Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Power
Generation
Lecture 5
History
Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and
perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard
Forest de Belidor published Architecture Hydraulique which
described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines
By the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed
and could now be coupled with hydraulics
The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive
development as well
In 1878 the world's first hydroelectric power scheme was
developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William
George Armstrong
It was used to power a single light bulb in his art gallery.
The old Schoelkopf Power Station No. 1 near Niagara Falls in the
U.S. side began to produce electricity in 1881
The first Edison hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street
Plant, began operating September 30, 1882, in Appleton,
Wisconsin, with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts
By 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power plants in the U.S. and
Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U.S. alone
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Cross section of a conventional hydroelectric
dam
A typical turbine and generator
Conventional (dams)
Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential
energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and
generator
The power extracted from the water depends on the
volume and on the difference in height between the
source and the water's outflow
This height difference is called the head
The amount of potential energy in water is proportional
to the head
A large pipe (the "penstock") delivers water to the
turbine
Pumped-storage
This method produces electricity to supply high peak
demands by moving water between reservoirs at
different elevations
At times of low electrical demand, excess generation
capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir
When there is higher demand, water is released back
into the lower reservoir through a turbine
Pumped-storage schemes currently provide the most
commercially important means of large-scale grid energy
storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the
generation system
Run-of-the-river
Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with
small or no reservoir capacity, so that the water coming
from upstream must be used for generation at that
moment, or must be allowed to bypass the dam.
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Tide
A tidal power plant makes use of the daily rise and fall
of ocean water due to tides; such sources are highly
predictable, and if conditions permit construction of
reservoirs, can also be dispatchable to generate power
during high demand periods
Less common types of hydro schemes use water's
kinetic energy or undammed sources such as
undershot waterwheels.
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Underground
An underground power station makes use of a large
natural height difference between two waterways, such
as a waterfall or mountain lake
An underground tunnel is constructed to take water
from the high reservoir to the generating hall built in an
underground cavern near the lowest point of the water
tunnel and a horizontal tailrace taking water away to the
lower outlet waterway
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Small
Small hydro is the development of hydroelectric power
on a scale serving a small community or industrial plant
The definition of a small hydro project varies but a
generating capacity of up to 10 megawatts (MW) is
generally accepted as the upper limit of what can be
termed small hydro
This may be stretched to 25 MW and 30 MW in Canada
and the United States
Small-scale hydroelectricity production grew by 28%
during 2008 from 2005, raising the total world small-hydro
capacity to 85 GW
Over 70% of this was in China (65 GW), followed by Japan
(3.5 GW), the United States (3 GW), and India (2 GW)
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Micro
Micro hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power
installations that typically produce up to 100 KW of
power
These installations can provide power to an isolated
home or small community, or are sometimes connected
to electric power networks
There are many of these installations around the world,
particularly in developing nations as they can provide an
economical source of energy without purchase of fuel
Micro hydro systems complement photovoltaic solar
energy systems because in many areas, water flow, and
thus available hydro power, is highest in the winter when
solar energy is at a minimum.
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Pico
PicohydroelectricityinMondulkiri,Cambodia
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Economics
The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination
of the cost of fuel
The cost of operating a hydroelectric plant is nearly
immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as
oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed
Hydroelectric plants have long economic lives, with
some plants still in service after 50100 years
Operating labor cost is also usually low, as plants are
automated and have few personnel on site during
normal operation.
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CO2 emissions
Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not
directly produce carbon dioxide
While some carbon dioxide is produced during manufacture and
construction of the project, this is a tiny fraction of the operating
emissions of equivalent fossil-fuel electricity generation
Hydroelectricity produces the least amount of greenhouse gases
and externality of any energy source
Coming in second place was wind, third was nuclear energy, and
fourth was solar photovoltaic
The extremely positive greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is
found especially in temperate climates
The above study was for local energy in Europe; presumably similar
conditions prevail in North America and Northern Asia, which all see
a regular, natural freeze/thaw cycle (with associated seasonal plant
decay and regrowth).
