MBEYA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY

POWER PLANT
LECTURE SEVEN
HYDROPOWER PLANTS

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 Introduction
• In hydropower plants the energy of water is
utilized to drive the turbine which, in turn,
runs the generator to produce electricity.
• Rain falling upon the earth’s surface has
potential energy relative to the oceans
towards which it flows.This energy is
converted into shaft work where the water
falls through an appreciable vertical distance.

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 Introduction
• The hydraulic power is thus naturally available renewable energy source
given by equation.
• P = gρQH
• Where
P= Hydraulic power in watts
g=acceration due to gravity9.81m/s 2
ρ= Density of water 1000kg/m3
H = Head in metres
Q = Flow rate in m3/s

• The electrical energy produced in given by

W= 9.81QHηtkWh
t operating time in hours(8760h/year) and η efficiency of the system

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Advantages of hydropower plant
• Water source is perennially available. No fuel
is required to be burnt to generate electricity
• The ruuning cost of hydropower installations
are very low as compared to thermal or
nuclear power stations.
• There is no problem with regards to disposal
of ash as in thermal station.
• The hydrauric turbine can be switched on and
off in a very short time
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Advantages of hydropower plant
• The hydraulic power plant is relatively simple in
in concept and self contained in operation.
• Modern hydropower equipment has a greater life
expectancy and can easily last 50 years or
more.
• Due to its ease of taking up and throwing off the
load, the hydropower plant can be used as the
ideal spinning reserve in a system mix of
thermal, hydro and nuclear power stations.

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Advantages of hydropower plant
• They have high efficiency over a
considerable load.
• Hydro power plants provides ancilliary
benefits like irrigation, flood control,
afforestation, navigation and aquaculture.
• Being simple in design and operation, the
hydropower plants do not require highly
skilled workers. Manpower requirement is
also low.
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Disadvantages of hydropower plant

• Hydropower projects are capital-injtensive

with a low rate of return.
• The gestation period of hydro projects is
quite large. The gap between the foundation
and completion of a project may extend from
ten to fifteen years.
• Power generation is dependent on the
quantity of water available which may vary
from season to season and year to year.
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Disadvantages of hydropower plant

• Hydropower plant are very far away from

the load centre and require long
transmission lines to deliver power.
• Large hydropower plants disturb the
ecology of the area, by way of
deforestation , destroying vegetaion and
uprooting people.

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Selection Site for Hydropower Plants

• The following factors should be considered while

selecting the site for hydroelectric power palnt
 Availability of water
 Water storage capacity
 Availability of water head
 Accesibility of the site
 Distance from the load centre
 Type of land site

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 HYDROLOGY
•Hydrology is the study of the
movement, distribution, and quality of
water throughout the Earth, including
the hydrologic cycle, water resources
and environmental watershed
sustainability.
•Domains of hydrology include
hydrometeorology, surface hydrology,
hydrogeology, drainage basin
management and water chemistry,
where water plays the central role.

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 HYDROLOGY
• Hydrology is the science of
the behaviour of water under
natural conditions.
• Hydrology as a science has
thus many components and in
the broadest sense would
include the movement of
water into, in and from the
atmosphere but these
processes are often
considered to be within the
domain of other sciences such
as meteorology, climatology
and soil science. The
influence of the vegetation is
obviously also within the
domain of botany.

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 Hydrologic cycle
• The central theme of hydrology is that water
circulates throughout the Earth through different
pathways and at different rates. The most vivid
image of this is in the evaporation of water from
the ocean, which forms clouds. These clouds
drift over the land and produce rain. The
rainwater flows into lakes, rivers, or aquifers.
The water in lakes, rivers, and aquifers then
either evaporates back to the atmosphere or
eventually flows back to the ocean, completing a
cycle. Water changes its state of being several
times throughout this cycle

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 Hydrologic cycle
• Hydrological cycle deals with the rainfall
and runoff study. The cyclic movement of
water from the sea to the atmosphere by
evaporation then from thereby
precipitation to the earth and finally
through streams, rivers, etc back to the
sea.
• Precipitation = Run off + Evaporation

