard Forrest de Belldor wrote an 57 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: exhaustive treatment on hydraulics, and it was titled Architecture hydra Leik. 58 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: It was published in four volumes starting in seventeen thirty seven, 59 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: with the fourth one, publishing in seventeen fifty three. His 60 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: work would help inform countless other engineers who are working 61 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: on things like waterways and water works that sort of stuff. 62 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: Because Old Bernie he was primarily a military and civic engineer. 63 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: Much of his work focused on military operations, which obviously 64 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: require a lot of versatility and resilience. I mean, if 65 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: you're going to make stuff for the military, it has 66 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: to be able to withstand a lot of punishment. And 67 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: his work actually helped set the foundation for the Industrial Revolution. 68 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: It guided a lot of mechanical engineers in the eighteenth 69 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: and nineteenth centuries. Now we'll do another short hop to 70 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: the end of the eighteenth century. That's when Michael Faraday 71 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: was born. He was born in England on September twenty second, 72 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety one. This was about thirty years after Old 73 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: Bernie had shuffled off the mortal coil. Faraday grew up 74 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: to be a very very clever, smarty pants. Initially he 75 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: was a chemist and a darned good one, but he 76 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: also did pioneering work in the fields of magnetism and electricity, 77 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: sometimes literally as and he literally did work in magnetic 78 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: and electrical fields because I'm clever, and it was Faraday 79 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: who proved there was a relationship between magnetism and electricity. 80 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: If you were to move a permanent magnet near an 81 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: electrical conductor, then you would induce voltage. You would induce 82 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: an electric current to flow through that conductive material. The 83 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: magnetism was what was doing it, but it only happened 84 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: as a conductor moved through a magnetic field. If you 85 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: just put a permanent magnet, even a really strong permanent magnet, 86 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: next to a conductor, then once that initial fluctuation settled, 87 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: you would not have an electrical charge. It just wouldn't 88 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: be flowing. However, if you did keep the magnet moving 89 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: around the or you move to conductor around a magnet, voila, 90 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: you would start to detect an electrical charge. Thus, Faraday 91 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: learned that a fluctuating magnetic field can induce electricity to 92 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: flow through a conductive material. This allowed for the creation 93 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: of both electric motors, which use an electric charge and 94 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: magnetism to convert that into physical work, and the dynamo, 95 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: which does the inverse. You do physical work and you 96 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: use magnetism and you generate electricity through the process. Essentially 97 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: the way This works is you start with a permanent 98 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: magnet and you use this permanent magnet to essentially surround 99 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: a loop of wire in the magnetic field. The loop 100 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: of wire you would mount on an axle that you 101 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: could rotate, and the ends of the wire themselves they 102 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: would connect to what are called slip rings, one each, 103 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: So one end of the loop is on one slippering, 104 00:06:58,240 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: the other end of the loop is on another slipper, 105 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: both of which are around this axle that rotates. So 106 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: then imagine that you have connecting to the slooper rings 107 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: brushes that in turn connect to electrical wires. So the 108 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: brushes can conduct electricity as well. They just rest against 109 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: the slip ring. So those electrical wires then connect to 110 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: a circuit. Let's say that our circuit connects to a 111 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: light bulb. It's a really simple electrical circuit. So one 112 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,679 Speaker 1: end connects to the slipperings that in turn are connected 113 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: to either end of a loop inside this permanent magnet, 114 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: and the other ends connect to the electrodes on a 115 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: light bulb. So rotating this loop of wire inside the 116 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: permanent magnet means that the loop is going through the 117 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: magnet's magnetic field. And that is the same as having 118 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: a fluctuating magnetic field. So it induces an electrical charge 119 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: to flow in the loop, and electricity flows through the 120 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: slipp rings, through the brushes to the wires, and you 121 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: have yourself a simple electrical generator. So in this case, 122 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: the generator is connected to the light bulb and it 123 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: lights up as current is supplied to it. Now, this 124 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: particular arrangement would be an AC generator alternating current. Now 125 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: to understand why, let's think of those two wires that 126 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: we have connected to either ends of the loop through 127 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: these brushes and slipperings. Right, So one wire connected to 128 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: the light bulb to the slippering is wire A. The 129 