Hydroelectric Power plants

Course Teacher:
Engr. Faraz Humayun
Course Code:
EEP-559
Course Title:
Power Generation & Plant Operation
Venue:
Department of Electrical Engineering , Bahria University Karachi.
1
 Hydro-electric Power Station

HYDRO-ELECTRIC
POWER PLANT 2
Hydro-electric Power Station
• A generating station which utilizes the potential energy of water at a
high level for the generation of electrical energy is known as a hydro-
electric power station.

• Hydro-electric power stations are generally located in hilly areas

where dams can be built conveniently and large water reservoirs can
be obtained. In a hydro-electric power station, water head is created
by constructing a dam across a river or lake. From the dam, water is
led to a water turbine.

3
Hydro-electric Power Station (Multipurpose)
• Hydro projects are developed for the following purposes:

1. To control the floods in the rivers.

2. Generation of power.
3. Storage of irrigation water.
4. Storage of the drinking water supply.

4
Hydro-electric Power Station
• The water turbine captures the energy in the falling water and changes
the hydraulic energy (i.e., product of head and flow of water) into
mechanical energy at the turbine shaft. The turbine drives the
alternator which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

• Hydro-electric power stations are becoming very popular because the

reserves of fuels (i.e., coal and oil) are depleting day by day. They
have the added importance for flood control, storage of water for
irrigation and water for drinking purposes.

5
Hydro-electric Power Station
• When rain water falls over the earth’s surface, it possesses potential
energy relative to sea or ocean towards which it flows. If at a certain
point, the water falls through an appreciable vertical height, this
energy can be converted into shaft work.
• As the water falls through a certain height, its potential energy is
converted into kinetic energy and this kinetic energy is converted to
the mechanical energy by allowing the water to flow through the
hydraulic turbine runner.
• This mechanical energy is utilized to run an electric generator which
is coupled to the turbine shaft.

6
Hydro-electric Power Station
• The power developed in this manner is given as:

Power = W.Q.H.η watts

where
 W = Specific weight of water, N/m3
 Q = rate of water flow, m3/sec.
 H = Height of fall or head, m
 η = efficiency of conversion of potential energy into mechanical energy

7
Hydro-electric Power Station
• Advantages
1. It requires no fuel as water is used for the generation of electrical
energy. (White Coal)
2. It is quite neat and clean as no smoke or ash is produced.
3. It requires very small running cost because water is the source of
energy which is available free of cost.
4. It is comparatively simple in construction and requires less
maintenance.
5. It does not require a long starting time like a steam power station. In
fact, such plants can be put into service instantly.

8
Hydro-electric Power Station
6. It is robust and has a longer life.
7. Such plants serve many purposes. In addition to the generation of
electrical energy, they also help in irrigation and controlling floods.
8. Although such plants require the attention of highly skilled persons at
the time of construction, yet for operation, a few experienced persons
may do the job well.
9. Modern hydro generators give high efficiency over a considerable
range of load. Thus helps in improving the system efficiency.

9
Hydro-electric Power Station
• Disadvantages
1. It involves high capital cost with low rate of return due to
construction of dam.
2. The gestation period of hydro plants is very large This may extend
up to 10 to 15 years.
3. There is uncertainty about the availability of huge amount of water
due to dependence on weather conditions.
4. Large hydro projects disturb the ecology of the area by deforestation,
destroying vegetation and uprooting people.
5. Skilled and experienced hands are required to build the plant.
6. It requires high cost of transmission lines as the plant is located in
hilly areas which are quite away from the consumers. 10
 Schematic Arrangement
of Hydro-electric Power Station

11
Schematic Arrangement of Hydro-electric Power Station
• Although a hydro-electric power station simply involves the
conversion of hydraulic energy into electrical energy, yet it embraces
many arrangements for proper working and efficiency.
• The schematic arrangement of a modern hydro-electric plant is shown
in Fig. 2.2.