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Hydrologic cycle

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Hydrologic cycle

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 Hydrologic cycle
• Precipitation – is a natural process of
converting atmospheric vapour into water. This
includes, rainfall,snow fall, mist sleet, hail, dew,
and frost.
• Run off – it is that part of precipitation which
takes its way towards streams, lakes, or
oceans. Run off occurs only if the rate of
precipitation exceeds the rate at which water
infiltrates into the soil and after depressions get
filled with water.
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 Hydrologic cycle
• Evaporation – this is a changing of water
into vapor. Evaporation of water takes
place from the surface of ocean, rivers,
lakes and the moist soil due to the heat of
sun. Evaporation taking place through the
pores of vegetable surfaces is called
transpiration

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 Stream flow and its measurement

• To evaluate the available energy in a given river ,

one must know the quantity of water flowing and its
variation with time over a long period of years.
• There are various methods of measuring streams
these are.
• • container method
• • float method
• • weir method
• • salt and conductivity meter method
• • current meter method
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Drainage area characteristics
• The variation of stream flow in a given site
depends on the geographical features of
the drainage area feeding the river, as well
as the magnitude of the area rainfall.

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 Hydrograph
• Hydrograph is a discharge time curve of
the flow. Discharge is plotted on y-axis
and the corresponding time is plotted on x
– axis. It shows the variation of river flow
with time.

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Hydrograph

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 Flow duration curve
• It is a plot of flow available during a period
versus the fraction of time. Total power
available at the site may be known by this
curve, which can be drawn with the help of
hydrograph from the available runoff data

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Flow Duration Curve
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Run of River - Maximum Energy Production
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 Water Power
• Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is
power that is derived from the force or energy of moving
water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes.
• Prior to the widespread availability of commercial
electric power, hydropower was used for irrigation, and
operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile
machines, sawmills, dock cranes, and domestic lifts.
• In hydrology, hydropower is manifested in the force of
the water on the riverbed and banks of a river. It is
particularly powerful when the river is in flood.

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Hydraulic power

Available from nature

P = gQH
H
kg m m3 m
[ ]
m s s
3 2

H = Gross Head
[ Nm ]
Q – Flow = = [W ]
s
 – density
g – gravitation
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 Hydropower Calculations

P  g   Q  H
P  10   Q  H
• P = power in kilowatts (kW)
• g = gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s2)
  = turbo-generator efficiency (0<n<1)
• Q = quantity of water flowing (m3/sec)
• H = effective head (m)
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Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
 Example 1a
Consider a mountain stream with an effective head of 25
meters (m) and a flow rate of 600 liters (ℓ) per minute.
How much power could a hydro plant generate? Assume
plant efficiency () of 83%.

• H = 25 m
• Q = 600 ℓ/min × 1 m3/1000 ℓ × 1 min/60sec
Q = 0.01 m3/sec
  = 0.83

• P  10QH = 10(0.83)(0.01)(25) = 2.075

P  2.1 kW
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Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
 Example 1b
How much energy (E) will the hydro plant generate each
year?

• E = P×t
E = 2.1 kW × 24 hrs/day × 365 days/yr
E = 18,396 kWh annually

About how many people will this energy support (assume

approximately 3,000 kWh / person)?

• People = E÷3000 = 18396/3000 = 6.13

• About 6 people
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Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
 Example 2
Consider a second site with an effective head of 100 m and
a flow rate of 6,000 cubic meters per second (about that
of Niagara Falls). Answer the same questions.

• P  10QH = 10(0.83)(6000)(100)
P  4.98 million kW = 4.98 GW (gigawatts)
• E = P×t = 4.98GW × 24 hrs/day × 365 days/yr
E = 43,625 GWh = 43.6 TWh (terrawatt hours)
• People = E÷3000 = 43.6 TWh / 3,000 kWh
People = 1.45 million people
• (This assumes maximum power production 24x7)
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Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
Essential features of hydroelectric power plant

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Essential features of hydroelectric power plant

1. Reservoir.
2. Catchments area.
3. Dam.
• (a) Earthen dam.
• (b) Masonry dam.
• (c) Concrete dam.
• 4. Spill ways.
• 5. Screen.
• 6. Fore bay or Intake.
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Essential features of hydroelectric power plant

• 7. Tunnel.
• 8. Penstock or pipe line.
• 9. Surge tower.
• 10. Draft tube.
• 11. Tail race.
• 12. Fish passes.
• 13. Turbine.
• 14. Power House
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Catchment area and water reservoir

• The area behind the dam which collects

rain water, drains into a stream or river is
called catchment area. Water collected
from catchment area is stored in a
reservoir behind the dam.
• The purpose of the reservoir is to store
water during rainy season and supply it
during dry season.

