Hydro-Electric Power Plant

Presented By:
Harsh Bhavsar 03
Parth Contractor-06

Introduction
The hydro-electric power plant plays very
important role in development of the country as
it provides power at cheapest rate.
About 20% of the world power is generated
by hydro-power staion.

 In hydro-electric power plants, hydraulic turbines

converts the kinetic and potential energy of the
water into mechanical power and is thus a prime
mover, which is coupled to a generator, produces
electric power.
The power plants designed to produce electric
power from water , flowing continuously under
pressure are known as hydro-electric power
plants.

 the electrical energy produced by plant is given by

E = gQH *
where, = density of water,
g = gravitational constant,
Q = volumetric flow rate of water,
H = height of water from turbine,
= Overall efficiency of turbine.

General layout and essential components

 Reservoir : The function of reservoir is to store the

water during rainy season and supply the water
during dry season.
Dam : Its function is to increase the height of water
level and also increase the working head of the
power plant.
Trash rack : Its function is to prevent the entry of
debris which might damage the fixed blades and
runner of the turbine.
Surge tank : it is a small reservoir which provides
better regulation of water in the system during
variable load conditions.

 Penstock : The function of penstock is to carry water

under the pressure from the large reservoir to the
turbine.
Turbine : It is the hydraulic machine through which
hydraulic energy is converted into mechanical power
by the dynamic action of water particles flowing over
the blades or vanes mounted on wheel which free to
rotate about the axis.
Power house : The power house consists of
substructure to support the hydraulic and electric
equipments and superstructure to house and protect
this equipments.

 Draft tube : The function of draft tube is to

discharge water from exit of turbine to tail race. The
draft tube is essential part of reaction turbine.

Classification of Hydro-Electric power plant

(A) According to the availability of head :
(1) Low head plants : when the head of water
available is less then 50m, the power plant is called low
head plant.
(2)Medium head : When available head usually lies
between 50m to 300m, the plant is called medium
head plant.
(3)High head plants : When available head is usually
greater than 300m, plant is called high head plant.

(B) According to the quantity of water available

(1)Run off river plants : When a river flowing through a
hilly region, the flowing water is directly fed to turbines
& the water is not being stored, the power plant is
known as run-off river plants.
(2)Run-off river plant with reservoir : The utility of runoff river plant is increased by providing a reservoir in the
plant.
(3)Storage type plants : In this type of plant water is
stored during rainy season and supply same during dry
season.
(4)Pump storage plants : Where the less amount of
water available, there water after passing through
turbine is pumped back from the tail race to reservoir.

(5)Mini and micro-hydro plants : When power

develops from low head as 5m to 20m, plant is known
as mini hydro plant. When power develops from head
less than 5m, plant is known as micro- hydro power
plant.
(C) According to the nature of load
(1)Base load plants : This type of power plant
generate power output continuously. They run
without stop.
(2)Peak load plants : This type of plants, generate
power during peak load hours. This plant do not run
continuously and generates power to meet the
demand of electricity.

Advantages
Less operating cost

No requirement of fuel
Totally economical
Its speed of turbine is low compared to thermal
power plant. Hence, less mechanical problem and
no required any special materials
Its efficiency is higher than others and not
changes with age of plant
It is simple in design and maintenance is easy

Disadvantages
The investment cost is high.
Power generation is depends on water availability
which depends on natural phenomenon of rain.
The sites are mostly far away from load center. So
long transmission line is required.
Time of construction is much more than thermal
power plant.

Hydraulic Turbines
Impulse turbine : In this type
of turbine, the water from dam is
brought to the turbine inlet
through pipes ending in one or
more fixed nozzles.
The entire pressure energy of
water is converted into the kinetic
energy of water jet in the nozzle.
The water jets then strikes the
blades of the runner and loses all
its kinetic energy.