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: other one we'll call wire B. So wire A effectively 130 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: is connected to one end of this loop, and wire 131 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,839 Speaker 1: B is connected to the other end of the loop. Now, 132 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: imagine we've got this loop of wire nestled between the 133 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,559 Speaker 1: north and south poles of a magnet, and we've frozen time. 134 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: At the moment, it is in rotation, but we've frozen time, 135 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: so everything's frozen, and right now the loop is horizontal 136 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: in reference to the magnets on either side, so it's 137 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: at a ninety degree angle to the magnetic fields. That's 138 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: when the magnetic field is strongest, at least it's most 139 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: strongly affecting the loop. The A side of our loop 140 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: is closest to the north pole of the magnet. The 141 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: B side of our loop is closest to the south pole, 142 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: and we rotate so that side A is moving upward 143 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: with reference to the magnet. Side B is moving downward 144 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: because it's rotating right now. When the loop is vertical 145 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: with reference to the permanent magnet, then we're at the 146 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,719 Speaker 1: weakest point with reference to the magnetic field. But the 147 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: rotation continues. Now side A is moving downward in reference 148 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: to the magnet and the south pole, and side B 149 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: is moving upward toward the north pole. The flow of 150 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: electricity then reverses direction. So every half rotation this happens 151 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: right so as as side A is moving up, electricity 152 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: flows in one direction. As side A starts to move down. 153 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: Once it's completed that half rotation, electricity moves in the 154 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: opposite direction. It is an alternating current, and this happens 155 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,439 Speaker 1: over an over again, So that is a type of 156 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: alternating current. We're going to take a quick break. When 157 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: we come back, I will talk about what you would 158 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: do if you wanted to create a generator that created 159 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: direct current. But first let's take this quick break. Okay, 160 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: So we talked about an alternating current generator, a dynamo 161 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: if you will, how do you create direct current where 162 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: the direction of current remains consistent it doesn't change. Well, 163 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: A lot of smaller electrical generators use this to create 164 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: direct current. It's great for powering lots of devices that 165 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: require direct current. It's not so great for transmitting power 166 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: across great distances. You really need alternating current for that 167 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: if you want to do it without a lot of 168 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: electricity loss along the way, But we'll talk about that 169 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: in a second. So you do this with a device 170 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: called a commutator. That's the important component in a direct 171 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: current generator, and essentially it's a special kind of segmented 172 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: collar that goes around this rotating axle, and the segments 173 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: are insulated from each other, so you can think of 174 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: there being a gap in this collar that separates one 175 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: side from the other. The commutator essentially reverses the reversal. 176 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: So the wires connect to the commutator via brushes, and 177 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: because of the break in the collar, it's almost like 178 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: the wires are switching which side of the loop they're 179 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: connected to. Remember before I was saying wire A and 180 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: wire B to say like wire A is always connected 181 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: to one side of our rotating loop and wire B 182 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: is connected to the other side. But with a commutator, 183 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,440 Speaker 1: technically the wires are switching which side of the loop 184 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: they're connected to with every half rotation. So because the 185 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:08,959 Speaker 1: wires are effectively swapping electrodes, the actual flow of electricity 186 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: remains in the same direction the whole time. I know 187 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: this is really tricky. It's tricky for me to explain. 188 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: It's tricky to understand without the use of visual aids. 189 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: I highly recommend that if you want to learn more 190 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,439 Speaker 1: about this, just go to YouTube and search how commutators 191 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:31,079 Speaker 1: work or how direct current generators work. That'll clear stuff 192 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: up because you'll be able to see an illustration and 193 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 1: understand what I'm talking about here. But it is a 194 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: very clever workaround, Like you're still technically generating alternating current 195 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: if you were just looking at the loop itself, but 196 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 1: because of this commutator, you end up with direct current 197 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: as your output. The important thing for our discussion is 198 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: that using a coil of conductive wire. Material moving through 199 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: a magnetic field induces electricity to flow. So if you 200 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: have access to a source of physical power so that 201 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: you can rotate this loop of wire, then you can 202 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: generate electricity without expending a lot of effort yourself. Now 203 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: you can have this connected to something like a crank 204 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: or whatever that you physically turn and generate electricity that way. 205 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: I actually have an emergency radio that works in this principle. 