Ampair makes two types of water powered generators. The oldest and most widely known of these is our Aquair towed turbine for use in yachts which is the ideal power source for deep ocean cruising yachts. The Aquair towed turbine is strictly speaking a hybrid unit as it can be rapidly converted from “water mode” into “wind mode” as a a wind generator.
Less widely known and is the UW (of course UW means underwater) which is a submerged generator for use in zero head micro hydro systems, or more strictly speaking pico hydro systems. Previously this was called the Aquair UW which as you can imagine was a bit confusing and so we now just call it the Underwater, or UW. This unique generator has an important role to play in providing power in the very harsh environments of under ice meltwater streams of places like
Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. It can also be used in the more benign conditions of tidal races, tidal mill streams, and indeed any fast flowing water which will cover the turbine. The turbine and generator is pressure compensated for use at depths of up to 10 metres / 30 feet, and can be installed complete with a guard to prevent weed, rubbish, or debris fouling the impeller.
Where practicable more power can be obtained from the UW by mounting it in a flow concentrator. These are easy to make if one can adjust both banks of a stream, but can also be achieved in single bank or open water environments provided one does not try to over-accelerate the water. Multiple units can be installed to increase generated power.
For both the Aquair and UW different impellers are available for different flow rate situations. Both left and right handed impellers are available for the UW, as are shrouded impellers to prevent fine weed or fishing line damaging seals and bearings. Regulators can also be installed (as for the Ampair wind turbines) although it is preferable to not put a regulator on the Aquair in “water mode”.