 Reaction turbine : in this type

of turbine, the water pipe feeds
water to a row of fixed blades
through a casing.
The fixed blades convert a part of
the pressure energy into kinetic
energy before water enters the
runner. Hence water entering the
runner of a reaction turbine has
kinetic energy as well as pressure
energy.
The static pressure at the inlet to
the runner is greater then the static
pressure at outlet of runner.
The rotation of the runner is partly
due to impulse action as well as
partly due to reduction of pressure

Pelton wheel impulse turbine

The Pelton wheel is a water impulse turbine. It was
invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton
wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water.
The water flows along the tangent to the path of the
runner. Nozzles direct forceful streams of water against a
series of spoon-shaped buckets mounted around the edge
of a wheel.
As water flows into the bucket, the direction of the water
velocity changes to follow the contour of the bucket. When
the water-jet contacts the bucket, the water exerts
pressure on the bucket and the water is decelerated as it
does a "u-turn" and flows out the other side of the bucket
at low velocity.

 In the process, the water's

momentum is transferred to the
turbine. For maximum power and
efficiency, the turbine system is
designed such that the water-jet
velocity is twice the velocity of the
bucket.
A very small percentage of the water's
original kinetic energy will still remain
in the water. Often two buckets are
mounted side-by-side, thus splitting
the water jet in half. This balances the
side-load forces on the wheel, and
helps to ensure smooth, efficient
momentum transfer of the fluid jet to
the turbine wheel.

Francis Turbine
It is an inward flow reaction turbine having radial discharge at
outlet. It was the first inward flow reaction turbine. It was
developed by James B. Francis.

Components :
(1) Spiral Casing: The spiral casing around the runner of the
turbine is known as volute casing . All throughout its length, it
has numerous openings at regular intervals to allow the working
fluid to impound on the blades of the runner. these openings
convert the pressure energy of the fluid into momentum energy
just before the fluid impound on the blades.
To maintain a constant flow rate despite the fact that numerous
openings have been provided for the fluid to gain entry to the
blades, the cross-sectional area of this casing decreases
uniformly along the circumference.

(2) Guide or Stay Vanes: The primary function of the

guide or stay vanes is to convert the pressure energy of
the fluid into the momentum energy.
it also serves to direct the flow at design angles to the
blade runners.

(3) Runner Blades :Runner blades are the heart of any

turbine as these are the centers where the fluid strikes
and the tangential force of the impact causes the shaft of
the turbine to rotate and hence electricity is produced.
In this part one has to be very careful about the blade
angles at inlet and outlet as these are the major
parameters affecting the power production.

(4) Draft tube: The draft tube is a conduit which connects

the runner exit to the tail race where the water is being finally
discharged from the turbine. The primary function of the draft
tube is to reduce the velocity of the discharged water to
minimize the loss of kinetic energy at the outlet. This permits
the turbine to be set above the tail water without any
appreciable drop of available head.

 Working principle :
Francis turbine has a purely radiate flow
runner. Water under pressure, enters the runner from the
guide vanes towards the center in radial direction and
discharges out of the runner axially. Francis turbine
operates under medium heads.
Water is brought down to the turbine through a penstock
and directed to a number of stationary orifices fixed all
around the circumference of the runner. These stationary
orifices are called as guide vanes.
The head acting on the turbine is transformed into kinetic
energy and pressure head. Due to the difference of pressure
between guide vanes and the runner (called reaction
pressure), the motion of runner occurs. That is why a
Francis turbine is also known as reaction turbine.

Kaplan Turbine
Kaplan Turbine is designed for low water head
applications. Kaplan Turbine has propeller like blades but
works just reverse. Instead of displacing the water axially
using shaft power and creating axial thrust, the axial
force of water acts on the blades of Kaplan Turbine and
generating shaft power.
Most of the turbines developed earlier were suitable for
large heads of water. With increasing demand of power
need was felt to harness power from sources of low head
water, such as, rivers flowing at low heights. For such low
head applications Viktor Kaplan designed a turbine
similar to the propellers of ships. Its working is just
reverse to that of propeller

 Working Principle :
The working head of water is
low so large flow rates are allowed in
the Kaplan Turbine. The water enters
the turbine through the guide vanes
which are aligned such as to give the
flow a suitable degree of swirl
determined according to the rotor of the
turbine.
The flow from guide vanes pass through
the curved passage which forces the
radial flow to axial direction with the
initial swirl imparted by the inlet guide
vanes which is now in the form of free
vortex.

 The axial flow of water with a component of swirl applies

force on the blades of the rotor and looses its momentum,
both linear and angular, producing torque and rotation in the
shaft.
The scheme for production of hydroelectricity by Kaplan
Turbine is same as that for Francis Turbine.

