hydro-electric power

plant

It plays very important role in the development of

country.
It provides power at cheapest rate.
About 20% of the total world power is generated using
hydro power plants.

1.

Fuels.

2.

Energy storage of water.

3.

Nuclear energy.

4.

Wind energy.

5.

Tidal energy.

6.

Solar energy.

7.

Geothermal energy.

8.

Thermo electric power

Thermal Power Generation system.

Hydro electric Power Generation system.

Nuclear Power Generation system.

Diesel Power Generation system.

Non conventional energy power Generation system.

TYPES OF HYDRO
ELECTRIC POWER
STATION.

ADVANTAGES.

DISADVANTAGES.

PARTS OF HYDRO
ELECTRIC POWER
STATION.

LAW HEAD
SCHEME.

SITE SILECTION OF
HYDRO POWER
STATION.

HIGH HEAD
SCHEME.

MEDIUM HEAD
SCHEME.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_how.html

Meteorology

Study of the atmosphere including

weather and climate.

Surface water hydrology

Flow and occurrence of
water on the surface
of the earth.

Hydrogeology

Flow and occurrence

of ground water.

Watersheds

Hydrology may be defined as the science which deals with the

depletion and replenishment of water resources. It deals with
surface water as well as ground water. It is also concerned
with transportation of water from one place to another.
MASS CURVE
Mass curve is the graph of cumulative values of water quantity
against time.

 There are many types of hydrographs. Hydrograph is

defined as a graph showing discharge of flowing water
with respect to time for a specified time.

Graph of stream flow vs. time

Obtained by means of a continuous recorder which
indicates stage vs. time (stage hydrograph)
Transformed to a discharge hydrograph by application of
a rating curve.
Typically are complex multiple peak curves Available on
the web.

storm of Duration D
Precipitation

tl
tp

peak flow

Discharge
Q

baseflow
new baseflow

w/o rainfall
Time

If we measure the rainfall and put it on a time graph and link that
to the amount of water in the river, we have some really useful
information!
This graph is hydrograph. It plots rainfall against discharge (that
is the amount of water in the river as it passes a particular point
measured in cubic metres per seconds or cumecs).
Changes measured over time is river regime - eg. in winter there
is more rain, less evaporation, less vegetation to absorb it.

Rate of flow at any instant during the duration period.

Total volume of flow upto that instant as the area under
hydrograph denotes the volume of water in that
duration.
The mean annual run-off.
The minimum and maximum run-off for the year.

Flow duration curve is a useful form to represent the run-off

data for the given time. This curve is plotted between flow
available during a period versus the fraction of time.

The flow duration curve is drawn with the help of hydrograph

from the available run-off data and is necessary to find out the
time duration for which flows available .

The potential is about 84000 MW at 60% load factor spread

across six major basins in the country.
Pumped storage sites have been found recently which leads to
a further addition of a maximum of 94000 MW.
Annual yield is assessed to be about 420 billion units per year
though with seasonal energy the value crosses600 billion
mark.
The possible installed capacity is around 150000 MW (Based
on the report submitted by CEA to the Ministry of Power)

The proportion of hydro power increased from 35% from the

first five year plan to 46% in the third five year plan but has
since then decreased continuously to 25% in 2001.
The theoretical potential of small hydro power is 10071 MW.
Currently about 17% of the potential is being harnessed.

About 6.3% is still under construction.

NAME

STATA

CAPACITY (MW)

BHAKRA

PUNJAB

1100

NAGARJUNA

ANDHRA PRADESH

960

KOYNA

MAHARASHTRA

920

DEHAR

HIMACHAL PRADESH

990

SHARAVATHY

KARNATAKA

891

KALINADI

KARNATAKA

810

SRISAILAM

ANDHRA PRADESH

770

POWER HOUSE

RESEVOIR

PENSTOCK

DAM

TURBINE
INTAKE

TRANSFORMER

GENERATOR

POWER LINE

Water from the reservoir

flows due to gravity to
drive the turbine.
Turbine is connected to a
generator.
Power
generated
is
transmitted over power
lines.

