Micro Hydro Basic Knowledge and Potential of Micro Hydro Power (MHP)

Basic Knowledge of MHP

Ifnu Setyadi Gunawan Iman Permana

the Training Programme on Renewable Energy : Micro Hydro Power for Rural Development in ASEAN Region Bandung, 18 25 June, 2012

The diversion weir a barrier built across the river used to divert water through and opening in the riverside (the intake opening) into a settliing basin

The sand trap is used to trap sand or suspended silt from the water before entering the penstock. It may be built at the intake or at the forebay.

A channel leading water to a forebay or turbine. The headrace follows the contour of the hillside so as to preserve the elevation of the diverted water. Head race can be constructed as open earth channel or as stone masonry/ concreted channel.

Pond at the top of a penstock or pipeline; serves as final settling basin, provides submergence of penstock inlet and accommodation of trash rack and overflow/spillway arrangement.

A water turbine is a machine to directly convert the kinetic energy of the flowing water into a useful rotational energy while a generator is a device used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.

There are of course many variations on the design layout of the system. As an example, the water is entered directly to the turbine from a channel without a penstock. This type is the simplest method to get the waterpower.

Another variation is that the channel could be eliminated, and the penstock will run directly to the turbine. Variations like this will depend on the characteristics of the particular site and the requirements of the user of system.

A hydro scheme requires both water flow and a drop in height (referred to as Head) to produce useful power. The power conversion absorbs power in the form of head and flow, and delivering power in the form of electricity or mechanical shaft power. Drop head can directly to get from drop water fall/irrigation or from slope of river

to determine the hydro potential of water flowing from the river or stream, it have to know the flow rate of the water and the head through which the water can fall, as defined in the following:
The flow rate is the quantity of water flowing past a point at a given time. Typical units used for flow rate are cubic metres per second (m3/s), litres per second (lps). The head is the vertical height in metres (m) from the level where the water enters the intake pipe (penstock) to the level where the water leaves the turbine housing

P = Q x H x g x E0
P = Power output in kW Q = Usable flow rate in m3/s H = Gross head in m g = Gravitational constant (9.8 m/s2) E0 = Efficiency factor of system (0.5 to 0.7)

 Three main aspects commonly used for classification of hydropower plants - design capacity (kW installed capacity) - design head - design type type of supply : grid type 7 destination of supply

Term

Power output

Pico hydropower
Micro hydropower

< 5 kW
5 kW - 100 kW

Mini hydropower (MHP)

Small hydropower (SHP) Full scale (large) hydropower

100 kW 1.000 kW (=1 MW)

1 MW - 10 MW > 10 MW

 Power supply for single or few households Cost start below 100 US$ per unit Only suitable for isolated operation Depending on type of installation usually very maintenance intense and less cost efficient than larger communitybased systems

 Power supply for several hundred households Cost start at 2000 US$ per kW installed capacity Mostly used for isolated micro grids in the context of rural electrification Grid connection possible

 Power supply for up several thousand households Promising potential on smaller rivers Can substantially contribute to stabilization of grid, especially at endpoints Larger-scale productive use possible (e.g. tea factories)

 Power supply for up to several ten thousand households Promising potential on medium sized rivers Can contribute to stabilization of grid

 Power supply for municipalities of large cities and supply to national grids

 Most literature recommends the following general limits: - low-head plants H < 15m - medium-head plants H = 15 to 50m - high-head plants H > 50m

Low head river barrage

Low head

Low head with diversion channel

High head with no headrace channel

High head with headrace channel / pipeline

 Most common type in the context of mini and micro hydropower The diversion weir installed in the river causes a minimum impact to the river as it has no impact on the seasonal flow pattern downstream of this structure. In some cases an enlarged forebay serves as daily storage to cover daily peak demands. These schemes also count to the run-of-river-type.

 Not commonly used in the context of MHP (complex design and expensive to implement) Causes a large accumulation of water by flooding the valley upstream of it (large impact on the river ecology) Seasonal storage and flood prevention (regulation of the river flow). A common problem with large dams is the accumulation of silt.

 off-grid / captive generation The MHP supplies to an island grid, not interconnected with the national grid Hybrid-operation is also possible (supply from various sources to the micro-grid) on-grid The MHP directly supplies electricity to (usually) the national utility.

Tea Factory

Workers Village

Storage Pond Intake & Sandtrap

Penstock Headrace Canal Powerhouse

Thank you