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 Water reservoir
• Water reservoir is the place behind the
dam where water is stored. The water in
the reservoir is located at the height above
the rest of the dam structure. The height of
water in the reservoir decides how much
potential energy water possesses. Higher
the height of water more is its potential
energy. The high position of water in the
reservoir also enables it to move
downwards effortlessly due to gravity.
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 Dam
• A dam is a structure of masonry earth and
rock fill built across a river used to provide
a head of water and creating storage or
pondage.
• High dams are built only to provide
neccesarry head to the power plants.

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 Dam

• The dam is the most important component of

hydroelectric power plant. In fact the name ‘dam’
is considered to be synonymous to the
‘hydroelectric power plant.’ The dam is built on a
large river that has abundant quantity of water
throughout the year. The dam is built at location
where the height of the river is sufficiently high
so as to get maximum possible potential energy
from water.
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 Intake
• Intake house includes the head works
which are the structure at the intake of
conduits, tunnel or flumes.

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 Intake or control gates
• These are the gates built on the inside of the
dam. The water from reservoir is released and
controlled through these gates. These are called
inlet gates because water enters the power
generation unit through these gates. When the
control gates are opened the water flows due to
gravity through the penstock and towards the
turbines. The water flowing through the gates
possesses potential as well as kinetic energy.

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 Inlet water ways
• These are the passages through which
water is conveyed from the dam to the
power house. It includes canal, penstock
or tunnel , flume foreway and also surge
tank.

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 Penstock
• The penstock pipe transports water under
pressure from the forebay tank to the
turbine, where the potential energy of the
water is converted into kinetic energy in
order to rotate the turbine.

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Penstock

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 Surge tank
• A surge tank (or surge drum) is a
standpipe or storage reservoir at the
downstream end of a closed aqueduct or
feeder pipe to absorb
sudden rises of pressure as well as to
quickly provide extra water during a brief
drop in pressure. An open tank to which the
top of a surge pipe is connected so as to
avoid loss of water during a pressure surge.
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 Forebay
• Water carried by the power canals is
distributed to various penstocks leading to
the turbine, through the forebay, also
known as head pond.
• Water is temporarily stored in the forebay
in the event of a rejection of load by the
turbine and there is withdraw from it when
the load is increased.

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 Spillway
• A spillway is a structure used to provide for the
controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a
downstream area, typically being the river that was
dammed. Spillways release floods so that the water does
not overtop and damage or even destroy the dam.
Except during flood periods, water does not normally
flow over a spillway.
• A spillway is located at the top of the reservoir pool.
Dams may also have bottom outlets with valves or gates
which may be operated to release flood flow, and a few
dams lack overflow spillways and rely entirely on bottom
outlets.

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 Spillway
• There are several designs of a spillway,
such as the simple spillway, the side
channel spillway, the siphon spillway etc.
• Selection of the spillway depends on the
topographical, geological and hydrological
conditions of the site.

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 Tail race
• Tail race is a passage for discharging the
water leaving the turbine into the river.
Water after doing work on turbine runner
passes through the draft tube to tail race.
• The tailrace is a channel that allows the
water to flow back to the stream after it
has passed through the turbine.

