Hydroelectric Power Plants

Lecture 9
 Introduction: Hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) utilize the potential energy
of water available at a high level for generation of electrical energy.
 These plants are generally located in hilly areas where dams can easily be
built.
 From the storage, water is led to a hydro-turbine where water’s energy is
used to move the prime mover.
 The hydroelectric power plants are more efficient (Their efficiency
does not change with age).

 HPPs are cost effective. (The cost of electricity generation varies little
with the passage of time).

 These plants are simple in construction and require less maintenance.

 Their maintenance and operation charges are very low.

 No fuel charges.

 These plants have no standby losses.

 The HP plants are highly reliable.

 Has longer life, (100–125 years as against 20–45 years of a thermal plant)

 Does not require long starting time like a steam power plant. The plant
can be run up and synchronized in a few minutes.

 The load can be varied quickly, and the rapidly changing load demands
can be met without any difficulty.

 The machines used in hydro-electric plants are more robust and generally
run at low speeds at 300 to 400 rpm. where the machines used in thermal
plants run at a speed 3000 to 4000 rpm.

 Environment friendly (no smoke or fumes are produced)

 They can also help in irrigation and controlling floods.

 The hydro-electric plant takes much longer in design and
execution.
 High capital cost due to construction of dam
 Transmission costs can be high depending on the location of
dam. These plants are usually located in hilly areas far away
from the load center.

 Transformation and transmission costs are very high.

 The output of a hydro-electric plant is never constant due to
their dependence on the rate of water flow in a river.
 Catchment area.

 Reservoir.

 Dam and intake house.

 Inlet water way.

 Power house.

 Tail race or outlet water way.

 Hydroelectric Power
Plants

Run-of-River Pumped storage

Storage plant
HPP HPP

High head With pond

Medium head Without pond

Low head
 High head plants. About 100 m and above.
This type of site might also be suitable for an
underground station.

The Pelton wheel is the common prime

mover used in high head power plants.
 Medium head plants, about 30 to 100 m.
The forebay provided at the beginning of the penstock
serves as water reservoir.

This type of plant commonly uses

Francis turbines.
Low head plants, Low head plants, upto about 50 m.
These plants usually consist of a dam across a river. A sideway stream diverges
from the river at the dam. Over this stream the powerhouse is constructed.
Later this channel joins the river further downstream.

This type of plant uses vertical shaft Francis turbine or Kaplan turbine.

mini (5 to 20 m head) and micro (less than 5 m head) hydel generation is also
available to meet the increasing electricity demand in our country.
 These plants can be classified as either without pondage or with
pondage.
 A run-of-river plant without pondage has no control over river
flow and uses the water as it comes.
 These plants usually supply peak load. During floods, the tail
water level may become excessive rendering the plant
inoperative.
 A run-of-river plant with pondage may supply base load or peak
load power.
 At times of high water flow it may be base loaded and during dry
seasons it may be peak loaded.
 The power complex is located near the confluence of the Indus and Haro
rivers, at Barotha (Attock). It consists of several components: powerhouse,
with five 290 MW capacity generating units, having a total generating
capacity of 1,450 MW; tail regulator; forebay; penstocks (five); headponds
(two); and other installations.
 The power channel is 52 km long and lined with reinforced concrete. The
capacity is 1,600 cubic meters per second.
 These plants supply the peak load for the base load power plants and
pump all or a portion of their own water supply.
 Power is generated from water falling from a higher lake to a lower lake
during peak load periods.
 The operation is reversed during off-peak conditions by pumping the water
from the lower lake back to the upper lake.

The power companies make a lot of money

by selling the generated power during peak
hours at higher rates.
▪ There is substantial increase in peak load capacity of the plant at comparatively
low capital cost.
▪ The operating efficiency of the plant is high.
▪ There is an improvement in the load factor of the plant.
▪ The energy available during peak load periods is higher than that of during off
peak periods so that inspite of losses incurred in pumping there is over-all gain.
▪ Load on the hydro-electric plant remains uniform.
▪ The hydro-electric plant becomes partly independent of the stream flow
conditions.

Under pump storage projects almost 70 per cent power used in pumping the water
can be recovered.
 Water availability

 Water storage

 Head of water

 Distance from load center

 Access to site
The Francis turbine claims the following advantages over Pelton wheel :
 In Francis turbine the variation in the operating head can be more easily
controlled.
 In Francis turbine the ratio of maximum and minimum operating head can be
even two.
 The operating head can be utilized even when the variation in the tail water
level is relatively large when compared to the total head.
 The mechanical efficiency of Pelton decreases faster with wear than Francis.

 The size of the runner, generator and powerhouse required is small and
economical if the Francis turbine is used instead of Pelton wheel for same
power generation.
As compared with Pelton wheel, the Francis turbine has the following
drawbacks :
 Water which is not clean can cause very rapid wear in high head Francis
turbine.
 The overhaul and inspection is much more difficult comparatively.
 Cavitation is an ever-present danger.
 The water hammer effect is more trouble some with Francis turbine.