12
Schematic Arrangement of Hydro-electric Power Station
• The dam is constructed across a river or lake and water from the
catchment area collects at the back of the dam to form a reservoir. A
pressure tunnel is taken off from the reservoir and water brought to
the valve house at the start of the penstock.
• The valve house contains main sluice valves and automatic isolating
valves.
• The former controls the water flow to the power house and the latter
cuts off supply of water when the penstock bursts. From the valve
house, water is taken to water turbine through a huge steel pipe
known as penstock.

13
Schematic Arrangement of Hydro-electric Power Station
• The water turbine converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy.
The turbine drives the alternator which converts mechanical energy
into electrical energy.
• A surge tank (open from top) is built just before the valve house and
protects the penstock from bursting in case the turbine gates suddenly
close* due to electrical load being thrown off. When the gates close,
there is a sudden stopping of water at the lower end of the penstock
and consequently the penstock can burst like a paper log.
• The surge tank absorbs this pressure swing by increase in its level of
water.

14
Choice of Site for Hydro-electric Power Stations

15
Choice of Site for Hydro-electric Power Stations
• The following points should be taken into account while selecting the
site for a hydro-electric power station :
1. Availability of water. Since the primary requirement of a hydro-
electric power station is the availability of huge quantity of water,
such plants should be built at a place (e.g., river, canal) where
adequate water is available at a good head.

16
Choice of Site for Hydro-electric Power Stations
2. Storage of water. There are wide variations in water supply from a
river or canal during the year. This makes it necessary to store water
by constructing a dam in order to ensure the generation of power
throughout the year. The storage helps in equalising the flow of water
so that any excess quantity of water at a certain period of the year can
be made available during times of very low flow in the river. This
leads to the conclusion that site selected for a hydro-electric plant
should provide adequate facilities for erecting a dam and storage of
water.

17
Choice of Site for Hydro-electric Power Stations
3. Cost and type of land. The land for the construction of the plant
should be available at a reasonable price. Further, the bearing
capacity of the ground should be adequate to withstand the weight of
heavy equipment to be installed.
4. Transportation facilities. The site selected for a hydro-electric plant
should be accessible by rail and road so that necessary equipment and
machinery could be easily transported.

• It is clear from the above mentioned factors that ideal choice of site
for such a plant is near a river in hilly areas where dam can be
conveniently built and large reservoirs can be obtained.
18
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant

19
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
• The constituents of a hydro-electric plant are (1) hydraulic structures
(2) water turbines and (3) electrical equipment. We shall discuss
these items in turn.
1. Hydraulic structures. Hydraulic structures in a hydro-electric power
station include dam, spillways, headworks, surge tank, penstock and
accessory works.

20
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
a) Dam. A dam is a barrier which stores water and creates water head.
Dams are built of concrete or stone masonary, earth or rock fill. The
type and arrangement depends upon the topography of the site. A
masonary dam may be built in a narrow canyon. An earth dam may
be best suited for a wide valley. The type of dam also depends upon
the foundation conditions, local materials and transportation
available, occurrence of earthquakes and other hazards. At most of
sites, more than one type of dam may be suitable and the one which is
most economical is chosen.

