By PHILIP HOPKINS
A HEYFIELD inventor, Fred Sundermann, has had his innovative turbine water pump worth tens of thousands of dollars, stolen from his property.
The turbine is being assessed by Southern Rural Water and potentially Melbourne Water for potential use in pumped hydro projects and renewable energy programs.
Heyfield Police confirmed that the turbine water pump had been stolen from Mr Sundermann’s property, located between Cowwarr and Heyfield.
“The turbine has been reported stolen, said Constable Bradley King. “We are looking into it. There is an ongoing investigation.”
Firmins Lane Engineering in Morwell, which manufactured the turbine for Mr Sundermann, estimated the replacement cost for the turbine was about $80,000. A 300mm Blade Gearbox would cost about $45,000 but the bigger 600mm gearbox would be about $80,000.
“These figures would be made more accurate if and when a deal for the sale of turbines was more definite and we were supplied final design drawings for both sized gearboxes,” said the general manager, Rick Garratt. The fabrication of the turbine housing for the gearboxes would likely cost between $25,000 and $50,000, he said.
Mr Sundermann’s turbine promises to be far more efficient than traditional pumped hydro technology, which involves storing water, pumped from a lower reservoir, into an upper reservoir. Power is generated by releasing the stored water through turbines, but when power demand is low, the upper reservoir is recharged by using lower-cost electricity from the grid to pump the water back to the upper reservoir.
In Victoria, the electricity was traditionally sourced from the Latrobe Valley’s brown coal power stations; the Sundermann technology can pump the water back uphill without using fossil fuel energy, hence its potential use in renewable energy programs.
“We’ve designed a turbine that’s slow-revving. We have done one that produces 25 horsepower drive and a five horsepower turbine that turns into a pump. With a one-metre head on the larger one, we can push the water up 12 metres fossil-free,” said Mr Sundermann. “We don’t have to have a generator like now; we can do it via turbine to turbine, which saves the loss of electricity and is much more efficient.”
Mr Sundermann’s private company, Sundermann Water Power, has been looking for a manufacturer to mass produce the turbine, but first needs commercial interest from users. Consultant John Mitchell, a former Latrobe Valley municipal leader and Gippsland Water chairman, is a director of the company.
The company approached Southern Rural Water as a potential customer or for joint venture arrangements. SRW’s manager of strategy and business planning, Craig Smith, in a letter to Mr Mitchell, said SRW was currently looking at renewable energy-generating opportunities across the organisation, of which there are many, including in-line and pumped hydro.
“The review is in its early stages and once we have developed a position, we will be in a better position to respond to your request,” he said.
“However, I would be happy to catch up with you and Fred later in the year to discuss your proposal, including the possibility of developing a demonstration site.”
Mr Sundermann, with a life-long interest in design and innovation, has form as an inventor of agricultural machinery. Seventy years ago, he invented a tractor with disc brakes and a two-stage clutch, which had never been heard of before; and also a finger wheel rake and harvester that was featured in a Landline program 17 years ago on the ABC. He also built a 40-metre bridge across the Rainbow Creek on a Cowwarr property that is still functioning today.
Another director on his team is Dr Ulrich Hartig, a chemical engineer and former senior manager of the BASF Group, who has more than 35 years’ experience in Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, Brazil and Canada.
