Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hydroelectrical Power Generation
Hydroelectrical Power Generation
Hydroelectrical Power Generation
Power =
Change in Potential
Energy per Unit time
= weight*
Vertical drop/time
Energy =
Power*time
Microhydro Installation
Small stream with
Hydroelectrical generator:
Power for one family
(Jim Keener)
Moderate Head Hydro
Head: height difference
Between water level in
Reservoir and water
Level entering turbine
Optimum water
Wheel: not
Just a function
Of head, also
Depends on
Water flow rate
Hydroelectrical Power Use by State
States Producing Most Hydroelectricity
Why is there
So much
Variation in the
Gallons of water
Per kilowatthour?
Hydropower Output by Nation
Lure of
Hydropower
Big Dams
Vs
Rebar
Itaipu Dam
Presently worlds largest
Hydroelectric plant
Capacity: 12,600 MW
(drought a problem
recently):
Provides:
25% of Brazil power
78% of Paraguay power
Three Gorges Area of Yangtze River
Under
construction
Three Gorges
Dam in China
Moving 1.2 million
People
Capacity of
18,600 MW
Many historic
Sights
Still pressing
Ahead on dam
construction
Gorge length;
~San Francisco
To LA
Environmental Problems with Dams
1) Silt buildup fills reservoir (Yangtze; levees)
2) Fish migration disrupted (Columbia)
3)Water temperature decreases (Colorado)
4) Water gets more saline (Colorado)
5) Water loses oxygen (Brazil)
6) Water slows down, increases disease
(mosquitos, schitosomiasis (Aswan))
7) Water traps pollution, slows pollution flushing
8) Induced seismicity may occur