HYDRO POWER PLANT

General Plant Details

• In 1878, the world's first house to be powered with hydroelectricity
was Cragside in Northumberland, England.
• French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture
Hydraulique which described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic
machines
• Hydropower plants produce about 24 percent of the world's
electricity
• The world's hydropower plants output a combined total of 675,000
megawatts
• The oldest Hydropower power plant in India is in Darjeeling District
in West Bengal.  It’s installed capacity is 130KW and was
commissioned in the year 1897 .
•
 World's Hydroelectric Capacity
Installed % of total
Annual hydroelectric Capacity
Country capacity capacit
production (TWh) factor
(GW) y
China 585.2 196.79 0.37 22.25
Canada 369.5 88.974 0.59 61.12
Brasil 363.8 69.080 0.56 85.56
United States 250.6 79.511 0.42 5.74
Russia 167.0 45.000 0.42 17.64
Norway 140.5 27.528 0.49 98.25
India 115.6 33.600 0.43 15.80

Venezuela 86.8 67.17

Japan 69.2 27.229 0.37 7.21

Sweden 65.5 16.209 0.46 44.34
 Plant Layout
 Dam
 Intake
 Turbine
Francis Turbine,
Pelton Turbine,
Kaplan Turbine
 Generators
 Transformer
 Power lines
 Outflow
 Generators
• Hoover Dam has a total of 17
generators, each of which can
generate up to 133 megawatts
• Current of 16,500 volts moves
from the generator to the
transformer, where the current
ramps up to 230,000 volts before
being transmitted
• Usually 3 phase synchronous
motor is used
• P = 3 VI cos O
• Pth = (wQH) KW
• 1000
• Pactual = Pth X overall efficiency
 Types of turbine
• Impulse Turbines
• These are used where a high head of water, combined with a low flow
rate is available. The water is injected onto the turbine buckets or blades
through nozzles arranged around the impeller.
• Types of Impulse Turbines
• Turbo Turbine, Pelton Wheel, Cross flow Turbine
• Reaction Turbines
• Types of Reaction Turbines
• Propeller Turbine, Francis Turbine, Kaplan Turbine
• Propeller Turbine
• form of a ships propeller, having between three to six blades. The blades
and hub are completely submerged in the water which rotates the
propeller.
 Dam Types
• Poor rock and earth foundation – Earth dam
• Narrow dam – Arch dam
• Valley is wide, weak foundation – Buttress dam
• Any valley width, good foundations – Steel dam
• Any valley width, any foundations – Timber dam
• Wide valley with gentle slopes – Earth dam
• Rocky bed – Solid gravity dam
 Spillways
• Excess accumualtion of water endangers the stability of dam
structures
• Solid gravity
• Trough spillway
• Side channel spillway Water flows over the body
• Saddle spillway
• Emergency spillway
• Shaft spillway Water flows through the
• Siphon spillway body
 Conduits
• Channels which leads water to turbine and a tailrace
which conducts water

• Canal
Open Conduits
• Flume
• Tunnel
• Pipeline
Closed Conduits
• Penstock
• Open conduits – least expensive but cost increases as
height increases
• Closed conduits – Slope is too great for a canal
 Penstocks
• Thickness of penstock = pd \ 2fn
• p = pressure (water hammer)
• d = internal diameter of penstock
• f = hoop stress
• n = joint efficiency

• Penstock materials – RCC (18m head), wood, steel (any head)

• Buried penstocks (need cathodic protection)

• Exposed penstock (easy maintenance)
 Surge Tanks
 Used to prevent water hammer
 Serve as supply tank during high loads condition

 Types – Simple
 Inclined (to save space)
 Expansion chamber
 Restricted orifice
 Differential
Classification of Hydro Power Plant
• According to head
• High (100m)
• Medium (80 – 100m)
• Low (25 – 80mm)

• According to nature of load

• Base load
• Peak load

• According to quantity of water

• Run of river (without pond)
• Run of river (with pond)
• Storage
• Pump storage
• Mini – macro plants
 Impulse (Pelton) turbine
 Tangential flow turbine
 For high heads and low
discharge
 Bucket shape used to guide
the flow of water
 Uses potential energy
 Specific speed
Ns = 10 – 35
 Can produce up to 200
megawatts
 Reaction turbine (Francis)
• Uses both potential and kinetic
energies
• Inward flow turbine
• Used for medium head and
discharge
• Water flows in closed conduit
unlike pelton wheel
• Runner is always full of water
• Can produce up to 800
megawatts
 Kaplan turbine
• Used for low head and high
discharge
• Blades are adjustable and can
be rotated about pivot
• Can be used up to 400
megawatts
Life of Hydro Plant Components
COMPONENTS AVERAGE LIFE (YEARS)

Reservoirs 70 -80

Dams 100

Penstocks 50

Building 40

Generators 25

Turbines 5

Pumps 20 -25
 Plants in India
Station Place Generator units Capacity (MW)
Srisaila Dam Andhra Pradesh 6 × 150, 7 × 110 1,670
Sardar Sarovar Gujrat 6X200, 5X140 1,450
Bhakra Dam Himachal 5 X 108, 5 X 1,325
Pradesh 157
Kalinadi Karnataka 2X50, 2x135, 1,225
4X150, 3X50,
3X40
Sharavathi Karnataka 10 X 103.5, 1,469
2X27.5, 4X60

Nagarjunasagar Andhra Pradesh 1 X 110, 7 X 965

100.8, 5 X 30
• Advantages • Disadvantages
• clean fuel source
• domestic source of
energy
• renewable power
source
 REFERENCES
• Books
• Powerplant Engineering – Rajput

• Website
• www.Ishan-international.com
• www.Brighthub.com