21
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
b) Intakes which lead the water to the plant and which may consist of
canals, flumes, pipelines, pressure tunnels, or a combination of some
of these.
c) Penstocks which generally consist of one or more pipes connected in
parallel and in which long penstocks must have sufficient diameter to
prevent the condition known as “water hammer.” Water hammer is
used by surges in pressure and velocity reduction in the pipes when
more or less sudden changes occur in the smooth and uniform flow of
water.
d) Valves and gates which control the flow of water to the water
wheel— sometimes called a water turbine—and which may be of
different types and configurations. 22
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
e) Racks which protect the water wheels against ice, trash, and other
debris and which are essentially steel screens whose spacing may
vary with location.
f) Spillways. There are times when the river flow exceeds the storage
capacity of the reservoir. Such a situation arises during heavy rainfall
in the catchment area. In order to discharge the surplus water from
the storage reservoir into the river on the down-stream side of the
dam, spillways are used. Spillways are constructed of concrete piers
on the top of the dam. Gates are provided between these piers and
surplus water is discharged over the crest of the dam by opening
these gates.
23
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
c) Headworks. The headworks consists of the diversion structures at
the head of an intake. They generally include booms and racks for
diverting floating debris, sluices for by-passing debris and sediments
and valves for controlling the flow of water to the turbine. The flow
of water into and through headworks should be as smooth as possible
to avoid head loss and cavitation. For this purpose, it is necessary to
avoid sharp corners and abrupt contractions or enlargements.
d) Tail Races which carry away or discharge of the “spent” water, with a
minimum sacrifice of head, to the body of water or stream below the
dam structure and which may consist of concrete or steel pipes,
tunnels, or other passageways.
24
Constituents of Hydro-electric Plant
d)Surge tank. Open conduits leading water
to the turbine require no* protection.
However, when closed conduits are used,
protection becomes necessary to limit the
abnormal pressure in the conduit. For this
reason, closed conduits are always provided
with a surge tank.
•A surge tank is a small reservoir or tank
(open at the top) in which water level rises or
falls to reduce the pressure swings in the
conduit.
25
Water Power Equation

26
Water Power Equation
• The water power which can be obtained from any river or stream can
be determined by the following two parameters.
• The available head H
• The rate of discharge of water Q

• The total head H between the water levels at inlet and the tail race is
called total or gross head. In order to obtain the available head the
following head losses should be deducted from the gross head.

27
Water Power Equation

28
Water Power Equation
• The different losses are:
• h1=loss due to inlet to the head race caused by the bend in flow of
water.
• h2= head loss due to friction and whirls in the head race.
• h3 = head loss in the second grid (fine grid)
• h4= head loss in the tail race.
2
v1
KE of water at the inlet to turbine 
2g
• where v1 is the velocity of the water at the inlet to the turbine.

29
Water Power Equation
• Similarly if v2 is the velocity of the water at the outlet of the turbine
then
2
v
Kinetic discharge to the tail race  2
2g
• The net kinetic energy which must be added to the gross head
2 2
v1 v2
 
2g 2g
• Thus the available head H is
2 2
v v
 H gross   h  1  2
2g 2g

30
Water Power Equation
• If 1 kg of water falls through H meters height in such a way that it
reaches to the lower position at zero velocity, the work done in this
fall can be given as
1kg  H  H (kg.m)
• If Q is the quantity of water (in m3 per second) fallen through H
meters height. The theoretical work done is given by:
Wth  QH

• Where w is the specific gravity of water in kg/unit volume in which Q

is represented in m3/sec.
• W =1000kg/m3 for Q in m3/sec and w=1kg/liter for Q in litre/sec
31
Water Power Equation
• If η is the efficiency of the system then the effective work done or
output of the system is given by:

Weff  QH (kg.m / sec)

• And the metric output

QH
The metric output (hp) 
75
• 1hp=75kg.m/sec
QH  746
Output (kW) 
75 1000

• 1hp=746W
32
Water Power Equation
• A river has a discharge of 400 liters per second and the available head
is 80 meters. Will it be advisable to use a single jet pelton wheel
running at 700rpm. If not what is your recommendation? Assume
efficiency of the machine as 87%.

QH
P
75
0.87 1 400  80
P  371.2hp
75

33
Classification of Hydraulic Turbines
(Prime Movers)

34
Hydraulic Turbines
• The prime-mover in the hydraulic power plant converts the energy of
water into mechanical energy and further into electrical energy.
• These machines are classified on the basis of the action of water an
moving blades. As per the action of water on the prime-mover, they
are classified as impulse turbine and reaction turbine.

