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Simulation and Implementation of Micro Hydro

Generation for Small Rural Loads

Article April 2012

DOI: 10.2316/P.2012.768-013

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 Proceedings of the IASTED Asian Conference
Power and Energy Systems (AsiaPES 2012)
April 2 - 4, 2012 Phuket, Thailand

SIMULATION AND IMPLEMETATION OF MICRO HYDRO GENERATION

FOR SMALL RURAL LOADS

Kanzumba Kusakana, Herman Vermaak, Galu P Yuma .

Department of Electrical Engineering and computer system
Central University of Technology, Free State
Bloemfontein, South Africa
kkusakana@cut.ac.za , hvermaak@cut.ac.za , gyuma@mut.ac.za

ABSTRACT the primary alternative power source for small load in

A large amount of suitable sites to develop Micro/Pico
hydro power in South Africa have not yet been developed,
especially in areas not served by the grid. One valuable
and cost effective way to optimize the deployment of
Micro/Pico hydro power in those off-grid areas is by the
utilization of simplistic and locally designed turbines
coupled to squirrel-cage induction generators which have
more advantages compared to conventional synchronous
generators when used for rural applications. This paper
presents a simple model of a standalone Micro
hydropower composed of an induction generator directly
coupled to a Kaplan water turbine. Mathematical and
SIMULINK models are developed; simulations using
MATLAB software are performed to highlight the
characteristics of the output voltage when the mechanical
input due to the water flow is varying.
Experiments have been conducted on a prototype
constructed in the lab to validate the results obtained from
the theoretical developed model.
KEY WORDS
Micro hydropower, renewable energy sources, modeling,
simulation, experimental
1. Introduction
In South Africa, the number of people in rural areas with
access to electricity is estimated to be much less than 15%
[1]. When these areas are not supplied directly from the
grid; stand-alone diesel generators are a widespread
alternative or back-up to a grid connection. However as
well as being an attractive target to theft, other factors
such as the high operating and maintenance cost, low
efficiency, environmental impact or the increasingly
expensive need for constant re-fuelling make diesel
generators uneconomic compared to renewable energy
sources in most remote locations [2]. Technological
advances have made renewable power supply an
increasingly economic solution. Solar and wind power are
already at the point where they are being considered as
rural South Africa [3]. However, frequent fluctuations of
solar and wind conditions can lead to the requirement of
substantial investment in energy storage such as batteries.
For sites which are close to a rivers or streams,
hydropower generation is a more suitable option to
provide a more reliable power supply and reduce energy
storage system requirements [4]. Even though
hydropower plants have high investment costs, the long
term costs are low compensated by a long lifetime and
very low operating and maintenance costs. As a result
micro hydropower systems can, in certain applications,
sustain lower long-term costs per kilowatt than diesel,
wind or solar generation.
Cost reduction can be further achieved when the design
and choice of the turbine and generator are meticulously
done according to the site specifications [5].
This paper develops a Matlab/Simulink block of a
simple run-off river micro hydro system that can be used
to simulate electricity generation at any location where
the water resource and site conditions are suitable.
For this purpose, we have selected a potential site located
40km North West of Kokstad, in the region of New
Amalfi, Kwazulu-Natal from which we have acquired
data such as water head, water flow and energy demand
needed as input to the developed simulation model. A
prototype constructed in the lab is used to validate the
results obtained from the theoretical developed model.
The motivation behind this study is that Micro hydro
can play a major role in South Africas rural
electrification, and there are an estimated of 6000 to 8000
potential sites for micro hydropower applications situated
mainly on the Eastern Cape escarpment, in the KwaZulu-
Natal and the Eastern Cape [6]. For example the upper
Tugella catchment has been studied for sites due to its
proximity to Drakensberg pumped storage scheme and
therefore logistic support is available. A total of 76
possible sites were identified in the area, with potential
for the installation of 152 units [7].