206 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: You can crank the radio and it will generate enough 207 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: electricity to power the radio. So if you are in 208 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: an emergency where there's no you know, access to power, 209 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: you can listen to radio signals and find out what's 210 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: going on. A lot of bicycle lamps work in this 211 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 1: way too. The lamps connect to the actual pedals, the 212 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: pedal system of the bike, and so as you pedal 213 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: the bike, you're also powering the dynamo that provides electricity 214 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: to the lamp so that you can light your way 215 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: if you're riding around in the dark. So if you 216 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: were to offload this physical work to something else, then 217 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: you can generate electricity without having to you know, exhaust 218 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: people in the process. This is how stuff like wind 219 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: power works. How hydro power works. Actually, it's how nuclear 220 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: power works. Nuclear power doesn't do it through water, it 221 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: does it through steam. I guess technically you could say 222 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: water because it's water vapor, but yeah, it generates high 223 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: pressure steam to turn turbines. But you know, hydro power 224 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: just uses flowing water to turn turbines. Wind power obviously 225 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: uses wind to turn turbines, but all of these ultimately 226 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: end up powering electrical generators. So with a hydro electric dam, 227 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: you've got your dam. Your dam blocks the passage of water, 228 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: and you've got essentially a lake that forms on one side, 229 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: and you do allow water to go through the dam, 230 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: otherwise it wouldn't generate electricity for you. But on the 231 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: other side you have your your continuing river. Right, So 232 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: inside the dam itself, you've got channels or pipes where 233 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: you allow water to pass through from an area of 234 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: higher elevation to lower elevation. And what you're doing is 235 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: you're allowing gravity and water to do a whole lot 236 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: of work on your behalf. Now, the difference between the 237 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: area of high elevation and the area of low elevation 238 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: is called the dam's head. The amount of head determines 239 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: sort of the pressure. How much pressure is going through 240 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: this system. So if there's a very small difference in elevation, 241 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: then the pressure is going to be much lower. If 242 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: there's a greater difference, if the water is coming from 243 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: very high and moving to very low elevation, then that 244 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: water's going to be moving at much greater pressure. And 245 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: at the base of this channel or pipe that's in 246 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: the dam, you have a turbine, and a turbine's essentially 247 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: a type of fan with blades that are designed to 248 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: turn when the whole mess of water is flowing through 249 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: the turbine. There are different designs of turbines. We're going 250 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: to talk about those in a moment. So the type 251 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: of turbine you use is typically determined by the kind 252 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: of dam you're building, and the things like how much 253 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: elevation change are you working with, how much pressure is 254 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: going through what sort of flow rate are you looking at, 255 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: like is it going to be a high flow rate 256 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,479 Speaker 1: or low flow rate? All of these things will determine 257 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,119 Speaker 1: which turbine would be best suited for that particular application. 258 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: Because not all turbines work perfectly under all conditions. Some 259 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: are ideal for very specific applications, and you want to 260 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: use the one that's best suited for the way you're working, 261 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: because that's going to be the most efficient means for 262 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: you to generate electricity. Now, you can then take the 263 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: alternating current created by one simple generator, and with the 264 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: use of transformers, you can boost the voltage that is 265 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: output for the purposes of transmitting electricity across long distances. 