the electric side of life giving water This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

concept Several centuries B.C. Archimedes the Greek philosopher, developed a turning spirally wound tube to raise water to a higher level for irrigation purposes. In more recent times, this method of raising water was adapted by the Dutch to drain the polders using windmills as the drive unit. Nowadays this mechanism has been reinvented to produce energy through the water flow of watercourses like torrents or rivers. This is possible thanks to the rotation of the archimedean screw due to the force of water flows. Like just said, in this mechanism, the task of the archimedean screw is to rotate because of the water force; not carry liquids or similar materials through rotation like in past. source: Spaans Babcock Ltd

applications Screw generators can be utilised anywhere where suitable flows and heads exist, such as: rivers cooling water outlets from power stations industrial process water (e.g. paper/steel mills) water treatment outfalls replacement of waterwheels and other types of generators and actually anywhere there is a suitable head and flow, might be feasible for placing an Archimedean screw generator. The greatest advantage of this mechanism is the chance of getting energy also in low altitude difference of almost every kind of watercourse. source: Spaans Babcock Ltd

features high efficiency the efficiency is high in a wide range of flows (in some cases the amount of produced energy amount to 500 K W s ). Varying flows and water heads have a small influence on the efficiency. simple and reliable this mechanism is very simple and consist of a few wear parts. Moreover, the screw generator has a low rotational frequency resulting in low wear. fish friendly fishes can pass through the screw without obstacles or being injured. Several tests showed the fish friendliness of the Archimedean screw. In Holland, Canada, USA and other countries, Archimedean screws are used as a fish ladder by pumping fish. no fine screen is necessary only a simple 100 ‐ 120 mm bar screen is used to prevent large items enters the screw generator. This saves costs, prevent head loss and allow fish passage. source: Spaans Babcock Ltd

features low maintenance due to the simple and robust design, Archimedean Screw Generator installations require minimum maintenance with resulting lower costs. wide range of flows the Archimedean Screw Generator is capable of handling flows from 100 l/s ‐ 15 m ³ /s each. relatively low civil costs simple foundation with two concrete supports can be sufficient. Units can be specifically designed to suit existing civil layouts. source: Spaans Babcock Ltd

our project Our purpose is to realize a scale model of this profitable mechanism. We are calculating the parameters of every component that constitutes it, we drawn a draft on the autoCAD design software and we are going to make it by printing components through a 3 D printer (just a printer capable of printing 3 D objects). The main components of the model are: Archimedean screw water tanks water pumping system (to simulate a continuos water stream) engine (to convert rotation into electricity)