DOI: 10.2316/P.2012.768-013 407

2. Design The proposed micro hydro plant is composed of a self-
excited induction generator driven by an uncontrolled
The design of the system, especially the turbine, must be Kaplan turbine, which the power depends on the practical
done according to the site specifications (minimum water head and the water flow. This type of generator is selected
flow during the worst month and the geodesic head). The due to the cost savings, reliability, reduction of unit size,
energy needed by the load must also be assessed to find ruggedness, absence of a separate DC source, ease of
out if there is enough resource from the water to sustain maintenance, self-protection against severe overloads and
the development of the micro hydro plant. short circuits [12].The Kaplan turbine has been chosen
because it can work on low head sites with a high specific
2.1 Energy Demand and Load Profile speed [13]. The system layout with all the components is
shown on figure 2 below.
The demand in energy for domestic purpose in rural areas
mostly depends on the dimensions of the area, the level of
sophistication of the consumers and equipment available
in the community. Usually, electricity is not used for
cooking purposes, since the communities tend to prefer
the use of wood piles. The electricity is mainly used to
supply the lights, radio, T.V, iron, kettle and fan.
The daily load curve depends on the social habit of the
consumers [8].
For an average rural household in South Africa the
typical load curve is as shown in figure 1, with a peak in
the morning and at mid-day, but the most important one
occurs in the evening for more or less than an hour, when
there is a high probability that all the households
appliances are connected at the same time [9]. Fig 2: Micro hydro scheme

2.3 Turbine Sizing

According to the international I.E.C. standards 60193 and

60041 [14], the specific speed of a turbine is given by:

nQe= n * Q (1)
3
E 4
Where:
Figure 1: Rural load profile 3
Q = discharge [m /s],
2.2 Proposed System Layout E = g*H specific hydraulic energy of machine
[J/kg],
According to the load profile, there is a need to design a n = rotational speed of the turbine [t/s],
system capable of supplying the load even during peak The range of the specific speed for the Kaplan turbine is
demand. An easy way to do this is to select a generator 0.19<nQe<1.5
The desire is to couple directly the Kaplan turbine to
with an output higher than the average power needed to
standard 1500rpm generator, so n is 25t/s and nQe equals
feed the load and then, to store the energy generated 0.51.
during off-peak periods in batteries through a converter. The main turbine dimensions are:
The stored energy will then be used to feed the load The outer diameter De
during peak demands; this will allow a reduction of the
H (2)
system size and overall cost. Another advantage is that De 84.5 (0.79 1.602 nQe )
60 n
the battery storage system will allow a fluctuating micro
hydro source due to the variation of water flow to be as The runner hub diameter Di
stable as conventional systems [10] and also give a means 0.0951
Di (0.25 ) De (3)
to decouple generation of electricity from its use [11], nQe
minimizing supply and demand related issues.