A water turbine that convert the energy of

flowing or falling water into mechanical energy
that drives a generator, which generates electrical
power. This is a heart of hydropower power plant.
A control mechanism to provide stable electrical
power. It is called governor.
Electrical transmission line to deliver the power
to its destination.

Large plants : capacity >30 MW

Small Plants : capacity b/w 100 kW to 30 MW
Micro Plants : capacity up to 100 kW

Pico hydroelectric plant.

Up to 10kW, remote areas, away from the grid.
Micro hydroelectric plant
Capacity 10kW to 300kW, usually provided power for small
community or rural industry in remote areas away from the
grid.
Small hydroelectric plant.
Capacity 300kW to 1MW
Mini hydroelectric plant.
Capacity above 1MW
Medium hydroelectric plant.
15 - 100 MW usually feeding a grid.
Large hydroelectric plant.
More than 100 MW feeding into a large electricity grid.

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON HEAD.

A.

High head plant

B.

Medium head plant. (60m to 300 m.)

C.

Low head plant. ( > 60m.)

( < 300 m.)

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON WATER CONDITION.

A.

Flow of water plant.

B.

Storage of water plant.

C.

Pump storage water plant.

Many creeks and rivers are permanent, they never dry

up, and these are the most suitable for micro-hydro
power production.
Micro hydro turbine could be a water-wheel turbine,
Pelton wheel. (most common turbine).
Others : Turgo, Cross-flow and various axial flow
turbines.

Head
Water must fall from a higher elevation to a lower one to
release its stored energy.
The difference between these elevations (the water levels in the
forebay and the tailbay) is called head.

Dams: Are of three categories.

high-head (800 or more feet)
medium-head (100 to 800 feet)
low-head (less than 100 feet)

Power

is

proportional

to

the

product

of

head x flow
http://www.wapa.gov/crsp/info/harhydro.htm

27

Large-hydro
More than 100 MW feeding into a large electricity grid.

Medium-hydro
15 - 100 MW usually feeding a grid.

Small-hydro
1 - 15 MW - usually feeding into a grid.

Mini-hydro
Above 100 kW, but below 1 MW.

Micro-hydro
From 5kW up to 100 kW
Usually provided power for a small community or rural industry in remote
areas away from the grid.

Pico-hydro
From a few hundred watts up to 5kW.
Remote areas away from the grid.

Classification based on operation.

A.

Manual plant.

B.

Automatic plant.

Classification based on type of load.

A.

B.

Base load plant.

Peak load 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.

7. Tunnel.

8. Penstock or pipe line.

9. Surge tank.

10. Draft tube.

11. Tail race.

12. Fish passes.

13. Turbine.

1.High head schemes.

2.Medium head schemes.

3.Low head schemes.

1.High head schemes. (Impulse turbine, pelton wheel)

2.Medium head schemes. (reaction turbine )

3.Low head schemes. (propeller turbine )

Used in remote locations in northern Canada

base load capacity

Water flows downhill during day/peak periods

Typical efficiency of 70 85%Completed 1967

Capacity 324 MW
Two 162 MW units.

Purpose energy storage

Water pumped uphill at night

Low usage excess

36

There is substantial increase in peak load capacity of

plant at comparatively low capital cost.
There is an improvement in the load factor of plant.
Load on hydro-electrical plant remains uniform.

Name

Country

Year

Max
Generation

Annual
Production

Three Gorges

China

2009

18,200 MW

Itaip

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.

Hydroelectricity, Wikipedia.org

38

Arch
Gravity
Buttress
Embankment or Earth

FIRST ELEMENT :-

DAMS

Arch shape gives strength

Less material (cheaper)
Narrow sites
Need strong abutments

Weight holds dam in

place.
Lots of concrete.
(expensive)

Face is held up by a
series of supports.
Flat or curved face.

