EEE403 Electrical Energy Systems

Objectives
Lecture – 13

Hydro Electric To study & understand

Power Plant  the design & working principle
of hydro electric power plant
EEE403 Hydro-electric power

In a hydro-electric power plant, when the water falls through a certain

height, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.

This kinetic energy is

converted to the mechanical
energy by allowing the water
to flow through the hydraulic
turbine.
This mechanical energy is
utilized to run an electric
generator which is coupled to
the turbine shaft.
• The theory is to build a dam on a large
river that has a large drop in elevation.
• The dam stores lots of water behind it in
the reservoir.
• Near the bottom of the dam wall there is
the water intake. Gravity causes it to fall
through the penstock inside the dam.
• At the end of the penstock there is a
turbine propeller, which is turned by the
moving water.
• The shaft from the turbine goes up into the
generator, which produces the power.
• Power lines are connected to the
generator that carry electricity.
• The water continues moving from the
propeller through the tailrace into the
river.
EEE403 Site selection & purpose of hydro project

Hydro projects are developed for the following purposes:

1. Generation of power.
2. To control the floods in the rivers.
3. Storage of the drinking water supply.
4. Storage of irrigation water.

The following factors should be carefully considered

while selecting a site for a hydro-electric power plant:
1. Availability of water.
2. Water storage.
3. Water head.
4. Distance from load center.
5. Accessibility to the site.
6. Type of the land of site.
EEE403 Advantages of hydro electric power plant

The hydro-electric power plants have the following advantages

which make these suitable for large interconnected electric
system:
1. No fuel charges.
2. The plant is highly reliable and its maintenance and
operation charges are very low.
3. The plant can be run up and synchronized in a few
minutes.
4. The rapidly changing load demands can be met without
any difficulty.
5. The efficiency of the plant does not change with age.
6. The cost of generation of electricity varies little with the
passage of time.
EEE403 Disadvantages of hydro electric power plant

The hydro-electric power plants have the following

disadvantages:
1. The capital cost of the plant is very high.
2. The hydro-electric plant takes much longer in design and
execution.
3. These plants are usually located in hilly areas far away
from the load center.
4. Transportation and transmission costs are very high.
5. The output of a hydro-electric plant is never constant
due to vagaries of monsoons and their dependence on
the rate of water flow in a river.
EEE403 Hydro power calculation

Water in motion possesses three forms of energy:

1. kinetic energy due to its velocity,
2. pressure energy due to its pressure and
3. potential energy due to its height.

where V = velocity of flow in m/s,

p = pressure in N/m2,
ρ = density of water kg/m3
and H = the height of the level of water

The power developed in this manner is given as: Power  WQH

W = Specific weight of water, N/m3
Q = rate of water flow, m3/sec
H = Height of fall or head, m
= Turbine efficiency
EEE403 Types of hydro power plant

The hydro-power plants can be classified as below:

a) Storage plant
a) High head plants - about 100 m and above.
b) Medium head plants - about 30 to 500 m.
c) Low head plants - upto about 50 m.

b) Run-of-river power plants

run-of-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant
whereby little or no water storage is provide
Run-of-the-river primarily uses the flow rate of water to generate power
instead of the power from water falling a large distance
– 3) Pumped storage power plants –
These plants pump all or a portion of
their own water supply.
• The usual construction would be a
tail water pond and a head water
pond connected through a penstock.
• During periods of high
electricity demand, power is
generated by releasing the stored
water through turbines in the same
manner as a conventional
hydropower station.
• During periods of low demand
(usually nights or weekends when
electricity is also lower cost), the
upper reservoir is recharged by using
lower-cost electricity from the grid
to pump the water back to the upper
reservoir.
EEE403 Essential elements of hydro power plant

A simplified flow sheet of a water power plant is shown in figure.

The essential elements of a water power plant are as below:
1. Reservoir
2. Dam and intake house
3. Control valve
4. Spillway
5. Conduits / penstock
6. Surge tanks
7. Primemover/ turbine
8. Power house
Generator
Transformer
9. Tail race
or outlet water way
1. Reservoir
• Whole of the water available from the catchment area is
collected in a reservoir behind the dam.
• The purpose of the storing of water in the reservoir is to get
a uniform power output throughout the year.

