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Table of Contents
Title Page 1
Abstract...4
o Introduction....5
o Background6
o Sources7
o Benefits of Hydropower.8
o Electrical System Benefits..9
o How Hydro Power Works 10
o The different parts of a hydroelectric power plant...11
o Turbines.13
o Low-head Hydropower.14
o A simple formula..15
o Load factor, Load control governors16
o Environmental impacts.17
o Karnafuli Hydro Power Station18
o Conclusion.20
o References.21
ABSTRACT
Hydroelectric power plants are the most efficient means of producing
electric energy. Since water is the most abundant resource in the world, the
most efficient way to harness the power of water is to collect the potential
energy. This is done by damming up a body of flowing water. A dam is an
object that restricts the flow of water. In todays hydroelectric dams, the
restricted water is diverted to a turbine using a penstock and exits the turbine
through the tailrace. The turbine is made up of a shaft with blades attached.
As a fluid flows through the blades a rotational force is created. This force
causes a torque on the shaft. The turbine shaft is coupled to a generator,
where electricity is produced. The backbone of most power generation
system is the generator. An electric generator is any machine that converts
mechanical energy into electricity for transmission and distribution. The
generator works by spinning a rotor that is turned by a turbine. The rotor is a
shaft that has field windings. These windings are supplied with an excitation
current or voltage. As the rotor turns, the excitation current creates a
magnetically induced current onto a stator. The stator is a cylindrical ring
made of iron that is incased by another set of field windings and is separated
from the rotor by a small air gap. Hydroelectric generations can vary from 1
watt to 100s mega-watts. With todays technology it is possible to generate
power with small scale parameters with low flow.
4
Introduction
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 development of electric power, hydropower was used
for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile
machines, sawmills, dock cranes, and domestic lifts.Another method used a
trompe to produce compressed air from falling water, which could then be
used to power other machinery at a distance from the water.
Water power can be harnessed in many ways; tidal flows can be utilised to
produce power by building a barrage across an estuary and releasing water
in a controlled manner through a turbine; large dams hold water which can
be used to provide large quantities of electricity; wave power is also
harnessed in various ways. It is a technology that has been utilised
throughout the world, by a diverse range of societies and cultures, for many
centuries. Water can be harnessed on a large or a small scale - Table 1,
below outlines the categories used to define the power output form
hydropower. Micro-hydro power is the small-scale harnessing of energy
from falling water; for example, harnessing enough water from a local river
to power a small factory or village. This fact sheet will concentrate mainly at
micro-hydro power.
Mini-hydro Above 100 kW, but below 1 MW; either stand alone
schemes or more often feeding into the grid
Background
Since the time of ancient Egypt, people have used the energy in flowing
water to operate machinery and grind grain and corn. However, hydropower
had a greater influence on people's lives during the 20th century than at any
other time in history. Hydropower played a major role in making the
wonders of electricity a part of everyday life and helped spur industrial
development. Hydropower continues to produce 24 percent of the world's
electricity and supply more than 1 billion people with power.
Evolution of Hydropower
The first hydroelectric power plant was built in 1882 in Appleton, Wisconsin
to provide 12.5 kilowatts of electricity to light two paper mills and a home.
Today's hydropower plants generally produce several hundred kilowatts to
several hundred megawatts of electricity, but a few mammoth plants have
capacities up to 10,000 megawatts. These hydroelectric power plants can
supply electricity to millions of people.
7
Conventional
8
Most hydropower plants are conventional in design, meaning they use one-
way water flow to generate electricity. There are two categories of
conventional plants, run-of-river and storage plants.
Pumped Storage
Most hydropower plants are built through federal or local agencies as part of
a multipurpose project. In addition to generating electricity, dams and
reservoirs provide flood control, water supply, irrigation, transportation,
recreation and refuges for fish and birds. Private utilities also build
hydropower plants, although not as many as government agencies.
9
Benefits
Obstacles
Also, the water stored behind dams tends to accumulate sediment and silt.