266 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: Higher voltages transmit through wires with less power loss over 267 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: length of transmission. So typically for transmission, you want to 268 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 1: boost the voltage up really high if you're going to 269 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: be transmitting that electricity across longer distances. We're talking about 270 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: alternating current here again, Like if it's direct current, you 271 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: typically want to keep your load that is, the thing 272 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: that's using the electricity fairly close to the area of 273 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: creating the electricity in the first place, the power plant 274 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: in other words, But with alternating current, you want to 275 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: up the voltage so that you can push this electricity 276 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: out to where it needs to be, and then you 277 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,239 Speaker 1: would have a secondary transformer on the other end that 278 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: would step down the voltage for the purposes of distributing 279 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: the electricity to power homes and businesses and that kind 280 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,120 Speaker 1: of thing. So you've got transformers on either end, on 281 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: one end to really boost the voltage, on the other 282 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,719 Speaker 1: end to bring the voltage back down. And transformers are 283 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: actually pretty simple. You could argue that they are not 284 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: more than meets the eye. You have essentially two coils 285 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: of wire or cable inside a transformer. Now you also 286 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: have an iron core inside the transformer. The easiest way 287 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: I would use to envision the iron core is think 288 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: about like almost like a picture frame, but it's made 289 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 1: out of iron. And so you've got a left side 290 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: and a right side of this right on the left 291 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: side you have looped a coil of conductive wire, and 292 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,959 Speaker 1: on the right side you have a different loop of 293 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: conductive wire. Let's say the left side is our primary 294 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: coil or our primary winding. This length is ultimately connected 295 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: to a source of electricity, so our generator. In other words, 296 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: so the incoming electricity goes to the primary winding of 297 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 1: our transformer. The other side, the other coil, it connects 298 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: to an outgoing path. This is our secondary winding. And 299 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 1: what happens with the voltage depends upon the difference between 300 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: the number of turns or coils per side of primary 301 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: versus secondary. So let's say we want to step up 302 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: the voltage. We've got electricity coming from our generator. We 303 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: want to step up the voltage so that we can 304 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: push electricity across miles and miles and miles of cable. 305 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 1: So to step it up, we have the electricity pass 306 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: through the primary winding wrapped around this iron core, and 307 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: the secondary winding. We have double the number of turns 308 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 1: that the primary winding has. So let's say the primary 309 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: winding has you know, twenty loops around the iron core. 310 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: The secondary winding has forty loops wrapped around the iron core. 311 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: And as alternating current electricity flows through the primary winding, 312 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: it generates a magnetic field. This magnetic field is also 313 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: guided by that shared iron core, and the magnetic field 314 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: is also fluctuating because we're talking about alternating current, right, 315 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: The current itself is changing directions many times a second, 316 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: which means the magnetic field essentially is doing little flippy 317 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: flops many times a second. And our secondary set of 318 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: turns or coils, remember it has twice as many as 319 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: the primary. It's within range of this fluctuating magnetic field 320 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: that's guided by the iron core, and that means we 321 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: have another case of induction. It is inducing electric charge 322 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: in the secondary windings, and because there are more turns 323 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: in this winding, it's stepping up the voltage. We get 324 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: more voltage coming out than we did going in because 325 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: of this relationship between the number of turns or coils 326 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: in the two windings. So we zap electricity across miles 327 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: and miles of cable. Because voltage is kind of like pressure, 328 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: so the higher the voltage, the stronger the push is. 329 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: Now the other end of those miles of cable, we 330 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: have another transformer, only this one has a secondary coil 331 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: or secondary winding that has fewer turns or loops than 332 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: our primary winding does. So, once again, the fluctuating magnetic 333 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: field generated by the primary coil induces an electric charge 334 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,120 Speaker 1: in the secondary coil. But because there are fewer loops 335 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: in this secondary coil, we have a step down in voltage. 336 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: Now that's the bare basics of electrical transformers. There is 337 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: more to it than that. That gets more complicated. So 338 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: I guess you could argue that, yes, there is more 339 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: than meets the eye, but it's good enough for our 340 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: purposes of this episode. All Right, Now we're going to 341 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: take another quick break. When we come back, I'm going 342 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: to talk about the evolution of turbines and which turbine 343 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: is best used for a power generation scenario, and then 344 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: we'll conclude with a little more talk about hydroelectric power 345 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: and where that really got started. But first let's take 346 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: another quick break. Okay, we're going back to turbines. So 347 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: there