Hydropower Energy Slides Report

Hydropower Energy
Slides based report
Eng. Belal ALakhras Thursday, May 9, 2019 Renewable Energy

ENG. BELAL ALAKHRAS 1
Table of Contents
Introduction:........................................................................................................................ 2
Components of a hydropower plant.................................................................................... 7
Hydropower plants classification...................................................................................... 15
The mathematical representation ...................................................................................... 18
Conclusion. ....................................................................................................................... 20
References......................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 1 The Greek concept of using hydro power ............................................................ 3
Figure 2 The change of rotation magnet will generate emf. ............................................... 4
Figure 3 The hydropower capacity of too many countries ................................................. 6
Figure 4 Components of a hydropower plant in general..................................................... 7
Figure 5 The pipes of penstock diagram............................................................................. 9
Figure 6 The surge chamber real ........................................................................................ 9
Figure 7 The surge tank drgram........................................................................................ 10
Figure 8 The type of the gate used to open and close....................................................... 10
Figure 9 The hydro powerhouse diagram. ........................................................................ 11
Figure 10 Shape of turbine................................................................................................ 12
Figure 11 Head and flow rate relation, example of how select the optimum turbine....... 13
Figure 12 The dam comparison ........................................................................................ 14
Figure 13 The gross head.................................................................................................. 19
Table 1 Example ranges of the turbine. .......................................................................... 12

Hydropower Energy
By Eng. Belal alakhras
Hydroelectric power, or hydroelectricity, is basically electrical energy that has been
generated using natural forces such as the gravity of flowing water. It's usually produced by dams
because dams can store and direct large volumes of water. Hydroelectric power is becoming
increasingly popular around the world (Marcin, 2011).
Dams can generate electricity because they contain special mechanisms designed to take
the energy in flowing water and turn it into electrical power. A power source is used to spin a
turbine—basically a propeller—which in turn spins a metal shaft, forming the equivalent of an
electrical generator that produces and stores electricity. The power source, in the case of
hydropower, is water itself. When water moves a turbine, the turbine spins, and electromagnets in
the turbine generate an electric current in the stationary coils of wire inside them (Marcin, 2011).
This report is an engineering slides-based report. The report will be explaining the
following.
• Introduction of hydropower.
• How to get the Hydropower.
• General components of a hydropower plant.
• Hydropower plants.
• Classification of Hydropower plants system.
• How to calculate the total energy.
• Examples of how to calculate the equations of hydropower.
Introduction:
Usually, when we start any investigation about any topic, we started by searching about
definitions to understand the concept of the title words and to follow them during the time of the
search. Basically, the word hydropower came from the Greek word hydro, meaning water. So, it’s
water power, the common attributes between those type of energy generated are the use of a
renewable source of energy.

Historically people used the power of rivers for agriculture and wheat grinding. And
today, rivers and streams are re-directed through hydro generators to produce energy
Hydropower or water power (diff) is power derived from the energy of falling water or
fast running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes (Wikipedia). So, the Hydropower
is generated by using moving water to help the electricity generators to extract energy.
Then some questions come to our mind what’s a historical background which means
Where’s the first-time hydropower used? Where’s biggest one? How they started their idea? And
what’s based concept beyond?
Of course, the answers should be approach to us by searching in books and using the
internet and libraries around the world. The Greeks used water wheels for grinding wheat into
flour more than 2,000 years ago. Its long time but Probably the most important year in hydropower
history was in 1831 when the first electric generator was invented by Michael Faraday. This laid
the foundation for us to learn how to generate electricity with hydropower almost half a century
later, in 1878. But In 1849, British-American engineer James Francis developed the First type of
turbine called by his name Francis Turbine. The first hydroelectric power plant, located in
Appleton, Wisconsin, began to generate electricity already in 1882. The power output was at about
12.5 kW. 7 years later, in 1889, the total number of hydroelectric power plant solely in the US had
reached 200. During the first half of the 1900s hydropower became the world’s most important
source of electricity. In 2008, the Three Gorges Dam in China was built. This is the largest power
Figure 1 The Greek concept of using hydro power