This accumulation can hinder the water flow and cause harm to the turbines
and pumps. As an example, after only four years of operation, the Sanmen
George Dam on the Yellow River, China lost 41% of its water storage
capacity and 75% of its maximum power capacity due to sedimentation.
In the UK, water mills are known to have been in use 900 years ago. Their
numbers grew steadily and by the 19th century, there were over 20,000 in
10
Over the last few decades, there has been a growing realisation in
developing countries that micro-hydro schemes have an important role to
play in the economic development of remote rural areas, especially
mountainous ones. Micro-hydro schemes can provide power for industrial,
agricultural and domestic uses through direct mechanical power or by the
coupling of the turbine to a generator to produce electricity.
11
Sources
In 2005, more than 3/4 of total world energy consumption was through the
use of fossil fuels. With the current state of the environment, it is essential
to explore all the possibilities for renewable energy. The main forms of
renewable energy are wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric .
Hydroelectric power plants are the most efficient means of producing
electric energy. Since water is the most abundant resource in the world, it is
important to utilize the
power of flowing water. The most efficient way to harness the power of
water is to collect the potential energy. This is done by damming up a body
of flowing water. A dam is an object that restricts the flow of water. In
todays hydroelectric dams, the restricted water is diverted to a turbine using
a penstock and exits the turbine through the tailrace.
The turbine is made up of a shaft with blades attached. As a fluid flows
through the blades a rotational force is created. This force causes a torque on
12
Benefits of Hydropower
Hydropower is one of the three principal sources of energy used to generate
electricity, the other two being fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.
Hydroelectricity has certain advantages over these other sources: it is
continually renewable thanks to the recurring nature of the water cycle, and
causes no pollution. Also, it is one of the cheapest sources of electrical
energy. Hydropower provides unique benefits, rarely found in other sources
13
Most hydroelectric stations use either the natural drop of a river, such as a
waterfall or rapids, or a dam is built across a river to raise the water level,
and provide the drop needed to create a driving force.
Water at the higher level is collected in the forebay. It flows through the
station's intake into a pipe, called a penstock, which carries it down to a
turbine. The turbine is a type of water wheel that is connected to a generator.
As the water flows down the penstock the water pressure increases. It is this
pressure and flow that causes the turbine to revolve which in turn spins a
generator.
16
(1) Dam
17
Dams are structures built over rivers to stop the water flow and form a
reservoir. The reservoir stores the water flowing down the river. This water
is diverted to turbines in power stations. The dams collect water during the
rainy season and stores it, thus allowing for a steady flow through the
turbines throughout the year. Dams are also used for controlling floods and
irrigation. The dams should be water-tight and should be able to withstand
the pressure exerted by the water on it. There are different types of dams
such as arch dams, gravity dams and buttress dams. The height of water in
the dam is called head race.
(2) Spillway
A spillway as the name suggests could be called as a way for spilling of
water from dams. It is used to provide for the release of flood water from a
dam. It is used to prevent over toping of the dams which could result in
damage or failure of dams. Spillways could be controlled type or
uncontrolled type. The uncontrolled types start releasing water upon water
rising above a particular level. But in case of the controlled type, regulation
of flow is possible.
Surge tanks are tanks connected to the water conductor system. It serves the
purpose of reducing water hammering in pipes which can cause damage to
pipes. The sudden surges of water in penstock is taken by the surge tank, and
when the water requirements increase, it supplies the collected water thereby
regulating water flow and pressure inside the penstock.
Turbines
A turbine converts the energy in falling water into shaft power. There are
various types of turbine which can be categorised in one of several ways.
20
The choice of turbine will depend mainly on the pressure head available and
the design flow for the proposed hydropower installation. As shown in table
2 below, turbines are broadly divided into three groups; high, medium and
low head, and into two categories: impulse and reaction.
Head pressure
immersed in the flow of water, and the angular as well as linear momentum
of the water is converted into shaft power - the pressure of water leaving the
runner is reduced to atmospheric or lower.