is a long history of engineering for these things 348 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: as well. A nineteenth century French engineer named ben wa 349 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: fournee a Ron, whose name I have totally butchered, developed 350 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: a turbine that was based on a water wheel design 351 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,640 Speaker 1: created by his former instructor Claude Burden. As the Encyclopedia 352 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: Britannica puts it, in eighteen twenty seven, ben Wah built 353 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: quote a small six horsepower unit in which water was 354 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: directed outward from a central source onto blades or veins 355 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: set at angles in a rotor end. Quote. He called 356 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: it a turbine, and we would continue you tweaking his 357 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: design to create more efficient powerful water wheels. Now, initially 358 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: these were not used as hydroelectric power generators. They were 359 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: instead used to do physical work for industrial purposes such 360 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: as milling grain. However, much later at the end of 361 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, his designs would be used in some 362 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: hydroelectric dams, namely the American side of Niagara Falls in 363 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,360 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five. In eighteen forty nine, however, an American 364 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: engineer named James Francis created a turbine designed that would 365 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: later be known as the Francis turbine. These turbines work 366 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: well if they're either in horizontal or vertical alignment, so 367 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: they're pretty versatile. They're also good for medium to large 368 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: scale hydroelectric operations, and it's what I would call a 369 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: semi reaction turbine. So there are different types of turbines. 370 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: Some are called impulse turbines. Impulse turbines work from water 371 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: forcing the turbine to turn. It's the force of impact 372 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: of water against turbine that causes rotation. Those are impulse turbines. 373 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: Reaction turbines depend on something else like water pressure, where 374 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 1: the design of the fan blades in the turbine means 375 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,400 Speaker 1: that you have an area of low pressure on one 376 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: side of the blades and high pressure on the other, 377 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: and that difference in pressure causes the turbine to rotate. 378 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: The Francis turbine is kind of a combo between the two. 379 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: So it's turned partly through the force of water hitting 380 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: the blades and partly through this pressure differential. So it's 381 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: a semi reaction turbine, is how. Some people call it 382 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: a reaction turbine. Some say, well, it's not a true 383 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: reaction turbine. So that's kind of where I get wishy 384 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: washing called semi reaction turbine. But yeah, that area of 385 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: low pressure on one side and high pressure on the 386 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: other is part of the reason this turbine turns. Also, 387 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: incoming water is direc acted inward toward the center of 388 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: the turbine, so the water enters radially. So water is 389 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: entering from around the turbine, around the circumference of the turbine, 390 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: if you will, but it flows out axially, meaning the 391 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: water is ejected in parallel to the axis of the 392 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,959 Speaker 1: turbine's rotation. And these turbines make up more than half 393 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: of the kinds used in hydroelectric dams today. They're kind 394 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 1: of like the Goldilocks of turbines. They're good for dams 395 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: that are in the middle spot, the sweet spot. Lester 396 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: Allen Pelton created his own turbine in the eighteen seventies, 397 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: so this is after Francis has created the Francis turbine. 398 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: This one we call the Pelton wheel and it kind 399 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 1: of makes me think of like a ferris wheel or 400 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: a vertical water wheel. It works best for hydroelectric facilities 401 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: that have a high head, so a high difference in 402 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: elevation between where the water is retained and where the 403 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: water is allowed to go. So you want high head 404 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: but low flow rate. And so you want a large 405 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: difference in that elevation but a low flow rate. That's 406 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: where the Pelton wheel has a sweet spot. It is 407 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: a pure impulse turbine, so again this is the type 408 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: that turns because the force of water pushes against it 409 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: and that causes rotation. That's another type that's used in 410 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,120 Speaker 1: some hydroelectric facilities. Then in the early nineteen hundreds there 411 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: was an Austrian engineer named Victor Kaplan who developed the 412 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: Kaplan turbine. This is another This one's our reaction turbine. 