plant at the current date, generating 22.500 MW, adding to China’s installed hydroelectric capacity
of 196.79 GW (2009) (energyinformative, 2012).
The based concept beyond the idea of hydropower is the covert moving of water to
electricity using the circle life of water so it’s become renewable energy. Faraday law with Lens
law will help us to cover this concept and understand it well. Faraday law is a basic law of
electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit to produce
an electromotive force (EMF)—a phenomenon called electromagnetic induction. It is the
fundamental operating principle of transformers, inductors, and many types of electrical motors,
generators, and solenoids (energyinformative, 2012).
Faraday's law states that there is EMF (electromotive force, defined as electromagnetic
work done on a unit charge when it has traveled one round of a conductive loop) on the conductive
loop when the magnetic flux through the surface enclosed by the loop varies in time (wikizero,
2011).
`
So it can be said that this concept is the basic principle of turbine generator that helps in
the concept of convert water power to electricity.
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potentials energy of
water into mechanical work that we can use it to convert its electricity. So, what’s the advantages
and disadvantages of hydropower? Actually, there are many pros of hydropower as follow:
• It’s a clean fuel source: Hydropower is fueled by water, so it's a clean fuel source, meaning it
won't pollute the air like power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas
(greenkinetics, 2018).
Figure 2 The change of rotation magnet will generate emf.

• Requires Low Operating Cost: The good thing about hydroelectricity when it comes to cost
is that it requires low maintenance and operating cost. It also requires minimal replacements
due to the fewer parts that are present in it. More so, the dams built in these locations have
been designed for long-term use. Hence, these facilities will be capable of providing
hydroelectric power for a long period of time (greenkinetics, 2018)
• Matches the Demand: The good thing about hydroelectricity when it comes to cost is that it
requires low maintenance and operating cost. It also requires minimal replacements due to the
fewer parts that are present in it. More so, the dams built in these locations have been designed
for long-term use. Hence, these facilities will be capable of providing hydroelectric power for
a long period of time (greenkinetics, 2018).
• It is Stable type of power: This type of energy source is considered dependable as there are
no issues so far as electric power generation is concerned. Many countries with huge
hydropower potential utilize hydroelectricity as their main energy source (greenkinetics,
2018).
However, there are also some famous Cons of hydropower as follow:
• Shortage of Water Supply: When one location does not require too much water supply, it
will be redirected to another place so that those looking to build dams in the area can get the
much-needed water. However, it can cause conflict in the long run when there is a scarcity of
water supply in that particular area and the water redirected to the dams must be stopped
(Ayres, 2018 ).
• Cost of Building is Expensive: Undoubtedly, power plants are very expensive to create,
regardless of the type of building. Although hydroelectric power plants are not that
complicated to build, it may still require a huge amount of money, to begin with. The only
advantage is that it will not require specialists to maintain or support personnel that needs to
be paid large sums of money. So perhaps it will make a good investment to think it can provide
an essential source of energy (Ayres, 2018 ).
• Causes Environmental Damage: Due to the interruptions in the natural flow of water, there
are many identified results that can affect the environment. Consequently, it can influence the
movement of fish as they move or migrate. This is because fish environments can be influenced

by a number of factors, including safe spots, water levels, and water speed. When one of these
factors will be altered, there can be a possible interruption in the ecosystem for sure (Ayres,
2018 ).
China is the world’s largest producer of hydropower and installed capacity. In comparison with
the united states of America, China produces 341 GW what the last with only 103 GW. The
world's largest hydroelectric plant is in China called The Three Gorges Dam Also, Chinese
build the largest dam in the world with 22,500 MW installed capacity and 1084 (km²) Area
flood. In fact, Turkey in 2017 produces 27 ~ 30 GW of hydropower. So, turkey is ninth of the
world. Currently, 30% of all electricity generated in the country comes from hydropower,
according to data from the International Energy Agency. Turkey has 478 installed hydropower
plants located in 69 provinces throughout the country. They have a big dream they will use
renewable energy as a 100% source of electricity in 2023. Turkey is a real competitor among
lots of countries in hydropower (iha.com).
In general, a brief introduction about the hydropower has been explained. Now, let’s go
deeper and get some more information about hydropower. So, it can be said that Hydroelectric
power comes from water at work, water in motion. In generating electricity, no new energy is
created. Actually, one form of energy is converted to another form. When flowing water turns
Figure 3 The hydropower capacity of too many countries

blades in a turbine its changed kinetic energy into the mechanical (machine) energy. The turbine
turns the generator rotor which then converts this mechanical energy into another energy form
electricity. As much the water pressure is high as the greater pressure drive turbines. Networks of
transmission lines and facilities are used to bring electricity to us.
what’s the component of hydropower? This is the considerable question it’s good to
understand each component of that system.
Components of a hydropower plant
The basic principle of hydropower is using water to drive turbines. Hydropower plants
consist of two basic configurations: with dams and reservoirs, or without. Hydropower dams with
a large reservoir can store water over short or long periods to meet peak demand. The facilities can
also be divided into smaller dams for different purposes, such as night or day use, seasonal storage,
or pumped-storage reversible plants, for both pumping and electricity generation (IRENA,
International Renewable Energy Agency. , 2018)..
Now let’s have a look to figure 4 which can see most of the important component
Figure 4 Components of a hydropower plant in general

