CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction of Hydropower Plant

Hydropower plant is the most popular energy source for several reasons. First,
the cost of the fuel needed to generate hydropower is miniscule because the process
doesn’t use any of the more common polluting fuels, such as oil, coal, or natural gas.
This means that unlike other power plant, hydropower plants don’t produce carbon
dioxide.
A hydropower plant is also a lot cheaper to operate because it can be fully
automated, saving labour costs, and because its facilities don’t need to be repaired
frequently. Many hydropower plants have been in use for at least 50 years, and they
are still running smoothly, e.g. Ba Lu Chaung Hydropower Station No.2 LAWPITA
LOIKAW.
With the increased use of variable forms of generation such as wind and solar,
there is increased concern not only about load matching, but grid stability itself.
Hydropower plants often are proposed to back-up variable sources due to the
ability of hydropower plants to store their energy. In addition to compensating for the
hourly and daily variations in output from wind farms and solar plants, hydropower
plants can also make significant contributions to grid stability through the capabilities
of their governing system.
Nowadays, the ranges of hydropower plants are rather widely used in our
environment. Hydropower is important to our nation because growing populations
and modern technologies require vast amount of electricity for creating, building, and
expanding.
Today the energy situation in Myanmar is strained, and it is mainly due to the
fact that the country is only able to produce about half of its consumption. The one
hydropower plant is Chipwi Nge Hydropower Station KACHIN STATE which
produces 33 MW total electric power production. The plants use high head Pelton
turbine. This plants serves as a basis for this thesis.
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1.2. Aim and Objectives

The main aims of this thesis are to get required design parameters of nozzle
for Pelton turbine located in Chipwi Nge Hydropower Station KACHIN STATE..
Then, specific objectives are;
1. To study the hydropower plants and types of hydraulic turbine
2. To study the theory of Pelton turbine and nozzle for this turbine

1.3. Scope of Thesis

Hydraulic turbine converts the energy in flowing water to direct drive shaft
power to generate electricity on a very small scale. Input data of Pelton Turbine is
determined by water pressure (Head, H = meter), water flow rate ( Discharge, Q =
m3/s ) and nozzle diameter ( D = meter ). In this turbine, nozzle is very important part
that will be design in this thesis.

1.4. Implementation of Program

The implementation programs of this thesis is based on Chipwi Nge
Hydropower Station KACHIN STATE in Myanmar. The specific programs are as
follow;
1. Studying the operation of each component of hydropower plant
2. Describing the theory of Pelton turbine
3. Calculation the nozzle design

1.5. Outline of Thesis

In this thesis, five chapters are composed. In chapter one, introduction of
hydropower plant, objectives, scope of thesis and implementation program are
described. The basic components of hydropower plant, types of turbine and main
components of Pelton turbine are described in chapter two. Theory of Pelton turbine is
discussed in chapter three. Chapter four indicates design and calculation of nozzle for
Pelton turbine. Finally, discussion, conclusion and recommendation of this thesis are
expressed in chapter five.