2. Dam and Intake House

• A dam is built across a river for two functions: to hold the
river water for storage and to create the head of water.
• Dams can be made of : Timber, steel, earth, masonry.
• Timber and steel are used for dams of height 6 m to 12 m
only.
• Earth dams are built for larger heights, upto about 100 m.
• To protect the dam from the wave erosion, a protecting coat
of rock, concrete or planking must be laid at the water line.
• The intake includes the head works which are the structures
at the intake of tunnels.
• These structures include booms, screens or trash racks, and
gates or valves for controlling the water flow.
• Booms prevent the ice and floating logs from going into the
• intake by diverting them.
• Screens or trash racks are fitted directly at the intake to
prevent the debris from going into the intake.
• Gates and valves control the rate of water flow entering the
intake.
3. Spillway
•A spillway is a structure constructed
in hydroelectric dam to provide a safe
passageway for floodwaters to escape
downstream,
•Every reservoir has a certain capacity to
store water.
•If the reservoir is full and flood waters
enter the same, the reservoir level will go
up and may eventually result in over-
topping of the dam.
•To avoid this situation, the flood has to be
passed to the downstream and this is done
by providing a spillway which draws
water from the top of the reservoir.
4. Penstock
•These are the water conductor conduit of suitable size connection to main inlet valve.
• It allows water to the turbine through main inlet valve.
• At the end of the penstock a drainage valve is provided which drains water from
penstock to the draft tube.
• The structural design of the penstock is same as for any other pipe expect it has to bear
high pressure on the inside surface during sudden decease in the load and increase in the
load.
•Penstocks are made of steel through reinforced concrete.
•Penstocks are usually equipped with the head gates at the inlet which can be closed
during the repair of the penstocks.

5. Surge Tank
Surge tanks are tanks connected to the water conductor system. It serves the purpose of
reducing water hammering in pipes which can cause damage to pipes.
The sudden surges of water in penstock is taken by the surge tank, and when the water
requirements increase, it supplies the collected water thereby regulating water flow and
pressure inside the penstock.
5. Power House. The power house is a building in
which the turbines, alternators and the auxiliary
plant are housed.
6. Tail Race or Outlet Water Way. Tail race is a
passage for discharging the water leaving the
turbines, into the river and in certain cases, the
water from the tail race can be pumped back into the
original reservoir
EEE403 Power house & turbine setting

There are two types of power house:

1. Surface power house
2. Underground power house
EEE403 Considerations of underground power stations

The considerations supporting the construction of

underground power stations are stated below :

1. Non-availability of a suitable site for a conventional surface station

and good slope for penstock.
2. Danger of falling rocks and snow avalanches particularly in narrow
valleys.
3. Availability of underground sound rock and facility for a convenient
tail-race outlet.
4. The costs of underground machine hall are lower than those of the
superstructure of a surface powerhouse of similar dimensions.
EEE403 Water turbine
The Kaplan turbine (introduced
by Dr. Vitkor Kaplan) is a propeller
axial type having a movable blade.
EEE403 Specific speed of a turbine

The specific speed of a turbine is defined as the speed at which

the turbine runs developing unit power under a unit head.

The absolute velocity of water,

Discharge through turbine

EEE403 Specific speed of a turbine (contd..)

Power developed
P  wQH  QH
since w and  are constant.

H 3/ 2 H 5/ 2
Therefore, P 2 H K
N N2
where K is a constant depending upon the type of turbine.
If the turbine develops 1 unit power under 1m head, then

1 K
1
5/ 2
or K  N s2
N s2

5/ 2
H N P
which gives P  N s2 or Ns 
N2 H 5/ 4
EEE403 Example 1

A turbine develops 6620 kW under a head of 20 meters at 130

r.p.m. Calculate the specific speed of the turbine and state the
type of the turbine.
EEE403 Example 2

The turbine is to operate under a head of 24 m at 200 r.p.m. The

discharge is 8.5 m3/s. If the overall efficiency is 88%, determine
the generated power.
EEE403 Example 3

In a hydro-electric station, water is available at the rate of 175

m3/s under a head of 18 m. The turbines run at a speed of 150
r.p.m. with overall efficiency of 82%. Find the number of turbines
required if they have the maximum specific speed of 460.