35
Hydraulic Turbines
• In impulse type turbine, the pressure energy of the water is converted
into kinetic energy when passed through the nozzle and forms the
high velocity jet of water. The formed water jet is used for driving the
wheel.
• In case of reaction turbine, the water pressure combined with the
velocity works on the runner. The power in this turbine is developed
from the combined action of pressure and velocity of water that
completely fills the runner and water passage.
• Summary
• Impulse turbines: High-head, low flowrate devices.
• Reaction turbines: Low-head, high-flowrate devices.
36
37
Hydraulic Turbines
• The casing of the impulse turbine operates at atmospheric: pressure
whereas the casing of the reaction turbine operates under high
pressure. The pressure acts on the rotor and vacuum underneath it.
This is why the casing of reaction turbine is made completely leak
proof.
• The details of few turbines which are commonly used in hydro-
electric power plants are given below.
• Pelton
• Francis
• Kaplan

38
Pelton Turbine
• Figure shows the layout of the Pelton turbine. This was discovered by
Pelton in 1880. This is a special type of axial flow impulse turbine
generally mounted on horizontal shaft, as mentioned earlier A number
of buckets are mounted round the periphery of the wheel as shown in
Fig.

39
Pelton Turbine
• The water is directed towards the wheel through a nozzle or nozzles.
The flow of water through the nozzle is generally controlled by
special regulating system. The water jet after impinging on the
buckets is deflected through an angle of 160° and flows axially in
both directions thus avoiding the axial thrust on the wheel.
• The hydraulic efficiency of Peltan wheel lies between 85 to 95%.
Now-a-days, Pelton wheels are used for very high heads upto 2000
meters.
• Arrangement of jets. In most of the Pelton wheel plants, single jet
with horizontal shaft is used. The number of the jets adopted depends
upon the specific speed required.
40
Pelton Turbine
• Any impulse turbine achieves its maximum efficiency when the
velocity of the bucket at the center line of the jet is slightly under half
the jet velocity. Hence, for maximum speed of rotation, the mean
diameter of the runner should be as small as possible. There is a limit
to the size of the jet which can be applied to any impulse turbine
runner without seriously reducing the efficiency.
• In early twenties, a normal ratio of D/d was about 10 : 1. In a modern
Turgo impulse turbine, it is reduced upto 4.5 to 1. The basic
advantage of Turgo impulse turbine is that a much larger jet could be
applied to a runner of a given mean diameter. The jet of pelton turbine
strikes the splitter edge of the bucket, bifurcates and is discharged at
either side. 41
Reaction Turbine
• The reaction turbines are further divided into two general types as
Francis and Propeller Type.
• The propeller turbines are further subdivided into fixed blade
propeller type and the adjustable blade type as Kaplan Turbine.

42
Francis Turbine
• In Francis turbine, the water enters into a casing with a relatively low
velocity, passes through guide vanes located around the
circumference and flows through the runner and finally discharges
into a draft tube sealed below the tailwater level.
• The water passage from the headrace to tail race is completely filled
with water which acts upon the whole circumference of the runner.
• A large part of the power is obtained from the difference in pressure
acting on the front and back of the runner buckets, and only a part of
total power is derived from the dynamic action of the water.

43
Propeller Turbine
• The propeller runner may be considered as a development of a Francis
type in which the number of blades is greatly reduced and the lower
band omitted.
• It is axial flow turbine having a small number of blades from three to
six as shown in Fig. 11.22.

44
Propeller Turbine
• The propeller turbine may be fixed blade type or movable blades type
known as Kaplan Turbine.
• The fixed blade propeller type turbine has high efficiency (88°l0) ; at
full load but its efficiency rapidly drops with decrease in load.
• The efficiency of the unit is hardly 50% at 40% of full load at part
load operation. The use of propeller turbine is limited to the
installations where the units run at full load conditions at all times.
The use of propeller turbine is further limited to low head installations
of 5 to 10 meters.