413 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: So again this one's good for actually high flow rate 414 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: but low head, so low difference in elevation between the 415 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: retaining water and the flowing water, right, and but high 416 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: rate of flow, so that's good for those operations. The 417 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: Pelton wheel is good for low flow, high head, high 418 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: changes in elevation, and the Francis turbine is the sweet 419 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: spot between the two. Now again, originally these turbines were 420 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: used to do a lot of other stuff rather than 421 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 1: just generate electricity. They were used to conduct like physical work. 422 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: The first hydroelectric application I can find was in eighteen 423 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: seventy eight. So again, some of these turbines had been 424 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: invented and put into use for decades by the time 425 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: we get to eighteen seventy eight, so they were not 426 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: being used to generate electricity. They were being used to 427 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: mill grain or operate heavy hammers, that kind of stuff. 428 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy eight you had a case where someone 429 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: actually used water and a water wheel to generate electricity 430 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: to power a lamp. It was kind of like a 431 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: proof of concept. This was in Rothbury, Northumberland, an a 432 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: massive Victorian house. They call it a house. I think 433 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: of it as like a mansion. I look at pictures 434 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: of this place and it's just it's so huge. It 435 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: even as a name. It's Cragside is the name, because 436 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: the English they love to name their houses. So yeah, 437 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: this one was called Cragside still is called Cragside, and 438 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: this one was owned by a hoity toity, Not no 439 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,919 Speaker 1: big surprise, because again it's an enormous house. So in 440 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy eight there was this feller named William Armstrong. 441 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 1: Not just a feller, he was Baron. Baron Armstrong. He 442 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: figured he would make use of hydraulic power to provide 443 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: the kinetic energy necessary to operate an electrical generator, and 444 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: this generator in turn would provide an electrical current to 445 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: a lamp inside Cragside itself, And so Cragside had a 446 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: lamp that depended upon hydropower. Armstrong apparently later used hydro 447 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,479 Speaker 1: power to provide electricity for some other stuff, including an 448 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: electrical rotisseriy. So he was a man after my own heart, 449 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: or at least stomach. In eighteen eighty two, in Wisconsin, 450 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: here in the good old us of A, the Fox 451 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: River became the site of the Vulcan Street Plant. This 452 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: was a small hydro electric facility that used a water 453 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,719 Speaker 1: wheel to harness the power of the Fox River and 454 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: create electricity for a couple of paper mills as well 455 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: as a nearby home. Who's home, Well that would be HJ. Rogers. 456 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: So who was HJ. Rogers? Well, if you guess that 457 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: it was the dude who ran the paper mills, you 458 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: would be right. So the water wheel worked and after 459 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: some tweaking, it worked well. Originally it didn't work at all. 460 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: It didn't manage to light the lamps, but they did 461 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: fix that problem. However, even when it was working well, 462 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: it didn't provide steady, reliable electricity because the flow of 463 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: the river wasn't constant or consistent. So the voltage varied 464 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: with the amount of flow going through the river, and 465 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't always safe to use that electricity. Sometimes, if 466 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: the river was pushing pretty hard, you could end up 467 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: with short circuits, which can be pretty risky. But the floodgates, 468 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: so to speak, were open at that point, and soon 469 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: hydro power plants began to take shape along various rivers. 470 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: Lots of lake began to take shape too, because engineers 471 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: were building dams for the purposes of harnessing this hydro 472 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: electric power. So, for example, here in my home state 473 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: of Georgia, there are no natural lakes in the state. 474 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: Every single lake in Georgia was man made, created by 475 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: damming up rivers for the purposes of generating hydro power. 476 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: I grew up not far from Lake Lanier, which is 477 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: a fairly famous one, largely because a lot of communities 478 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: were destroyed through the creation of that lake. Like there 479 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: are urban legends to this day of ghost towns beneath 480 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: the waters of Lake Lanier, where the only inhabitants are 481 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: the spirits of the dead and enormous catfish, Like there's 482 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: always stories about almost supernaturally large catfish in Lake Lanier. Anyway, 483 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: Lake Laneer exists because the beaver dam and we needed 484 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 1: to create a way to generate electricity. But that's the 485 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: case with every lake in the state of Georgia. Now, globally, 486 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: hydropower makes up about half of all electricity that's generated 487 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: from renewable sources. That's different than saying it's half of 488 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: all electricity. It's not. It's just if we take renewable 489 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: sources as its own pie, the slice that belongs to 490 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: hydropower is about half of that pie. Here in the 491 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: United States a little less than that, it's more like 492 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: forty percent. If we look at overall electricity production, then 493 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: it shrinks down to seven percent for the United states, 494 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: because now we're looking at not just renewable sources, we're 495 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,719 Speaker 1: looking at things like you know, natural gas and that 496 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,920 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. Interestingly, one way that we use hydropower 497 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,960 Speaker 1: today is to supplement other types of renewable energy by 498 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: creating a kind of water battery. So here's how it works. 