Project Report
| Nov 6, 2013
Final Report for the River Turbine in Colombia
By Sherri Phillips | Communications Manager, Green Empowerment
The completed, award-winning river turbine is going in a new funding direction, and the project is becoming broader in scope. Our lead technician with in-country partner, APROTEC, is now applying for funding through other sources. Future funding will be used for requests from three communities to deploy river ice facilities for Villa Fátima on the River Vaupés, for Asogagumuy on the River Guarrojo, and for Calahorra on the River Atrato. River ice is a cooling system which operates year-round, and independent of the supply of conventional fuels.
Many rural communities in proximity to rivers i.e. the Amazon River, the Orinoco River, the Zambezi, Congo and the Nile, live on fishing and the fish trade without the possibility of maintaining stocks through refrigeration. In these regions, cooling is often as important as electricity.
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Sep 10, 2013
A River Turbine Makes Ice!
By Mauricio | Project Lead
![River turbine installation]()
River turbine installation
The improved design of the Innocentive-winning river turbine works great with a new group of blades inclined to maximize outputs. As a proven solution, this turbine remains in full use and is 100% maintained by the community. Now, a mechanical refrigeration system built with a car air conditioner could produce ice from the river turbine. Mauricio is looking for investment activities in order to begin production of about 20 or 30 units.
The aquacharger version is working well for the community in Calahorra, and they are confident with the technology. APROTEC support of the system is minimal and often solved with a quick phone call.
Below are some photos from Mauricio at APROTEC--http://www.aprotec.com.co.
Thanks for your support!
![River turbine blade]()
River turbine blade
![River turbine in action]()
River turbine in action
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May 29, 2013
The "Acuavatio" River Turbine Advances
By Mauricio | Project leader
We checked in with Mauricio that heads the river turbine project for APROTEC--www.aprotec.com.
The Acuavatio turbine that generates an average of 285 W is installed and working great. Since 1 year ago in the village of Calahorra, Department of Choco, 18 families now have light (2 lamps at 15 watts per house), and a station to charge cell phones. Recently, the axis of the helix was modified with stronger material to withstand storm-rains and any river swells.
In Villa Fatima, Department of Vaupes (close to the border with Brazil) everything is ready to place the new Acuavatio that will provide energy for the satellite connection for the first computers in the bilingual (Wanano / Spanish) school. The 8 computers and the satellite connection will be powered by the Acuavatio.
In addition, the position of the blades have been modified in the Acuavatio model that was launched in February this year in Bocas del Guayuriba. After April 2013, the water velocity was high enough to start logging data to document these improvements. Also, a complete revision of the configuration of the blades improved the dynamic stability of the blades while maintaining the same power output.
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