The Wheel House of the Mills
Renewable Energy in the Urban Environment
The Wheel House at the Merton Abbey Mills has been on that site for hundreds of years. It was initially used to grind corn and later to power machinery used in the dyeing and printing of fabrics. After extensive renovations, the Wheel House is now the only working waterwheel in London.
About RENUE
Renewable Energy in the Urban Environment (RENUE) is an environmental charity which involves the local community in the idea of sustainable building practice. RENUE has installed small scale renewable energy demonstrations to train local practitioners on how to incorporate renewable energy sources into buildings.
The Wheel House was refitted recently as part of a RENUE demonstration of a small scale power generation plant. The water wheel turns a potter??s wheel and generates 0.6 kilowatts of electricity for lighting the wheelhouse and recharging Merton Abbey Mills?? electric vehicles.
How does the Wheel House work?
In order for the water wheel to generate electricity and to charge the batteries of the electric vehicles, the water wheel must turn an electric generator. When the water wheel turns on its axle, the teeth on the wheel mesh with the gear wheel. The gear wheel, which is much smaller, then rotates 10 times as fast as the water wheel. The gear wheel shares an axle with a pulley wheel which is attached to the generator via a fan belt. The generator is then turned at 720 RPM whcih is enough to generate the electricity to power approximately 10 incandescent light bulbs.
Submitted by: Josevan Vallejo, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 21 January 2007