Let’s have a look to all of them one by one.
Dam or reservoir: Responsible to hold the water and the water will back to it. So creating
a large water reservoir that can be used as storage
Intake, penstock: Gates on the dam open and gravity conducts the water through the
penstock (a cavity or pipeline) to the turbine.
A surge chamber or tank: is used to reduce surges in water pressure that could potentially
damage or lead to increased stresses on the turbine.
Generators: As the turbine blades turn, the rotor inside the generator also turns so electric
current is produced as magnets rotate inside the fixed-coil generator to produce alternating current
(AC).
Transformer: The transformer inside the powerhouse takes the AC voltage and converts
it into the higher-voltage current for more efficient (lower losses) long-distance transport.
Transmission lines: Send the electricity generated to a grid-connection point, or to a large
industrial consumer directly, where the electricity is converted back to a lower-voltage current and
fed into the distribution network.
Gate: can be controlling the open, close and some of them control the amount of water can
pass by to penstock. The water from the 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.
Powerhouse: it’s stored the three main component Turbine room, Generator room, Service
areas. In general, the erection bay should be located at the end of the generator room, preferably
at the same floor elevation and with a length equal to at least one generator bay.
Forebay: A forebay is a basin area of hydropower plant where water is temporarily stored
before going into intake chamber.
Tailrace: is the flow of water from turbines to the stream. It is good if the power house is
located nearer to the stream. But if it is located far away from the stream then it is necessary to
build a channel for carrying water into the stream.

Figure 5 The pipes of penstock diagram
Figure 6 The surge chamber real

In 1849, British-American engineer James Francis developed the Francis Turbine. So
nowadays Francis turbine is the most used turbine in the hydropower system (IRENA,
International Renewable Energy Agency. , 2018). Next will see the types of turbine and their
shape. Then will understand when we can use each one of them.
Figure 7 The surge tank drgram.
Figure 8 The type of the gate used to open and close.

Turbine: The water strikes the turbine blades and turns the turbine, which is attached to a
generator by a shaft. A most common type of turbine for hydropower plants in use today is the
Francis Turbine.
There are two main types of the turbine which are indicates the manner in which the
water causes the turbine runner to rotate.
• Reaction turbine operates with their runners fully flooded and develops torque
because of the reaction of water pressure against runner blades. (operate in low and
medium heads) e.g. Francis turbine.
• Impulse turbines generally use the velocity of the water to move the runner and
discharges to atmospheric pressure. (operate in high water head heads) e.g. pelt0n
turbine.
Figure 9 The hydro powerhouse diagram.
Classification of
Turbines
IMPULSE PELTON,TURGO WHEEL,CROSSFLOW
REACTION
FRANCIS
AXIAL FLOW
PROPELLER, SEMI KAPLAN ,KAPLAN

Turbine Design Ranges
Name of Turbine Head (H) range in meters
Kaplan 2 < H < 40
Francis 10 < H < 350
Pelton 50 < H < 1300
Turgo 50 < H < 250
Table 1 Example ranges of the turbine.
Depending on the head and flow rate the turbine can be chosen. So, we can summarize that
by looking to next diagram. In simple terms, the maximum hydropower power output is entirely
dependent on how much head and flow is available at the site but what’s the definition of head and
flow rate (T. H. Bakken ,Å. Killingtveit, K. Engeland , K. Alfredsen, A. Harby, 2013).
Head is the height difference between where the water enters into the hydro system and
where it leaves it, measured in meters, as more head means more power (so more energy).
Flow rate is the amount of water that can be passed through the turbine, measured in cubic
meters per second.
Figure 10 Shape of turbine

Dam or reservoir
Dams or reservoir are in general can be characterized by the heads also as next
diagram.
o high-head
o medium-head
o low-head
Figure 11 Head and flow rate relation, example of how select the optimum turbine.