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 Draft tube
• A draft tube is one important part of a turbine,
which is used to transform water into energy. A
turbine draft tube is found within the piping
system of a turbine. These draft tubes are used
in turbines that function in jets, dams, or
anywhere else where turbines help do difficult
mechanical work.
• With a draft tube, it is possible to maintain the
important column of water that keeps the turbine
running
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Draft tube

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 Headrace canal
• The headrace canal carries the design flow from
the intake to the forebay. Generally, the canal
runs parallel to the river at an ever-increasing
difference in elevation, which gives the micro-
hydropower system its head. The canal cross
section and alignment should be designed for
optimum performance and economy in order to
reduce losses due to leakage. You could use an
open channel or pipeline to transport the water
into the forebay.
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 Power house and equipment
• The power house is a building in which the
turbines ,alternators, and auxiliary plant
are housed. Here the conversion of energy
of water into electrical energy takes place.
• The following are the main equipments
provided in the power house.
• - prime movers(turbines) coupled with
generators
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 Power house and equipment
• -Turbine governors
• -Relief valve for penstock fittings
• -Gate valves
• -Water circulating pumps
• -Flow measuring devices
• - Air ducts
• - Transformers
• -Reactors
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 Power house and equipment
• -Switch board equipment and instruments
• - Oil circuit breakers
• - Low tension and high tension bus bar
• - Cranes
• - Shopes and offices

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 Power house and equipment
• A powerhouse should have a stable
structure and its layout should be such
that adequate space is provided around
the equipment for convinient dismantling
and repair.

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 Flumes
• A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of
a gravity chute, that leads water from a diversion dam or
weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is
an elevated box structure (typically wood) that follows
the natural contours of the land. These have been
extensively used in hydraulic mining and working placer
deposits for gold, tin and other heavy minerals. They are
also used in the transportation of logs in the logging
industry, electric power generation and to power various
mill operations by the use of a waterwheel. Examples of
flumes are Venturi flumes and Parshall flumes.

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Flume

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 Hydraulic accumulator

• A hydraulic accumulator is an energy storage

device. It is a pressure storage reservoir in
which a non-compressible hydraulic fluid is held
under pressure by an external source. That
external source can be a spring, a raised weight,
or a compressed gas. The main reasons that an
accumulator is used in a hydraulic system are so
that the pump doesn't need to be so large to
cope with extremes of demand, so that the
supply circuit can respond more quickly to any
temporary demand and to smooth pulsations.
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Hydraulic accumulator

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 Turbines
• A turbine unit consists of a runner
connected to a shaft that converts the
potential energy in falling water into
mechanical or shaft power.
• The turbine is connected either directly to
the generator or is connected by means of
gears or belts and pulleys,depending on
the speed required for the generator

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Hydraulic turbines

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 Classification of Hydraulic Turbines: Based on
flow path

• Axial Flow Hydraulic Turbines: This category of Hydraulic

Turbines has the flow path of the liquid mainly parallel to the
axis of rotation. Kaplan Turbines has liquid flow mainly in
axial direction.
• Radial Flow Hydraulic Turbines: Such Hydraulic Turbines
has the liquid flowing mainly in a plane perpendicular to the
axis of rotation.
• Mixed Flow Hydraulic Turbines: For most of the Hydraulic
Turbines used there is a significant component of both axial
and radial flows. Such types of Hydraulic Turbines are
called as Mixed Flow Turbines. Francis Turbine is an
example of mixed flow type, in Francis Turbine water enters
in radial direction and exits in axial direction.
•

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Classification of Hydraulic Turbines: Based on
pressure change

• Impulse Turbine: The pressure of liquid does not

change while flowing through the rotor of the machine.
In Impulse Turbines pressure change occur only in the
nozzles of the machine. One such example of impulse
turbine is Pelton Wheel.
• Reaction Turbine: The pressure of liquid changes
while it flows through the rotor of the machine. The
change in fluid velocity and reduction in its pressure
causes a reaction on the turbine blades; this is where
from the name Reaction Turbine may have been
derived. Francis and Kaplan Turbines fall in the
category of Reaction Turbines.
•

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 Kaplan turbine
• Kaplan and propeller turbines are axial-flow
reaction turbines; generally used for low
heads from 2 to 40 m. The Kaplan turbine
has adjustable runner blades and may or
may not have adjustable guide- vanes.
• They are used when both flow and head
remain practically constant, which is a
characteristic that makes them unusual in
small hydropower schemes.
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Kaplan turbine

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Kaplan turbine

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Cross section of kaplan runner

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 Francis turbine
• Francis turbines are reaction turbines, with
fixed runner blades and adjustable guide
vanes, used for medium heads. In this
turbine the admission is always radial but
the outlet is axial.
• Their usual field of application is from 25
to 350 m head.