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

44

Head Pressure

Impulse

High

Medium

Low

Pelton
Turgo
Multi-jet Pelton

Crossflow
Turgo
Multi-jet Pelton

Crossflow

Francis
Pump-as-Turbine

Propeller
Kaplan

Reaction

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

Francis Turbine
Kaplan Turbine
Pelton Turbine
Turgo Turbine
New Designs

Specific speed; high specific speed is essential where head is

low.
Rotational speed;
Efficiency;
Part of load operation;
Cavitations;
Disposition of turbine shaft;
Head;

Reaction Turbines

Derive power from pressure drop across turbine.

Totally immersed in water.
Angular & linear motion converted to shaft power.
Propeller, Francis, and Kaplan turbines

Impulse Turbines
Convert kinetic energy of water jet hitting buckets.
No pressure drop across turbines.
Pelton, Turgo, and crossflow turbines

Uses the velocity of the water to move the runner and

discharges to atmospheric pressure.
The water stream hits each bucket on the runner.
High head, low flow applications.
Types : Pelton turbine, Turgo turbine

Uses the velocity of the water to move the runner and

discharges to atmospheric pressure.

The water stream hits each bucket on the runner.

No suction downside, water flows out through turbine housing

after hitting.
High head, low flow applications.
Types : Pelton wheel, Cross Flow

Combined action of pressure and moving water.

Runner placed directly in the water stream flowing over
the blades rather than striking each individually.
Lower head and higher flows than compared with the
impulse turbines.

It is run-of-river power plant.

Do not worry about the turbidity of water.
There is no danger of cavitations.
It is simple to construct, repaired and maintenance.

The slow rotation of chain turbine leads to high

speed ratios when connect to generator at 600
rpm 1500 rpm.
This chain turbine operation is very noisy.
Structure of turbine is very big.

Nozzles direct forceful

streams of water against
a series of spoon-shaped
buckets mounted around
the edge of a wheel.
Each bucket reverses the
flow of water and this
impulse spins the
turbine.

Suited for high head, low

flow sites.
The largest units can be
up to 200 MW.
Can operate with heads as
small as 15 meters and as
high as 1,800 meters.

Kaplan
Francis
Pelton
Turgo

2
10
50
50

<
<
<
<

H < 40
H < 350
H < 1300
H < 250

(where H = head in
meters)

Constr uction of Turbine.

Inlet
Outlet
Impulse turbine for High head plant.

Medium head plant

Medium head plant

Propeller turbine for low head plant.

Its function is to prevent sudden increase of pressure in the

supply line or in the penstock. It is placed as near as possible
to the turbine.
Water hammer
Due to the variation in the demand of water supply according
to load, the turbine gates get closed suddenly which cause
increase in pressure. This is known as water hammer.

Tailraces:-

What is the function of Spill ways?

1.

The plant is simple in construction ,robust and required

low maintenance.

2.

It can be put in the service instantly.

3.

It can respond to changing loads without any difficulty.

4.

There are no stand by losses.

5.

The running charges are very small.

6.

No fuels is burnt.

7.

The plant is quite neat and clean.

8.

The water after running the turbine can be used for

irrigation and other purpose.

1.

The capital cost of generators, civil engineering work etc is

high.

2.

High cost of transmission lines.

3.

Long dry seasons may effect the delivery of power.

1.

sufficient quantity of water at a reasonable head should be

available.

2.

The site should allow for strong foundations with minimum

cost.

3.

There should be no possibility of future source of leakage of

water.

4.

The selected site should be accessible easily.

5.

There should be possibility of stream diversion during

construction period.

6.

The reservoir to be constructed should have large catchments

area, so that the water in it should never fall below the
minimum level.

Environmental Benefits of Hydro power plant.

