Design Analysis of Hydroelectric power

plant
What is a hydroelectric power plant?
An impoundment facility, typically a large hydropower system, uses a dam to store river water in
a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn
activates a generator to produce electricity.

How does it work?

Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. A
turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy. Then a
generator converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy.
Parts of hydroelectric power plant
1. Dam
2. Reservoir
3. Penstock
4. Intake or control gates
5. Water turbines
6. Generators

1) Dam
The dam is the most important component of hydroelectric power plant. The dam is
built on a large river that has abundant quantity of water throughout the year. It should
be built at a location where the height of the river is sufficient to get the maximum
possible potential energy from water.

2) Water Reservoir
The water reservoir is the place behind the dam where water is stored. The water in the
reservoir is located higher than the rest of the dam structure. The height of water in the
reservoir decides how much potential energy the water possesses. The higher the height
of water, the more its potential energy. The high position of water in the reservoir also
enables it to move downwards effortlessly.
The height of water in the reservoir is higher than the natural height of water flowing in
the river, so it is considered to have an altered equilibrium. This also helps to increase
the overall potential energy of water, which helps ultimately produce more electricity in
the power generation unit.

3) Intake or Control Gates

These are the gates built on the inside of the dam. The water from reservoir is released
and controlled through these gates. These are called inlet gates because water enters
the power generation unit through these gates. When the control gates are opened the
water flows due to gravity through the penstock and towards the turbines. The water
flowing through the gates possesses potential as well as kinetic energy.

4) The Penstock
The penstock is the long pipe or the shaft that carries the water flowing from the
reservoir towards the power generation unit, comprised of the turbines and generator.
 The water in the penstock possesses kinetic energy due to its motion and potential
energy due to its height.
The total amount of power generated in the hydroelectric power plant depends on the
height of the water reservoir and the amount of water flowing through the penstock.
The control gates control the amount of water flowing through the penstock.

5) Water Turbines
Water flowing from the penstock is allowed to enter the power generation unit, which
houses the turbine and the generator. When water falls on the blades of the turbine the
kinetic and potential energy of water is converted into the rotational motion of the
blades of the turbine. The rotating blades causes the shaft of the turbine to also rotate.
The turbine shaft is enclosed inside the generator. In most hydroelectric power plants
there is more than one power generation unit.
There is large difference in height between the level of turbine and level of water in the
reservoir. This difference in height, also known as the head of water, decides the total
amount of power that can be generated in the hydroelectric power plant.
There are various types of water turbines such as Kaplan turbine, Francis turbine, Pelton
wheels etc. The type of turbine used in the hydroelectric power plant depends on the
height of the reservoir, quantity of water and the total power generation capacity.

6) Generators
It is in the generator where the electricity is produced. The shaft of the water turbine
rotates in the generator, which produces alternating current in the coils of the
generator. It is the rotation of the shaft inside the generator that produces magnetic
field, which is converted into electricity by electromagnetic field induction. Hence, the
rotation of the shaft of the turbine is crucial for the production of electricity and this is
achieved by the kinetic and potential energy of water. Thus in hydroelectricity power
plants potential energy of water is converted into electricity.

Our analysis is strictly restricted to turbomachinery so are going to study turbines

specifically impulse turbine.
Impulse Turbine
In impulse turbine, only kinetic energy is used to rotate the turbine. In this turbine water
flow through the nozzle and strike the blades of turbine. All pressure energy of water
converted into kinetic energy before striking the vanes. The pressure of the water remains
unchanged and is equal to atmospheric pressure during process. Water may admitted over
a part of circumference or over the whole circumference of the wheel of turbine. In
 impulse, turbine casing has no hydraulic function to perform because the jet is at
atmospheric pressure. This casing serves only to prevent splashing of water. This turbine is
most suitable for large head and lower flow rate. Pelton wheel is the example of this
turbine.

Pelton wheel
The Pelton wheel is an impulse type water turbine. Lester Allan Pelton
invented it in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of
moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the traditional overshot
water wheel. Many variations of impulse turbines existed prior to Pelton's
design, but they were less efficient than Pelton's design. Water leaving those
wheels typically still had high speed, carrying away much of the dynamic
energy brought to the wheels. Pelton's paddle geometry was designed so that
when the rim ran at half the speed of the water jet, the water left the wheel
with very little speed; thus his design extracted almost all of the water's
impulse energywhich allowed for a very efficient turbine.

Pelton Bucket - Design & Features

Most vital component of Pelton wheel is its bucket. Buckets are casted as single
solid piece, in order to avoid fatigue failure. You can note that force acting on the
turbine bucket is not constant with time. If you follow one particular bucket, it will
have high force for small time duration (at the time of jet impingement) after that
a larger idle period where no jet interaction takes place. So the force acting on the
bucket is also not constant. It varies with the time but it is having a cyclic nature. If
bucket were made using pieces by welding attachment such cyclic fore will easily
lead to premature fatigue failure.
Buckets are Held Stationary:
If Pelton wheel buckets are held stationary, there will be a huge impulse force
produced. But power extraction will be zero since buckets are not moving.

Bucket Speed Same as Jet Speed:

If buckets are moving with same speed of jet, water jet won't be able to hit the
bucket. This will lead to zero impulse force. Again power extraction will be zero.

Working of Pelton wheel turbine:

In the Pelton wheel turbine the water from the nozzle straightly strikes the buckets
arranged to the circumference of the wheel. In the middle of the bucket we can see
the splitters. The water jets are divided into two equal watercourses. The
watercourses are also known as streams. The water flows along with the internal
curve of the bucket. The water leaves from the opposite direction of the incoming
jet. With the help of the high speed water turbine the Pelton wheel must be
worked. The Pelton wheels are expanding with the help of high pressure water
through the nozzle to the atmospheric pressure. It receives the high pressure water
jet from the
water body which was situated at the high level to flow the water downwards.
By Velocity Triangles:
As we know that Pelton wheel turbine is an impulse design. The water supplied to
a single wheel impulse turbine expands completely in the nozzles and leaves with
a high absolute velocity. This is the absolute inlet velocity to the blades as shown
in figure.

The velocity diagrams for the Pelton wheel are shown in Fig. 3.2. Since the
angle of entry of the jet is nearly zero, the inlet velocity triangle is a straight
line, as shown in Fig. If the bucket is brought to rest, then the relative uid
velocity1 , is given by

V1 = jet velocity -bucket speed

= C1 - U1
The angle turned through by the jet in the horizontal plane during its
passage over the bucket surface is and the relative velocity at exit is V2.