408
3. System Modeling In the hydro turbine, the energy from the flowing water is
converted into mechanical energy with some conversion
3.1. Turbine Modeling losses described by the turbine efficiency turbine. The
power available at the turbine shaft Pturbine is given as
Water flows due to gravity from higher to lower geodesic follow:
points which have different particular kinetic and
potential energies. For a stationary, lossless and friction- pturbine turbine water g q water hutil (9)
free flow with incompressibility, the difference of energy The turbine torque can also be expressed as follows:
between the two geodesic points can be calculated using Pwater
the following Bernoulli pressure equation [15]. Tturbine (10)
2 r
p water gh water vwater const (4) Where: r is the rotor angle speed
Where: In micro hydro power generation, the height is kept
P: hydrostatic pressure; constant by the use of a fore-bay tank, while the volume-
water: water density; related water flow can be adjusted manually using an
g: acceleration of the gravity; upstream guide vane. To avoid the repercussions of load
h: height; variation on the generator dummy load, load controller or
vwater: velocity of water flow. ballast load are used for power balancing when the system
The above equation can be transformed so that the first,
is used as stand-alone [16].
second and third term expresses the pressure level, the
level of the site and the water velocity level respectively. 3.2. Generator Modeling
2
p 1 v water
h const . (5) The modeling of the squirrel cage induction generator
water g 2 g modeling is resulting from an induction machine and
The practical head hutil of a specific site can be found by reactive load generations undertaken by excitation
the using the difference in pressure, in height and in the capacitor. The squirrel cage induction generator is
velocity of the water flows. modeled using Park method in a reference frame linked to
2 2 its stator, given as the following equations [17].
p2 p1 vwater,1 vwater,2
hutil (h2 h1 ) (6)
waterg 2g
3.2.1. Electrical System
Where:
p2: upstream hydrostatic pressure; d ds
p1: downstream hydrostatic pressure; Vds Rs I ds
dt
h2: upstream geodesic water height (head water);
h1: downstream geodesic water velocity;
d qs
Vqs Rs I qs (11)
vwater, 2: upstream water velocity; dt
vwater,1: downstream water velocity; d dr
0 Rr I dr r qr
Considering equation (6), the power of a water supply dt
Pwater can be determined using (7). d qr
0 Rr I qr r dr
dt
p water water g q water hutil (7)
Where qwater: is the volume-related flow rate. In these equations subscript s refers to the stator and r
From equation (7), the power of water supply is the rotor.
calculated by using the volume of flow and the practical Rs and R r are the single phase winding resistances;
head. Taking into consideration the two precise points of
a river, the theoretical power of water Pwater,th can be Vds Vqs stator voltages(there is no rotor voltage
calculated using the following formula: components because the rotor is short-circuited);
I ds I qs I dr I qr current ones;
p water ,th water g q water (h2 h1 ) (8)
ds qs dr qr refer to magnetic flux.
Where q is the volumetric flow rate through the micro Ls and Lr are total stator and rotor inductances and M
is the magnetizing inductance.
hydropower plant.

409
3.2.2. Electromagnetic Torque the Simulink model of the proposed micro hydropower
plant. This model incorporates the models of the
The electromagnetic torque Te is expressed as follows: generator, excitation system and turbine connected to the
water model as presented on the figure 3. (More details on
Te 1.5 p( i
ds qs i )
qs ds (12) how the different components and the overall model have
Where p the number of pole pairs. been built and implemented in Matlab/Simulink can be
found in reference [5]).
3.2.3. Excitation System

The capacitor supplying the reactive power necessary for

the motor to work in self-excited mode is modeled using
the equation below.

dCvqs
iqs iql (13)
dt
ids idl dCvds
Figure 3: Matlab/simulink model of the proposed micro hydro system

Where:
idql are the d line currents in the d-q frame reference
4. Simulation Results and Discussion
frame,
qidqc are the electric charge in the d-q frame reference In this section, the simulation results of the developed
frame.
stand-alone micro hydro model highlight the dynamic
C is the capacitance of capacitor excitation.
response of the micro hydropower plant to variable input
3.2.4 Mechanical System water flow. The results consist of the variation of the rotor
angular velocity, the electromagnetic torque and the stator
As the machine acts as a generator, the shaft mechanical voltages.
torque is negative and can be modeled using the equation For the selected site where the geodesic net height is
below. 5m; the flow of the water was changed at t = 0.25s from
3
d2 m 0.143 m /s (which correspond to the lowest flow
J Tem B m Tm (14)
dt available from the selected site in the worst month) to 0.2
3
d m m /sec corresponding to the turbine theoretical
With:
dt
m mechanical power of 6.313 kW to 8.829 kW (we have
Where: used a ramp input just for illustration purposes to
emphasize the behaviours of the developed model).
m = the angular velocity of the rotor,

m = rotor angular position,

Tem = electromagnetic torque,
Tm = mechanical torque (from the turbine),
J = combined rotor and load inertia coefficient,
B = combined rotor and load viscous friction
coefficient.
Figure 4: Turbine mechanical power
In Equation (14), the machine acts as a generator if Tm is
negative.