No operational greenhouse gas emissions.
Non-environmental benefits
flood control, irrigation, transportation, fisheries
and tourism.

The loss of land under the reservoir.

Interference with the transport of sediment by the
dam.
Problems associated with the reservoir.

Climatic and seismic effects.

Impact on aquatic ecosystems, flora and
fauna.

A large area is taken up in the form of a reservoir in

case of large dams.

This leads to inundation of fertile alluvial rich soil in

the flood plains, forests and even mineral deposits
and the potential drowning of archeological sites.

Power per area ratio is evaluated to quantify this

impact. Usually ratios lesser than 5 KW per hectare
implies that the plant needs more land area than
competing renewable resources. However this is only
an empirical relation.

Capture of sediment decreases the fertility downstream as a

long term effect.
It also leads to deprivation of sand to beaches in coastal
areas.
If the water is diverted out of the basin, there might be salt
water intrusion into the inland from the ocean, as the
previous balance between this salt water and upstream fresh
water in altered.
It may lead to changes in the ecology of the estuary area and
lead to decrease in agricultural productivity.

It is believed that large reservoirs induce have the

potential to induce earthquakes.

In tropics, existence of man-made lakes decreases the

convective activity and reduces cloud cover. In
temperate regions, fog forms over the lake and along
the shores when the temperature falls to zero and thus
increases humidity in the nearby area.

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)

Non toxic dust

Sulphurous anhydride
Carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Soot (fly ash)
Hydrogen sulphide
Pollution can be define as the contamination of soil, air and
water with undesirable amount of material and heat.

 Acid rain; the rain which contain acid as its constituents,

brings all the acid down from high above the environment.

Contaminant; it is the another name of pollution. It is

undesirable substances which may be physical, chemical or
biological.

Pollutant; these are undesirable substances

present in the
environment these can be NO2, SO2, CO2,smoke,salt, bacteria.

Greater reliability of supply to the consumers.

Avoid complete shut down.
The overall cost of energy per unit of an interconnected
system is less.
There is a more effective use of transmission line facilities.
Less capital investment required.
Less expenses on supervision, operation and maintenance.

Due to limited generating capacity diesel power stations

is not suitable for base load plants.
Nuclear power stations is not suitable for peak load plants.

Incremental rate curve shows that as output power

increases, cost of plant also increases.

Flat rate tariff; by estimating load factor and diversity factor

for various uses of electricity, we may merge the equitable
contributation to the fixed charge of a particular class of
consumers with each KWH consumption, the resultant tariff is
a Flat rate tariff .

Two part tariff; total charge is split into two components i.e. a
fixed charge depend upon the maximum demand and a
variable charge based upon the energy consumption.

Block rate tariff; using this tariff, the fixed charge is merged
into the unit charge for one or two blocks of consumption, all
units in excess being charged at low unit rate.
Maximum demand tariff; these tariff differ from two part
tariff only in the sense that maximum demand is actually
measured by a demand indicator instead of assessing it merely
on the bases of ratable value.
Power factor tariff; power factor tariffs are devised to make a
distinction between overall charge per unit to be recovered
from two types of consumers, one having a good power factor
and the other having a poor power factor.

Wind power plants is least reliable, and hydro power plants

are most reliable.
The power output from hydro power plant depends on
discharge, head and system efficiency.
The power output from hydro power plant in KW is given by
0.736Qwh/75
In hydro power plant the operating cost is low but the initial
cost is high.
Gross head of an hydro power station is the difference of
water level between in the storage and tail race.

The flow duration curve at a given head of hydro power plant

is used to determine total power available at the site.
The draft tube is provided to increase the acting head on the
water wheel.
For low head power plants kaplan turbines are used.
For high head and low discharge power plants pelton wheel
turbines are used.
1.25
The specific speed (Ns) of a turbine is given by Ns=NP/H
The specific speed (Ns) of a turbine is the speed at which the
turbine develops unit horse power at unit head.