Calculating Power Output of a Turbine: What Factors Should Be Considered?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the power output of a turbine, specifically focusing on the factors that need to be considered in such calculations. Participants explore the relationship between force, torque, angular speed, and power output, while also addressing assumptions related to the turbine's design and materials.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant introduces a hypothetical scenario involving a turbine with a radius of 1m and a force of 600N applied at its tip, questioning the approximate power output.
  • Another participant explains that torque is calculated as force times the length of the lever arm and that power is torque times angular speed, emphasizing the need for angular speed to calculate power.
  • There is a repeated emphasis on the importance of specifying angular speed to derive power output, with one participant noting that without this information, the power cannot be determined.
  • One participant expresses confusion about how to calculate angular velocity from the force exerted on the turbine and acknowledges the need to estimate angular velocity for further calculations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for angular speed to calculate power output, but there is no consensus on how to derive this speed from the given force. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specific calculations and assumptions involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not specified the source of the force or the conditions under which the turbine operates, which may affect the calculations. There are also unresolved aspects regarding the materials used for the turbine and their impact on performance.

Giorgows
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Hi, this is my first post on this forum, although I've often referred to many posts for random information, so thanks to all the people who dedicate time to other peoples questions, I greatly appreciate it. This is my first attempt for something like this and my knowledge of physics is very basic.

So here's my problem.. I am trying to come up with an approximate power output of a turbine
with a radius of 1m with a force directly applied at the tip of the turbines of 600N (torque?)
I assume that wind generates much lower torque so the equivalent energy production of a wind turbine the same size would produce much less energy. (right?)

I don't have any materials in order to base my approximations of the weight of the turbines, but I assume fibreglass could be an efficient material in this case.

So if i hooked this up to a generator, how much output would i get?
What other factors am i missing that I should be including in my equations? Any input would be great
i don't expect any direct answer since I am probably missing out on too many factors at this point.
 
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Welcome to PF!

Torque is force times length of the lever arm.
Power is torque times angular speed (in radians/sec).

You should be able to calculate torque from what you know, but didn't say what the speed would be.

Where did these numbers come from? What is powering this turbine?
 
lets say the turbine is being powered by a hypothetical source you could assume anything, and say that source created a force of 600N at the tip of a 1m radius turbine for example, how could i carry on from this hypothesis get to some kind of approximation of power output?
 
Giorgows said:
say that source created a force of 600N at the tip of a 1m radius turbine for example,
At which angular speed?
 
Giorgows said:
lets say the turbine is being powered by a hypothetical source you could assume anything, and say that source created a force of 600N at the tip of a 1m radius turbine for example, how could i carry on from this hypothesis get to some kind of approximation of power output?
Um...you just repeated your first post with different words and only answered one of my questions... And I already answered your question.
 
Giorgows said:
lets say the turbine is being powered by a hypothetical source you could assume anything, and say that source created a force of 600N at the tip of a 1m radius turbine for example, how could i carry on from this hypothesis get to some kind of approximation of power output?

You are missing out on the vital fact that Power is equal to Torque times Revs. If you don't specify the revs then you have no idea about the power. The gearbox on your car has no effect on the power that's available.
 
so my understanding is that i need to find out the angular speed that will result in a calculation of RPM which will allow me to calculate the power? i thought angular velocity would be calculable using the force exerted onto the tip of the turbine sorry for the mistake. I will do what i can do estimate the angular velocity and get back to you
 

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