Based on the functions of dam classified:
Storage dams: They are constructed to store water during the rainy season when
there is a large flow in the river (DR.Prasiddha, 2015).
Diversion dams: A diversion dam is constructed for the purpose of diverting water of
the river into an off-taking canal (or a conduit) (DR.Prasiddha, 2015).
Detention dams: Detention dams are constructed for flood control. A detention dam
retards the flow in the river on its downstream during floods by storing some flood water
(DR.Prasiddha, 2015).
Debris dams: A debris dam is constructed to retain debris such as sand, gravel, and
drift wood flowing in the river with water (DR.Prasiddha, 2015).
Coffer dams: is usually constructed on the upstream of the main dam to divert water
into a diversion tunnel (or channel) during the construction of the dam (DR.Prasiddha, 2015).
Nearly, the component of hydropower system has been explained and it can be seen how
much the information can carry different type of applied engineer. Yes, that’s true there so many
background engineers of specified types of engineers involved on that type of system. So there so
many angles we need to have a look. But we can say that the power engineer care about this type
of system because it considers one renewable energy system. Now it’s good to know the
classification of hydropower plants and take a general idea about how to calculate the capacity
power and what’s the important relation that related the idea.
Figure 12 The dam comparison

Hydropower plants classification.
Hydropower plants are building in which turbines are operated, to drive generators, by
the energy of natural or artificial waterfalls. It has a classification which could understand it by
the next diagram.
Based on the Classification every group will be explained.
• According to Capacity
The MW capacity of power is can be classified the type of hydropower plant.
• LARGE: >100 MW
• MEDIUM: 25 – 100 MW
• SMALL: 1-25 MW
• MINI: 100 KW - 1MW
• MICRO: 5 – 100 KW
• PICO: < 5 KW
So, this is the summarization of it.
Classification of hydropower
plants
According to
Capacity
Large
Medium
Small
Mini
Micro
Pico
According
to head
High
Medium
Low
According
to purpose
Single
purpose
Multi
purpose
According to
facility types
Run-of-River
Reservoirs
Pumped
storage
According to
transmission
system
Isolated
Connected to
grid

• According to head
As seen before on the explanation in dam type we have three types.
➢ high-head (800 or more feet)
➢ medium-head (100 to 800 feet)
➢ low-head (less than 100 feet).
Feet in the meter is equal to 0.3048 so for example 800 feet =~ 240 meters.
• According to purpose
➢ Single Purpose: When the whole purpose of a project is to produce electricity then such
a project is known as a Single Purpose Hydro Power Project.
➢ Multipurpose: When the water used in hydropower project is to be used for other
purposes like irrigation, flood control or fisheries then such a project is known as Multi-
Purpose Hydro Power Project.
• According to facility types
There are three common types of facilities
➢ Storage hydropower plants. (Impoundment)
➢ Run of river hydropower plants. (Diversion)
➢ Pumped Storage hydropower plants. (Composed)
➢ Storage hydropower plants (Impoundment)
• This the most common type of hydroelectric power plant is an impoundment
facility. 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.
• The water may be released either to meet changing electricity needs or to maintain
a constant reservoir level (BAIRWA, 2013).

➢ Run of river hydropower plants. (Diversion)
• A diversion, sometimes called run-of-river, facility channels a portion of a river
through a canal or penstock. It may not require the use of a dam.
➢ Pumped storage hydropower plants
• Two reservoirs are used to reuse the same supply of water. One reservoir is placed
at a higher elevation and another at a lower elevation.
• During peak hours of electrical use, the higher elevated reservoir is opened to allow
water to flow through a turbine towards the lower reservoir.
• During times of low use such as dawn, water is pumped back to the higher elevated
reservoir from the lower reservoir for future use (T. H. Bakken ,Å. Killingtveit, K.
Engeland , K. Alfredsen, A. Harby, 2013).
• According to the transmission system
➢ Isolated
➢ Connected to grid
➢ ISOLATED: Whenever a hydropower plant is set up in a remote area in order to meet
the local demands then such a hydropower plant is known as Isolated System.
➢ CONNECTED TO GRID: Whenever the hydropower plant is set up to meet the
demands of areas which are at a fair distance from the plant, then the transmission of
power takes through the grid system. Such a setup is referred to as Connected to grid
(BAIRWA, 2013).
As an engineer, we need to have a mechanism of using this information to get a calculation of the
power capacity. So, we can get convert the knowledge to mathematician equation. So the next
section will talk about this.