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Francis turbine

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 Francis turbine

hydropower
Horizontal axis Francis plants
Turbine 73
 Francis turbine

Francis runner
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View of Francis Turbine

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 Pelton turbines
• Pelton turbines are impulse turbines where
one or more jets impinge on a wheel
carrying on its periphery a large number of
buckets. Each jet issues water through a
nozzle with a needle valve to control the
flow
• They are only used for high heads from 60
m to more than 1 000 m.

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Pelton turbines

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Pelton turbine

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 Pelton turbines

Cross section of a nozzle with deflector

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 Pelton turbines

View of a two nozzles horizontal Pelton

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Pelton turbines

Pelton runner
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 Pelton turbines
• The turbine runner is usually directly
coupled to the generator shaft and shall be
above the downstream level. The turbine
manufacturer can only give the clearance.
• The efficiency of a Pelton is good from
30% to 100% of the maximum discharge
for a one-jet turbine and from 10% to
100% for a multi-jet one.

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 Turgo turbine
• The Turgo turbine can operate under a head in
the range of 50-250 m. Like the Pelton, it is an
impulse turbine, however its buckets are shaped
differently and the jet of water strikes the plane of
its runner at an angle of 20º.
• The efficiency is lower than for the Pelton and
Francis turbines.
• Compared to the Pelton, a Turgo turbine has a
higher rotational speed for the same flow and
head.
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Turgo turbine

Principle of a Turgo turbine

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 Cross flow turbine
• This impulse turbine, also known as Banki-Michell is
used for a wide range of heads overlapping those of
Kaplan, Francis and Pelton. It can operate with heads
between 5 and 200 m.
• The Cross-flow turbines have low efficiency compared to
other turbines and the important loss of head due to the
clearance between the runner and the downstream level
should be taken into consideration when dealing with low
and medium heads. Moreover, high head cross-flow
runners may have some troubles with reliability due to
high mechanical stress.

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Cross flow turbine

Principle of a Cross-flow turbine

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 Selection of hydraulic turbines
• The type, geometry and dimensions of the
turbine will be fundamentally conditioned
by the following criteria:
• -Net head
• -Range of discharges through the turbine
• - Rotational speed
• - Cavitation problems
• - Cost
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 Net head
• The gross head is well defined, as the
vertical distance between the upstream
water surface level at the intake and the
downstream water level for reaction
turbines or the nozzle axis level for
impulse turbines.

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Range of heads

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 Discharge

Turbines' typehydropower plants

field of application. 90
 Specific speed
• The specific speed of any turbine is the
speed in r.p.m of a turbine geometrically
similar to the actual turbine but of such a
size that under corresponding conditions it
will develop 1 metric horsepower when
working under unit head.

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 Specific speed
• Different types of a turbines have their own specific
characteristics and are therefore specifically suited
for the specific conditions of head power and
speed. These variables are incorporated in the
expression of specific speed i.e
• Ns = (N√P)H5/4
• Where Ns= specific speed
• N = rotational speed of the turbine
• H = net head at the site

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Specific speed

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 Cavitation
• When the hydrodynamic pressure in a liquid flow
falls below the vapour pressure of the liquid, there is
a formation of the vapour phase. This phenomenon
induces the formation of small individual bubbles that
are carried out of the low-pressure region by the flow
and collapse in regions of higher pressure. The
formation of these bubbles and their subsequent
collapse gives rise to what is called cavitation.
• Cavitation factor determines whether the turbine is to
be placed above or below tailwater level.

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 Rotational speed
• The rotational speed of a turbine is directly
linked to its specific speed, flow and net
head. In the small hydro schemes
standard generators should be installed
when possible, so in during turbine
selection it must be considered that the
generator, either coupled directly or
through a speed increaser to the turbine,
should reach the synchronous speed
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Generator synchronisation speed

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 Governing of turbines
• Governing of turbine means speed
regulation. The turbine governor is an
essential piece of equipment of the unit
and works to regulate the speed of the
turbine upon changes in load by
controlling the flow of water through the
runner.