 If Francis turbine is run below 50% head for a long period, it will not only
lose its efficiency but also the cavitation danger will become more serious.
Kaplan turbine claims the following advantages over Francis turbine :

 For the same power developed Kaplan turbine is more compact in

construction and smaller in size.

 Part-load efficiency is considerably high.

 Low frictional losses (because of small number of blades used).

The phenomenon which manifests itself in the pitting of the metallic surfaces of turbine parts
because of formation of cavities
In any turbine part if the pressure drops below the evaporation pressure, the liquid boils and a
large number of small bubbles of vapour are formed.
These bubbles mainly formed on account of low pressure are carried by the stream to higher
pressure zones where the vapours condense and the bubbles suddenly collapse, as the vapours
are condensed to liquid again.
This results in the formation of a cavity and the surrounding liquid rushes to fill it.
The streams of liquid coming from all directions collide at the centre of cavity giving rise to a
very high local pressure whose magnitude may be as high as 7000 atmospheres.
Formation of cavity and high pressure are repeated many thousand times a second. This causes
pitting on the metallic surface of runner blades or draft tube.
The material then fails by fatigue, added perhaps by corrosion.
During this process some parts like runner blades may be torn away completely.
1. Runner/turbine may be kept under water. But it is not advisable as the inspection and
repair of the turbine is difficult. The other method to avoid cavitation zone without
keeping the runner under water is to use the runner of low specific speed.

2. The cavitation free runner may be designed to fulfil the given conditions with extensive
research.

3. It is possible to reduce the cavitation effect by selecting materials which can resist
better the cavitation effect. The cast steel is better than cast iron and stainless steel or
alloy steel is still better than cast steel.

4. The cavitation effect can be reduced by polishing the surfaces. That is why the cast steel
runners and blades are coated with stainless steel.

5. The ‘cavitation’ may be avoided by selecting a runner of proper specific speed for given
head.
 The power that can be extracted from a falling water depends
upon its height and rate of flow.
 The available hydro power can be calculated by the following
equation:
Pth = w x Q x H

 Pth=available theoretical power [kW]

 w = Weight density of water in [N/m3]
 Q = Discharge/water flow rate [m3/s]
 H = head of water [m]
 The actual /useful or effective power depends on the
efficiency of the various parts.

If η1 = Efficiency of pipelines, intake etc., and

η2 = Efficiency of hydraulic turbine,

Then overall efficiency η0 = η1 × η2

 Since the turbine and the generator are directly coupled on

common shaft the hydro-electrical power available will be
given by the equation:

Pactual = Pth x η0
A large hydropower station has a head of 324 m and an average flow of 1370m3/s.
The reservoir of water covers an area of 6400 km2. Calculate
◦ the available hydraulic power
◦ the number of days this power could be sustained if the level of the impounded
water were allowed to drop by 1m.

(a) The available hydropower can be found using the equation

P = wxQxH

P=9.8 x 1370 x 324=4350 MW

(b) we have to find the number of days ?
Using 1 m drop we find the corresponding volume of water
Volume = area x height =6400x106m2 x 1m=6400x106 m3

 Rate of flow= 1370 m3/s

 By looking at the units of rate of flow it can be deduced that time (in
seconds) would be volume divide by rate of flow
 T = 6400x106/1370 = 4.67x106 s = 1298 h =54 days
Example
A hydroelectric power station is supplied from a reservoir of
capacity 5x106 cubic meters at a head of 200 meters. Find the
total energy available in kWh if the overall efficiency is 75%.

Solution
Given data:
V= 5x106 m3 H =200 m, η = 75 %
 The flow rate can be determined as;

Q = 5x106m3/s
 The power generation is:
P=9.8QHη
=9.8x5x106x200 x 0.75=98 x108 x 0.75(efficiency) kW
Solution

 The energy output is;

E = Power x Time

E = (98x108) kW x0.75 (efficiency) x 1s

 We need to find out the energy in kWh so we divide the above

value by time (3600 seconds) and get the answer.

E = 2.0416 x 106 kWh

S. aspect Hydroelectric PP Thermal PP
No.
1 Raw material Nil. Large quantity of fuel (coal, oils,
consumption gas) is consumed
2 Cost of energy cheaper costlier

3 Cost of energy Immune to inflation. Very much influenced by the

generation increase in the cost of fuel.
4 Life of plant Long useful life. Not so long comparatively. The
component parts deteriorate and
become obsolete at a faster rate.
5 Pollution Pollution free Cause pollution and create
health hazards.
6 Design, Simple in design, robust Comparatively more complicated
construction and in construction and in design, less robust in
reliability reliable in operation. construction and less reliable in
operation
S. aspect Hydroelectric PP Thermal PP
No.
7 Running below a certain Can be run Cannot be run
minimum load factor.
8 Reserve capacity and Particularly suited to Comparatively not suited for
variation in power provide reserve capacity the mentioned requirements.
demands. as well as meeting the
needs of daily variation
in power demands.
9 Employment potential More Less

10 Man power required Less More

11 Foreign exchange Less More

requirements for
equipment
12 Construction time More Less
required
13 Overall capital Low High
expenditure
requirements