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Disadvantages
Ecosystem damage and loss of land
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Siltation
When water flows it has the ability to transport
particles heavier than itself downstream
This has a negative effect on dams and subsequently
their power stations, particularly those on rivers or
within catchment areas with high siltation
Siltation can fill a reservoir and reduce its capacity to
control floods along with causing additional horizontal
pressure on the upstream portion of the dam
Eventually, some reservoirs can become completely
full of sediment and useless or over-top during a flood
and fail
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Flow shortage
Changes in the amount of river flow will correlate with the amount
of energy produced by a dam
Lower river flows because of drought, climate change or upstream
dams and diversions will reduce the amount of live storage in a
reservoir therefore reducing the amount of water that can be used
for hydroelectricity
The result of diminished river flow can be power shortages in areas
that depend heavily on hydroelectric power
The risk of flow shortage may increase as a result of climate change
Studies from the Colorado River in the United States suggest that
modest climate changes, such as an increase in temperature in 2
degree Celsius resulting in a 10% decline in precipitation, might
reduce river run-o by up to 40%
Brazil in particular is vulnerable due to its heaving reliance on
hydroelectricity, as increasing temperatures, lower water ow and
alterations in the rainfall regime, could reduce total energy
production by 7% annually by the end of the century
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Relocation
Another disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the need
to relocate the people living where the reservoirs are
planned
In February 2008 it was estimated that 40-80 million
people worldwide had been physically displaced as a
direct result of dam construction
In many cases, no amount of compensation can replace
ancestral and cultural attachments to places that have
spiritual value to the displaced population
Additionally, historically and culturally important sites
can be flooded and lost
Such problems have arisen at the Aswan Dam in Egypt
between 1960 and 1980, the Three Gorges Dam in China,
the Clyde Dam in New Zealand, and the Ilisu Dam in
Turkey.
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Failure hazard
Because large conventional dammed-hydro facilities
hold back large volumes of water, a failure due to poor
construction, terrorism, or other cause can be
catastrophic to downriver settlements and
infrastructure
Dam failures have been some of the largest man-made
disasters in history
Also, good design and construction are not an
adequate guarantee of safety
Dams are tempting industrial targets for wartime
attack, sabotage and terrorism, such as Operation
Chastise in World War II
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Annual hydroelectric
production (TWh)
Installed
capacity (GW)
Capacity
factor
% of total
capacity
China
652.05
196.79
0.37
22.25
Canada
369.5
88.974
0.59
61.12
Brazil
363.8
69.080
0.56
85.56
United States
250.6
79.511
0.42
5.74
Russia
167.0
45.000
0.42
17.64
Norway
140.5
27.528
0.49
98.25
India
115.6
33.600
0.43
15.80
Venezuela
85.96
14.622
0.67
69.20
Japan
69.2
27.229
0.37
7.21
Sweden
65.5
16.209
0.46
44.34
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Marine Power
Marine current power, which captures the kinetic energy from marine
currents
Osmotic power, which channels river water into a container separated from
sea water by a semi-permeable membrane
Ocean thermal energy, which exploits the temperature difference between
deep and shallow waters
Tidal power, which captures energy from the tides in horizontal direction.
Also a popular form of hydroelectric power generation
Tidal stream power, usage of stream generators, somewhat similar to
that of a wind turbine
Tidal barrage power, usage of a tidal dam
Dynamic tidal power, utilizing large areas to generate head.
Wave power, the use ocean surface waves to generate power.
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Water turbine
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Swirl
The word turbine was introduced by the French
engineer Claude Bourdin in the early 19th century and is
derived from the Latin word for "whirling" or a "vortex
The main difference between early water turbines and
water wheels is a swirl component of the water which
passes energy to a spinning rotor
This additional component of motion allowed the
turbine to be smaller than a water wheel of the same
power
They could process more water by spinning faster and
could harness much greater heads
Later, impulse turbines were developed which didn't
use swirl
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Francis turbine
Side-view cutaway of a Francis turbine
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Application
Francis turbines may be designed for a wide range
of heads and flows
This, along with their high efficiency, has made
them the most widely used turbine in the world
Francis type units cover a head range from 20
meters to 700 meters, and their output power varies
from just a few kilowatts up to one gigawatt
Large Francis turbines are individually designed for
each site to operate at the highest possible
efficiency, typically over 90%
In addition to electrical production, they may also be
used for pumped storage, where a reservoir is filled
by the turbine (acting as a pump) during low power
demand, and then reversed and used to generate
power during peak demand
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A new concept
Theory of operation
Flowing water is directed on to the blades of a turbine
runner, creating a force on the blades
Since the runner is spinning, the force acts through a
distance (force acting through a distance is the
definition of work)
In this way, energy is transferred from the water flow to
the turbine
Water turbines are divided into two groups; reaction
turbines and impulse turbines
The precise shape of water turbine blades is a function
of the supply pressure of water, and the type of impeller
selected.