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 Low head hydroelectric power plants

• The low head hydroelectric power plants are the ones in

which the available water head is less than 30 meters.
The dam in this type of power plants is of very small
head may be even of few meters only. In certain cases
weir is used and in other cases there is no dam at all and
merely flowing water in the river is used for generation of
electricity. The low head types of hydroelectric power
plants cannot store water and electricity is produced only
when sufficient flow of water is available in the river.
Thus they produce electricity only during particular
seasons when abundant flow of water is available. Since
the head of water is very small in these hydroelectric
power plants, they have lesser power producing
capacity.

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Medium head hydroelectric power plants

• The hydroelectric power plants in which the working

head of water is more than 30 meters but less than 300
meters are called medium head hydroelectric power
plants. These hydroelectric power plant are usually
located in the mountainous regions where the rivers
flows at high heights, thus obtaining the high head of the
water in dam becomes possible. In medium head
hydroelectric plants dams are constructed behind which
there can be large reservoir of water. Water from the
reservoir can be taken to the power generation system
where electricity is generated.
•

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 High head hydroelectric power plants

• In the high head hydroelectric power plants the head of

water available for producing electricity is more than 300
meters and it can extend even up to 1000 meters. These
are the most commonly constructed hydroelectric power
plants. In the high head hydroelectric power plants huge
dams are constructed across the rivers. There is large
reservoir of water in the dams that can store water at
very high heads. Water is mainly stored during the rainy
seasons and it can be used throughout the year. Thus
the high head hydroelectric power plants can generate
electricity throughout the year. The high head
hydroelectric power plants are very important in the
national grid because they can be adjusted easily to
produce the power as per the required loads.

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 Hydro Electric Power Plant Site Selection or
Hydro-electric Power Plants.
• In the choice of location for hydro power plant, several
features may be involved like dam, conduits, intakes,
surge tank, power house and many others. There is no
easy answer to the question raised, which is suitable site
for a hydel power plant? The only solution is to study
several alternative layouts and adopt one which appears
to be most economical. Sometimes the most desirable
location is aprarent to an experienced engineer.
Sometimes there is no choice for site except
considerable investigation and study are required to
determine the most economical location

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 Hydropower – Pros and Cons

Positive Negative
Emissions-free, with virtually no CO2, NOX, Frequently involves impoundment of large
SOX, hydrocarbons, or particulates amounts of water with loss of habitat due
to land inundation

Renewable resource with high conversion Variable output – dependent on rainfall and
efficiency to electricity (80+%) snowfall

Dispatchable with storage capacity Impacts on river flows and aquatic ecology,
including fish migration and oxygen
depletion

Usable for base load, peaking and pumped Social impacts of displacing indigenous
storage applications people

Scalable from 10 KW to 20,000 MW Health impacts in developing countries

Low operating and maintenance costs High initial capital costs

Long lifetimes Long lead time in construction of large

hydropowerprojects
plants 103
 Types of Systems
• Impoundment
• Diversion or run-of-river systems
• Pumped Storage
– Two way flow
– Pumped up to a storage reservoir and
returned to a lower elevation for power
generation
• A mechanism for energy storage, not net energy
production
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 Conventional Impoundment
Dam

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http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_plant_types.html
Storage projects:
• The term “storage” generally refers to projects which have seasonal
regulation capability.
• A project with power storage can be used to regulate seasonal
discharges in order to more closely follow the seasonal power
demand pattern.
• While power storage can be used to benefit at site power production,
it is often used to improve production at downstream power projects.
• Power storage projects inherently have pondage operation capability
and thus can be used to serve intermediate and peaking loads as
well as the base load if downstream conditions permit.
• Where operating restrictions prohibit large fluctuations in releases, a
small reregulating reservoir can be constructed downstream of the
main dam in order to maintain required discharge conditions.