Draft Tube
In Reaction turbine as Francis turbine and Kaplan
turbine a diffuser tube is installed at the exit of the
runner known as Draft Tube.
It is used to increase pressure of water coming out the
runner and to discharge water from the exit of the
turbine to the tail race.

Functions of draft tube :

It converts kinetic energy into potential energy.
It makes possible the installation of turbine above the
trail race without loss of head. This help to do inspection
and repair work of the turbine easily.

 Using draft tube, the net head on the turbine increases

and work developed per kg of water increases. Therefore
the turbine efficiency is increased.

Classification :
Depending on the shape and alignment,
draft tubes are classified as follows,

(1) Conical draft tube : This type of draft tube

consists of a conical diffuser with half angle generally less
than equal to 10 to prevent flow separation. It is usually
employed for low specific speed, vertical shaft francis
turbine. Efficiency of this type of draft tube is 90%.

(2) Simple elbow type draft Tube : It

consists of an extended elbow type tube.
Generally, used when turbine has to be
placed close to the tail-race. It helps to
cut down the cost of excavation and the
exit diameter should be as large as
possible to recover kinetic energy at the
outlet of runner. Efficiency of this kind of
draft tube is less almost 60%.

(3) Moody spreading tube : This

turbine reduces thrilling action of
discharge water. It is suitable
where water leaves runner with
whirl velocity. The efficiency of
this draft tube is 85%.
(4) Elbow draft tube with

circular inlet and rectangular

outlet : The efficiency of this
tube is 85%.

Cavitation
Cavitation is formation of vapor bubbles in the liquid flowing
through any Hydraulic Turbine. Cavitation occurs when the
static pressure of the liquid falls below its vapor pressure.
Cavitation is most likely to occur near the fast moving blades
of the turbines and in the exit region of the turbines.
Causes :
=> The liquid enters hydraulic turbines at high pressure; this
pressure is a combination of static and dynamic components.
=> Dynamic pressure of the liquid is by the virtue of flow
velocity and the other component, static pressure, is the
actual fluid pressure which the fluid applies and which is
acted upon it.

 Static pressure governs the process of vapor bubble

formation or boiling. Thus, Cavitation can occur near the
fast moving blades of the turbine where local dynamic
head increases due to action of blades which causes static
pressure to fall.
Cavitation also occurs at the exit of the turbine as the
liquid has lost major part of its pressure heads and any
increase in dynamic head will lead to fall in static pressure
causing Cavitation.
Effects of Cavitation :
The formation of vapor bubbles in cavitation is not a major
problem in itself but the collapse of these bubbles
generates pressure waves, which can be of very high
frequencies, causing damage to the machinery.

The bubbles collapsing near the machine surface are more

damaging and cause erosion on the surfaces called as
cavitation erosion.
The collapses of smaller bubbles create higher frequency
waves than larger bubbles. So, smaller bubbles are more
detrimental to the hydraulic machines.

 With further decrease in static pressure more number of

bubbles is formed and their size also increases. These
bubbles coalesce with each other to form larger bubbles
and eventually pockets of vapor. This disturbs the liquid
flow and causes flow separation which reduces the
machine performance sharply.
Avoiding cavitation :
To avoid cavitation while operating, Hydraulic Turbines
parameters (like Pressure head, flow rate and exit pressure)
should be set such that at any point of flow static pressure
may not fall below the vapor pressure of the liquid.
Using stainless steel runner of the turbine.
Providing highly polished blades to the runner.

Governing of Hydraulic Turbines

=> The load on turbine (demand of power) is not constant
throughout the day or hour, hence speed of turbine varies
with respect to load at constant head and discharge.
When load on the generator increases, the speed of
generator-turbine unit decreases beyond the normal
speed. But it is necessary to run the generator at
constant speed, therefore the rate of water flow to the
turbine should be increased upto the speed becomes
normal.
So governing of turbine may be defined as:
The process of providing any arrangement, which will
keep the speed constant and will regulate the rate of flow
(as per variation in load)

Governing of Pelton wheel

Governing of Francis turbines

Governing of Kaplan turbines

Thank you