Low-head Hydropower
A low-head dam is one with a water drop of less than 65 feet and a
generating capacity less than 15,000 kW. Large, high-head dams can
produce more power at lower costs than low-head dams, but construction of
large dams may be limited by lack of suitable sites, by environmental
considerations, or by economic conditions. In contrast, there are many
existing small dams and drops in elevation along canals where small
generating plants could be installed. New low-head dams could be built to
increase output as well. The key to the usefulness of such units is their
ability to generate power near where it is needed, reducing the power
inevitably lost during transmission.
controlled way. In these situations, the power is related to the mass flow
rate. Substituting P for Et and expressing mt in terms of the volume of
liquid moved per unit time (the rate of fluid flow, ) and the density of
water, we arrive at the usual form of this expression:
P = hrgk
Load factor
The load factor is the amount of power used divided by the amount of power
that is available if the turbine were to be used continuously. Unlike
technologies relying on costly fuel sources, the 'fuel' for hydropower
23
generation is free and therefore the plant becomes more cost effective if run
for a high percentage of the time. If the turbine is only used for domestic
lighting in the evenings then the plant factor will be very low. If the turbine
provides power for rural industry during the day, meets domestic demand
during the evening, and maybe pumps water for irrigation in the evening,
then the plant factor will be high.
Environmental impacts
While small, well-sited run-of-the-river projects can be developed with
minimal environmental impacts, many modern run-of-river projects are
larger, with much more significant environmental concerns. For example,
Plutonic Power Corp.s Bute Inlet Hydroelectric Project in BC will see three
clusters of run-of-river projects with 17 river diversions; as proposed, this
run-of-river project will divert over 90 kilometers of streams and rivers into
tunnels and pipelines, requiring 443 km of new transmission line, 267 km of
permanent roads, and 142 bridges, to be built in wilderness areas.
British Columbias mountainous terrain and wealth of big rivers have made
it a global testing ground for run-of-river technology. As of March 2010,
there were 628 applications pending for new water licenses solely for the
purposes of power generation representing more than 750 potential points
of river diversion.
Many of the impacts of this technology are still not understood or well-
considered, including the following:
Diverting large amounts of river water reduces river flows, affecting water
velocity and depth, minimizing habitat quality for fish and aquatic
organisms; reduced flows can lead to excessively warm water for salmon
and other fish in summer. As planned, the Bute Inlet project in BC could
divert 95 percent of the mean annual flow in at least three of the rivers. New
access roads and transmission lines can cause extensive habitat
25
Tipaimukh dam
located on the Barak River in Manipur State of India
multi-purpose - electricity generation and flood control
electricity generation capacity - 1500 MWs
risk of dam failure
impact on haor eco-system
the project in consultation with the local people. The committee recently
recommended the Power Division to conduct further feasibility study to
install another two units in Kaptai Power Plant.
The prospective sites to install the micro hydro plants are: Nunchari (3KW)
in Khagrachari, Chang-oo-Para (30KW), Liragaon (25KW), Bangchari (20),
Kamal Chari (20KW), Monjai Para (7.5KW), Monjaipara (10KW) in
Banderban, Thang Khrue Chara Mukh (30KW), Manikchari (2KW),
Mitingachara (10KW) in Rangamati and Bamerchara (3KW) and Mohamaya
Char (65KW) in Chittagong.
Conclusions
As robust global economic expansion continues, the question of where a
growing world population will continue to get the electricity to drive the
economic engine remains. While most of the new generation supply will
come from thermal resources, conventional thinking on the development of
new resources and supplies should provide greater emphasis on using
sustainable, renewable resources. Hydroelectric power has an important role
to play in the future, and provides considerable benefits to an integrated
electric system. This paper has demonstrated an awareness within the
industry of the social and environmental impacts of hydropower which need
to be addressed for any project; the expertise which exists to avoid or
mitigate negative impacts; and the ongoing research. The world's remaining
hydroelectric potential needs to be considered in the new energy mix, with
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