45
Specific Speed

46
Specific Speed
• The design engineer has a variety of turbine types available for any
given application.
• It is necessary to determine which type of turbine would best fit the
job before detailed design work is attempted.
• As with pump, the use of a specific speed parameter can help provide
this information.
• It is defined as the speed of a turbine which is identical in shape,
geometrical dimensions, blade angles, gate opening etc., with the
actual turbine but of such a size that it will develop unit power when
working under unit head
• „ This is the speed at which the runner of a particular diameter will
develop 1kW (1hp) power under 1m(1 ft) head. 47
Specific Speed
• It is defined as the speed of a turbine which is identical in shape,
geometrical dimensions, blade angles, gate opening etc., with the
actual turbine but of such a size that it will develop unit power when
working under unit head
• „ This is the speed at which the runner of a particular diameter will
develop 1kW (1hp) power under 1m(1 ft) head.

N (rpm) P(hp)
N s (rpm)  5/ 4
[ H (m)]

48
Specific Speed
• A river has a discharge of 400 liters per second and the available head
is 80 meters. Will it be advisable to use a single jet pelton wheel
running at 700rpm. If not what is your recommendation? Assume
efficiency of the machine as 87%.

QH
P
75
0.87 1 400  80
P  371.2hp
75

49
Specific Speed
• The specific speed of the machine is given by
N (rpm) P(hp)
N s (rpm)  5/ 4
[ H (m)]

700(rpm) 371.2(hp)
N s (rpm)  5/ 4
 56.36
[80(m)]

50
Specific Speed
• Typical turbine cross sections
and maximum efficiencies as
a function of specific speed.

• Provide a guide for turbine-

type selection.
• The actual turbine efficiency
for a given turbine depends
very strongly on the detailed
design of the turbine.

51
Specific Speed
• Since the specific speed of a pelton wheel is varies between 10 to
40rpm, the above speed is not within the range of pelton wheel. So
either two wheel should be used or two jets with one wheel should be
used if H>300m. Therefore Francis turbine could be used.

52
Input Energy Sources

53
Input Energy Sources
Sources of energy for the production of electricity are many and varied. In
addition to the energy contained in falling water, the more common are
contained in fuels which contain chemical energy. These can be
characterized as fossil and non-fossil fuels; the former, formed from
animal and plant matter over thousands of years, while the latter
comprises radioactive-associated materials. Coal, oil and natural gas fall
into the fi rst category as fossil fuels, while uranium and plutonium (and
less known thorium) comprise so-called nuclear fuels. All fuels may be
classifi ed as solid, liquid or gaseous, for handling purposes.

54
Input Energy Sources
A number of fuels commonly employed in the production of electricity are
contained in Table 2-1; representative values of their heat content and the
components of the chemical compounds are indicated.

55
Input Energy Sources
a

56
Definitions

57
Definitions
• Combustion, commonly referred to as burning, is the chemical
process that unites the combustible content of the fuel with oxygen in
the air at a rapid rate. The process converts the chemical energy of the
fuel into heat energy, and leaves visible waste products of
combustion, generally in the form of ash and smoke.
• Chemistry of Combustion: In order to understand what takes place
when fuel is burned, it is desirable (though not essential) to review the
chemistry of the action involved.

58
Definitions
• Elements, Molecules and Atoms: All substances are made up of one
or more “elements.” An element is a basic substance which, in present
definition, cannot be subdivided into simpler forms. The way these
elements combine is called chemistry.
• The smallest quantity of an element, or of a compound of two or more
elements, is considered to be the physical unit of matter and is called a
“molecule.” In turn, molecules are composed of atoms. An atom is
defined as the smallest unit of an element which may be added to or
be taken away from a molecule. Atoms may exist singly but are
usually combined with one or more atoms to form a molecule.

59
Definitions
• Molecules of gaseous elements, such as oxygen, hydrogen and
nitrogen, each consist of two atoms. See Figure 2-3.

60
Definitions
• Chemical Combinations: Chemical symbols and equations convey
much information in a condensed form. Chemical combinations may
be written as equations in which, for convenience, symbols are used to
represent different elements.
• Thus, for the gaseous elements mentioned above: O represents one
atom of oxygen, H one atom of hydrogen, and N one atom of
nitrogen.
• As indicated above, molecules of gaseous elements each contain two
atoms and are represented by O2; H2; and N2. Molecules of non-
gaseous elements may consist of a single atom; for example, carbon
represented by C, sulphur by S, etc.
61
Definitions
• Water is represented by H2O which indicates that each molecule of
which it is composed consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one of
oxygen. Two molecules of water would be indicated by placing the
number 2 in front of the symbol - thus, 2H2O.
• Atoms of the different elements have different relative “weights;”
hence chemical combinations always take place in definite
proportions.