The mathematical representation
• So the simple equation to find the power is
Power (W) = m x g x Hnet x η
• P = power measured in Watts (W).
• m = mass flow rate in kg/s (numerically the same as the flow rate in liters/second because
1 litre of water weighs 1 kg)
• g = the gravitational constant, which is 9.81m/s2
• Hnet =the net head. This is the gross head physically measured at the site, less any head
losses. To keep things simple head losses can be assumed to be 10%, so Hnet=Hgross x
0.90
• η =the product of all the component efficiencies, which are normally the turbine, drive
system and generator
For a typical small hydro system, the turbine efficiency would be 85%, drive efficiency
95% and generator efficiency 93%, so the overall system efficiency would be:
0.85 x 0.95 x 0.93 = 0.751 i.e. 75.1%
Example 1
if you had a relatively low gross head of 2.5 metres, and a turbine that could take a
maximum flow rate of 3 m3
/s, what’s the maximum power output of the system would be?
Answer:
Hnet = Hgross x 0.9 = 2.5 x 0.9 = 2.25 m.
3 m3/s = 3,000 litres per second.
Remember that 1 litre of water weighs 1 kg, so m is the same numerically as the flow rate
in litres/second, in this case 3,000 kg/s.
So
Power (W) = m x g x Hnet x η = 3,000 x 9.81 x 2.25 x 0.751 = 49,729 W = 49.7 kW

Example 2
What’s the maximum power output of system would be if the gross head is 50 meters and
maximum flow rate through the turbine is 150 litres / second.
Answer:
Hnet = 50 x 0.9 = 45 m
Power (W) = m x g x Hnet x η = 150 x 9.81 x 45 x 0.751 = 49,729 W = 49.7 kW
This clearly shows how the two main variables when calculating hydropower power output
from a hydropower system are the head and the flow, and the power output is proportional to the
head multiplied by the flow (IRENA, RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES: COST
ANALYSIS SERIES Hydropower, 2012).
Figure 13 The gross head

Conclusion.
Hydropower system, as can be seen, is mainly depend on water in work.The water cycle is
mainly involved in the power mechanism of this type of power system. The classification of the
hydropower system is considered a wide area range of application. Hydropower plants consist of
two basic configurations: with dams and reservoirs, or without. Hydropower dams with a large
reservoir can store water over short or long periods to meet peak demand. Also, it can be said that
the basic principle of turbine generator helps convert the energy of water power to electricity.
China is the world’s largest producer of hydropower and installed capacity. They have the
biggest dam in the world and instead of that turkey is ninth of the world in the hydropower system.
Currently, 30% of all electricity generated in the country comes from hydropower, according to
data from the International Energy Agency. They have big dreams in 2023 to achieve 100% of the
country form the hydropower system.
Hydropower dams with a large reservoir can store water over short or long periods to meet
peak demand. The facilities can also be divided into smaller dams for different purposes, such as
night or day use and seasonal storage. The maximum hydropower power output is entirely
dependent on how much head and flow is available at the site but what’s the definition of head and
flow rate. So, in conclusion, mathematical representation gives a good understanding of the
important points that mention.

References
Ayres, C. (2018 ). 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydroelectricity. Retrieved from
https://connectusfund.org/10-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-hydroelectricity
BAIRWA, R. K. (2013). TYPES OF HYDROPOWER PLANTS. M.TECH I YEAR AHS (IIT
ROORKEE).
DR.Prasiddha, H. (2015). Types of Dams. Retrieved from
http://www.civileblog.com/author/admin/
energyinformative, t. (2012). energyinformative.org. Retrieved from
https://energyinformative.org/the-history-of-hydroelectric-power/
greenkinetics. (2018). HYDRO POWER-ADVANTAGES. Retrieved from
http://www.greenkinetics.net/hydro-power-advantages/
IRENA. (2012). RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES: COST ANALYSIS SERIES
Hydropower.
IRENA. (2018). International Renewable Energy Agency. . Retrieved from
https://www.irena.org/hydropower
Marcin, M. (2011). (C. Capital, Editor) Retrieved from Introduction to Hydropower:
https://www.crestcapital.com/tax/introduction_to_hydropower
T. H. Bakken ,Å. Killingtveit, K. Engeland , K. Alfredsen, A. Harby. (2013). Water consumption
from hydropower plants – review of published.
wikizero. (2011). wikizero.biz.
End of the report.

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