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Diversion (Run-of-River)
Hydropower

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Run-of-River projects:
• A pure run-of-river project has no usable storage.
• Power output at any time is strictly a function of inflow.
• The term “run-of-river” also refers to an operating mode. A storage
project can operate in the run-of-river if it is just passing flow.
• Run-of-river projects can be considered to be base load plants in
terms of use in meeting loads.
Typical run-of-river projects
 Navigation projects where the pool must be maintained at a
constant elevation,
 Irrigation diversion dams,
 Single-purpose hydro projects where the topography upstream
from the dam site does not allow for pondage or seasonal
storage,
 Power plants on irrigation canals
hydropower plantsand water supply pipelines
108
can also be classified as run-of-river projects.
Pumped Storage Schematic

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Pumped-storage projects:
• Pumped-storage projects are designed to convert
low value off-peak energy to high value on-peak
energy.
• Low cost energy is used to pump water to an
upper reservoir at nights and on weekends, and
the water is released during high demand hours
to generate peaking power.

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• Two basic types of pumped-storage projects:
• Off-stream: An off-stream project consists of a lower
reservoir on a stream or other water source and a
reservoir located off-stream at a higher elevation. Water
is pumped to the higher reservoir during periods of
energy surplus is released through the turbines during
periods of energy demand. Off-stream pumped-storage
projects are usually dependent exclusively on pumped
water as their source of energy.

• .
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• Pump-back: A pump-back project, also known as on-
stream or integral pumped-storage, consists of a
conventional hydro project with a pumped-storage cycle
superimposed on the normal power operation. As with
off-stream pumped-storage, two reservoirs are involved,
but both are located in tandem on the same stream. The
main dam usually forms the upper reservoir and the
lower reservoir could be either another multi-purpose
project located immediately downstream or a special
reservoir designed to serve as a combination pumped-
storage afterbay and regulating dam

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Environmental Impacts

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 Ecological Impacts
• Loss of forests, wildlife habitat, species
• Degradation of upstream catchment areas due to inundation of
reservoir area
• Rotting vegetation also emits greenhouse gases
• Loss of aquatic biodiversity, fisheries, other downstream
services
• Cumulative impacts on water quality, natural flooding
• Disrupt transfer of energy, sediment, nutrients
• Sedimentation reduces reservoir life, erodes turbines
– Creation of new wetland habitat
– Fishing and recreational opportunities provided by new reservoirs

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 Environmental and Social
Issues
• Land use – inundation and displacement of people
• Impacts on natural hydrology
– Increase evaporative losses
– Altering river flows and natural flooding cycles
– Sedimentation/silting
• Impacts on biodiversity
– Aquatic ecology, fish, plants, mammals
• Water chemistry changes
– Mercury, nitrates, oxygen
– Bacterial and viral infections
• Tropics
• Seismic Risks
• Structural dam failure risks
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 Three Gorges – Pros and Cons

116
Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
 Renewable Energy Sources

117
Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company, http://www.wvic.com/hydro-facts.htm
 World Trends in Hydropower

118
Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
 World hydro production

119
IEA.org
Major Hydropower Producers

120
 World’s Largest Dams
Max Annual
Name Country Year Generation Production

Three Gorges China 2009 18,200 MW

Itaipú Brazil/Paraguay 1983 12,600 MW 93.4 TW-hrs

Guri Venezuela 1986 10,200 MW 46 TW-hrs

Grand Coulee United States 1942/80 6,809 MW 22.6 TW-hrs

Sayano Shushenskaya Russia 1983 6,400 MW

Robert-Bourassa Canada 1981 5,616 MW

Churchill Falls Canada 1971 5,429 MW 35 TW-hrs

Iron Gates Romania/Serbia 1970 2,280 MW 11.3 TW-hrs

Ranked by maximum power.

121
“Hydroelectricity,” Wikipedia.org
Three Gorges Dam (China)

122
 Itaipú Dam (Brazil & Paraguay)

123
“Itaipu,” Wikipedia.org
 Guri Dam (Venezuela)

124
http://www.infodestinations.com/venezuela/espanol/puerto_ordaz/index.shtml
 END OF
PRESENTATION

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