3.3. Matlab/Simulink Model of the Proposed Micro

Hydro System

The modeling of the equations (4) to (14) presented

above, have been implemented into Matlab to build the
corresponding block diagrams connected together to form
Figure 5. Simulation result of the electromagnetic torque

410
 5. Experimental Analysis

The experimental analysis of the stand alone micro

hydropower is conducted to validate the results of the
theoretical model developed with MatLab/Simulink. The
process and assembly of experimental system with its all
component is illustrated by the figure below.
Fiure. 6: Simulation result of the rotor angular velocity

Figure 7: Simulation result of the stator voltage phases A, B and C

Figure 9: Lab experimental setup

Figure 8: Stator voltage phase A.

The system layout is made of the turbine (2) which is

Figure 4 represents the variation of the mechanical power
installed at a bottom and sucks water from the tank (1).
provided by the Kaplan turbine.
The turbine then pushes water through the main pipe (3).
In the simulation results given in Figure 5, the negative
The flow, consequently the pressure of the water can be
value of the electromagnetic torque and the negative slip
controlled by the vanes (4) and monitored by two gauges
indicate that the machine is working in generating mode.
(5) placed along the main pipe. Water will continue to
As the battery storage system is designed to supply the
flow due to the pressure through the secondary pipe (6)
load during peak demand, the daily fluctuation in the
which is directly connected to the turbine (7). The turbine
households energy demand does not change the machine
will then drive the generator (8) which will then generate
variable significantly. Figure 6 shows that the rotor
a voltage depending on the rotational speed. The
angular velocity depends mostly on the variation of water
generated voltage will then be stabilized (9) before being
flow, on the mechanical characteristics of the turbine and
supplied to the load. The voltage and current can be
on the generator, but not really on the variation of the
monitored from the control panel (10).
consumer demand. This figure shows further that the
For the above set-up, the practical method for head
machine is generating due to its rotor angular velocity
measurement is water-filled tube and calibrated pressure
being higher than the generating speed (1560 rpm). It can
gauge. Through this method, the pressure gauge reading
also be observed that after 2.5s, the rotor angular velocity
in psi can be converted to head in meters using the
increases to 1625rpm due to the variation of the
following equation of pressure to head conversion [17],
mechanical input.
The effect on the voltage resulting from the variation of h = 0.704 p (15)
the mechanical power input is presented by figure 7 and Where h is the head (m) and p is the pressure (psi).
figure 8; the voltage changes from 230 to 380V single From Figure 9, let us consider that the pressure of water
phase. As shown in these figures, the voltage waveforms from the pump is 9.81kpa or 0.098bar, the combined
which are generated from the proposed model have no turbine and generator efficiency 81%, water volume flow
distortion. rate is 0.143m3/s and height is 5m. The calculation of the

411
 maximum power gained from hydro turbine can be
achieved by finding the pressure as follow:
pTotal p Atmosphere pFluide
The fluid power is defined as:
p pTotal turbine q water
Thus, the maximum power that can be achieved is
calculated using the equation (9) as shown in section 3.1.
In normal operating conditions, the pressure in the pipe
is kept at 0.098bar allowing the generator to rotate at
1560rpm and generate 393V three phases (227V single
phase) as shown on the figure 10 below.
Figure 10: Generator output voltage
Figure 11: Variation of output voltage with water flow
The figure 11 above shows the variation of the generated
voltage at different prime mover speeds due to the
variation of pressure and water flow in the pipe. The
pressure and water flow have been changed from
0.0981bar to 0.137bar, corresponding to a change in
rotors angular velocity from 1560 rpm to 1625 rpm. The
output voltages measured from the experiments are 227V
and 368V single phase respectively, and the error
maximum on the voltages between the simulations and
the experimental is less than 3.5%.
8. Conclusion
This paper has developd a Matlab/Simulink model to
simulate electricity production from run-off river micro-
hydro at any location where the water resource and site
conditions are suitable. The modeled plant is composed of
a non-regulated Kaplan turbine coupled to a self-excited
induction generator. A prototype has been built in the lab
and used to validate the results obtained by the developed
model. As a case study, data from a site in Kwazulu-Natal
(head of 5m and minimum water flow of 0.143m3/s) have
been used to simulate the behaviours of the modeled plant
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submitted to variable water flow both with the simulation
model and the lab prototype.
(16)
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