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Reaction turbines
Reaction turbines are acted on by water, which
changes pressure as it moves through the turbine and
gives up its energy
They must be encased to contain the water pressure
(or suction), or they must be fully submerged in the
water flow
Newton's third law describes the transfer of energy for
reaction turbines.
Most water turbines in use are reaction turbines and are
used in low (<30m/98 ft) and medium (30-300m/98
984 ft)head applications. In reaction turbine pressure
drop occurs in both fixed and moving blades.
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Impulse turbines
Impulse turbines change the velocity of a water jet. The jet pushes
on the turbine's curved blades which changes the direction of the
flow
The resulting change in momentum (impulse) causes a force on
the turbine blades. Since the turbine is spinning, the force acts
through a distance (work) and the diverted water flow is left with
diminished energy
Prior to hitting the turbine blades, the water's pressure (potential
energy) is converted to kinetic energy by a nozzle and focused on
the turbine
No pressure change occurs at the turbine blades, and the turbine
doesn't require a housing for operation
Newton's second law describes the transfer of energy for impulse
turbines
Impulse turbines are most often used in very high (>300m/984 ft)
head applications
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Power
The power available in a stream of water is;
where:
P = power (J/s or watts)
= turbine efficiency
= density of water (kg/m)
g = acceleration of gravity (9.81 m/s)
h = head (m)
For still water, this is the difference in height between
the inlet and outlet surfaces
Moving water has an additional component added to
account for the kinetic energy of the flow
The total head equals the
pressure head plus velocity head.= flow rate (m/s)
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Pumped storage
Some water turbines are designed for pumped
storage hydroelectricity
They can reverse flow and operate as a pump to fill a
high reservoir during off-peak electrical hours, and
then revert to a turbine for power generation during
peak electrical demand
This type of turbine is usually a Deriaz or Francis in
design
Efficiency
Large modern water turbines operate at mechanical
efficiencies greater than 90% (not to be confused with
thermodynamic efficiency).
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Reactionturbines:
Francis
Kaplan,Propeller,Bulb,Tube,Straflo
Tyson
Gorlov
Impulseturbine
Waterwheel
Pelton
Turgo
Michell-Banki(alsoknownastheCrossfloworOssberger
turbine)
Jonvalturbine
Reverseovershotwater-wheel
Archimedes'screwturbine
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Francis10<H<350
Pelton50<H<1300
Turgo50<H<250
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Specific speed
The specific speed ns of a turbine characterizes the
turbine's shape in a way that is not related to its size
This allows a new turbine design to be scaled from an
existing design of known performance
The specific speed is also the main criteria for
matching a specific hydro site with the correct turbine
type
The specific speed is the speed with which the turbine
turns for a particular discharge Q, with unit head and
thereby is able to produce unit power.
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Affinity laws
Affinity Laws allow the output of a turbine to be
predicted based on model tests
A miniature replica of a proposed design, about one
foot (0.3 m) in diameter, can be tested and the laboratory
measurements applied to the final application with high
confidence
Affinity laws are derived by requiring similitude
between the test model and the application
Flow through the turbine is controlled either by a large
valve or by wicket gates arranged around the outside of
the turbine runner
Differential head and flow can be plotted for a number
of different values of gate opening, producing a hill
diagram used to show the efficiency of theturbine at
varying conditions
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Runaway speed
The runaway speed of a water turbine is its speed at full
flow, and no shaft load
The turbine will be designed to survive the mechanical
forces of this speed
The manufacturer will supply the runaway speed rating.
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Environmental impact
Water turbines are generally considered a clean power
producer, as the turbine causes essentially no change
to the water
They use a renewable energy source and are designed
to operate for decades
They produce significant amounts of the world's
electrical supply
Historically there have also been negative
consequences, mostly associated with the dams
normally required for power production
Dams alter the natural ecology of rivers, potentially
killing fish, stopping migrations, and disrupting
peoples' livelihoods.
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