499 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: You have a pair of reservoirs. You have one reservoir 500 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: that's at a higher elevation than the other, and you 501 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: keep water in the upper reservoir until you need it. 502 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: So that's your power storage, that's your battery bank. When 503 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: the grid needs more electricity than what you can provide 504 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: through other sources, like let's say it's wind power. Let's 505 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: say you've got a wind farm, but there's just very 506 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: little wind blowing, and meanwhile the electrical grid requires more 507 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: electricity than the wind farm can provide. Well, then you 508 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: can open up the gates in that upper reservoir so 509 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: that water flows through a channel or a pipe at 510 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 1: the base of which you have a turbine. This ends 511 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: up turning the turbine generating electricity. Use that electricity to 512 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 1: supplement what the wind farm is supplying and meet the 513 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 1: needs of the power grid. But let's say you're in 514 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: a row of windy days and the wind farm is 515 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: generating more electricity than what the grid actually needs. Well, 516 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:57,959 Speaker 1: then you would use the excess electricity to pump the 517 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: water in the lower reservoir back into the upper reservoir. Right, 518 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: you have to expend energy to get the water back 519 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,959 Speaker 1: into the upper one. You're recharging the battery in other words, 520 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,720 Speaker 1: so the water goes back up to the upper reservoir 521 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: where it sits until it's needed the next time. So 522 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: when you are switching to renewable sources of energy, because 523 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: so many of them are dependent upon factors that are 524 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 1: not always present, Like you know, solar power requires sunlight, 525 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: when power requires wind, and there's a real worry that 526 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 1: what happens if you go without wind for a while 527 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: or it's a really overcast time of year. That's when 528 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: you would make use of things like this, where you 529 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: have power stored in the form of water sitting in 530 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: a reservoir that can then be released into a lower reservoir, 531 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: turning a turbine in the process generating electricity very clever 532 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: as long as you know conditions allow for the return 533 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,080 Speaker 1: of a normal set where you're back to depending on 534 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: wind or solar or accommodation of the two, or even 535 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: something else. And meanwhile, you can pump the water back 536 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,799 Speaker 1: up into the upper reservoir for the next time you 537 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: need it. So there you go. That's a quick rundown 538 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 1: on hydro electricity how that works. If you ever get 539 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,880 Speaker 1: a chance to tour a hydro electric facility, I recommend 540 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 1: doing it. They're very fascinating. Hoover Dam is one of 541 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,240 Speaker 1: the ones that has one of the most famous tours 542 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,439 Speaker 1: here in the United States. It's one I have yet 543 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: to go on. My partner has gone on it, and 544 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,880 Speaker 1: she tells me that it was fascinating, and she's not 545 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: a techie engineering kind of person, so the fact that 546 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:43,000 Speaker 1: she found it really fascinating tells me that that's a 547 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: darn good tour and I need to take it. It's sad that, 548 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: out of all the times I've headed out toward Las Vegas, 549 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,839 Speaker 1: I've never actually taken the time to do a side 550 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: trip over to the Hoover Dam. So I'm gonna have 551 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: to do that in the not too distant future. Anyway, Again, 552 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 1: if you happen to have been in the path of 553 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: Helene while that storm was just raging, across the Southeast. 554 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: I hope you and all those you love are safe 555 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: and healthy. Please be careful out there. Show love to 556 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: those who have been affected by this kind of thing. 557 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,400 Speaker 1: It has been absolutely devastating for so many communities. And 558 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,240 Speaker 1: pay attention, like just to the communities around your area. 559 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,800 Speaker 1: I think showing compassion and critical thinking is always important, 560 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,800 Speaker 1: but it's particularly important in trying times where people are 561 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 1: at a real disadvantage. I hope all of you are 562 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: doing well, and I will talk to you again really soon. 563 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 564 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,720 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 565 00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.