62
Definitions
• For example, hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water: these
two elements combine in the proportion of two atoms of hydrogen to
one atom of oxygen and it will be found that 2 pounds of hydrogen
will combine with 16 pounds of oxygen to make 18 pounds of water.
• If more hydrogen is present, it will remain uncombined; if less, some
of the oxygen will remain uncombined. The parts entering into
combination will always be in the proportion of one to eight.

63
Definitions
• Atomic and Molecular Weights: Since the elements combine in
certain defi nite proportions, a value has been assigned to each one to
simplify the computations. This value is called the “atomic weight.”
Hydrogen, being the lightest known element, has been taken as one or
unity, and the heavier elements given weights in proportion.
• The following atomic weights are used in fuel combustion problems:
• Hydrogen (H) .............. 1
• Carbon (C) .................. 12
• Nitrogen (N) .............. 14
• Oxygen (O) ................. 16
• Sulphur (S) ................. 32
64
Definitions
• The molecular weight of a substance is obtained by the addition of the
atomic weights composing the substance. Thus, carbon dioxide, CO2,
has a molecular weight of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms:
1 × 12 + 2 × 16 = 12 + 32 = 44
that is, the molecular weight of carbon dioxide is 44.

65
Definitions
• Fuel and Air: Fossil fuels are composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H),
sulphur (S), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and some other important
elements.
• As indicated previously, the largest percentage of such fuels is pure
carbon and the next largest part is hydrocarbons composed of
hydrogen and carbon in varying proportions, depending on the kind of
fuel.
• Air is mainly a combination of two elements, oxygen (O) and nitrogen
(N), existing separately physically and not in chemical combination.

66
Definitions
• Neglecting minor quantities of other gases, oxygen forms 23.15
percent of air by weight, nitrogen forming the other 76.85 percent. On
the other hand, the volumes of the two gases would be in proportion
of 20.89 percent oxygen and 79.11 percent nitrogen; or a cubic foot of
air would contain 0.2089 cubic foot of oxygen and 0.7911 cubic foot
of nitrogen.
• Combustion may be defined as the rapid chemical combination of an
element, or group of elements, with oxygen. The carbon, hydrogen
and sulphur in the fuel combines with the oxygen in the air and the
chemical action can give off a large quantity of light and heat.
• The carbon, hydrogen and sulphur are termed combustibles.
67
Definitions
• If the air was pure oxygen and not mixed with the inert nitrogen gas,
combustion once started, would become explosive as pure oxygen
unites violently with most substances with damaging effects to boilers
and other combustion chambers.

68
Definitions
• a

69
Definitions

From these unit figures,

the air requirements and
the amount of
combustion products
(flue gases) may be
determined for the
different kinds of fuels.

70
Rankine Cycle
• Rankine cycle is the idealized vapour cycle for steam power plants.
• It consists of following processes:

• Biler turbine condenser and ppumo

• Heat is supplied to bolier
• Water is converted to steam
• Enthalp increase to h1
• When steam enters to turbine , it is converted to kinetic energy, it
perform the work done
• Enthaply h2
• The used steam is sent to the condenser and converted to liquid steam
• Pump is used to send the water steam to booiler 71
Stability

72
Stability
•a

73
Stability
•a

74
Stability
•a

75
A Review of the laws of mechanics; translation

76
A Review of the laws of mechanics; translation
• Since a synchronous machine is a rotating body, the laws of mechanics
applying to rotating bodies apply to it. Review of these laws may be
advantageous at this point. The laws of rotating bodies will be clearer if
we first review the laws which apply to linear motion, or translation.

77