8-1 Chapter 8 MICRO HYDRO ENERGY RESOURCE Table of Contents Chapter 8 Micro Hydro Energy Resource ------------------------------------------------------ 8-3 8.1 Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-3 8.2 How is Hydro Electricity Generated? ------------------------------------------------- 8-4 8.3 Head and Flow Measurements -------------------------------------------------------- 8-8 8.3.1 Head Measure ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-8 8.3.2 Flow Measure ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-10 8.4 Hydro System Components ----------------------------------------------------------- 8-12 8.4.1 Water Diversion (Intake) -------------------------------------------------------- 8-12 8.4.2 Pipeline (Penstock) --------------------------------------------------------------- 8-13 8.4.3 Turbines ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-14 8.4.4 Drive System ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-19 8.4.5 Generator -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-20 8.4.6 Controls ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-21 8.5 Available Micro hydropower Technology -------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.5.1 Pelton Turbine --------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.5.2 Stream Engine Turbine ----------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.5.3 Water Baby Turbine -------------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.5.4 The LH-1000 Turbine ------------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.5.5 The Nautilus Turbine ------------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.6 Micro Hydropower Costs -------------------------------------------------------------- 8-23 8.7 Micro Hydropower Resource in Puerto Rico --------------------------------------- 8-25 8.8 References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8-34 8-2 List of Figures Figure 8.1. Hydroelectric Power Generation Diagram-------------------------------8-6 Figure 8.2. Variable Pressure by Water Height--------------------------------------8-7 Figure 8.3. Continuity of Water Flow-------------------------------------------------8-9 Figure 8.4. Nozzle Velocity Variations-------------------------------------------------8-9 Figure 8.5. Measuring Downstream [H12] ------------------------------------------8-11 Figure 8.6. Pipeline Example [H12] -------------------------------------------------8-15 Figure 8.7. Impulse Turbine Hydro System [H12] ---------------------------------8-16 Figure 8.8. Pelton Turbines Configuration [H12] ----------------------------------8-17 Figure 8.9. Turgo Turbines Configuration [H12] -----------------------------------8-17 Figure 8.10. Reaction Turbine [H12] ------------------------------------------------8-18 Figure 8.11. Turbine Application Chart [H13, H14] -------------------------------8-20 Figure 8.12.Diagram of Typical Battery Based Hydro Power System [H12] ---8-23 Figure 8.13. Annual Precipitation per Year in Puerto Rico (1971-2000) --------8-23 Figure 8.14. Location of surface-water stations in Puerto Rico [H19] ----------8-28 Figure 8.15. Puerto Rico Hydrologic Units map [Source: USGS 2008].----------8-29 Figure 8.16. Rio Grande de Arecibo Discharge per Year.--------------------------8-30 Figure 8.17. Puerto Rico Highest points [Source: DRNA 2008].------------------8-30 List of Tables Table 8.1 Classification of Hydro Plants [H8] ----------------------------------------8-5 Table 8.2. Head Loss in PVC Pipe [H3] --------------------------------------------8-11 Table 8.3. Output Power (Watts) of Stream Engine [H5] ------------------------8-12 Table 8.4. Turbine Type Selection [H13, H14] -------------------------------------8-18 Table 8.5. Price List for SE, LH1000 and Water Baby Turbines [H6]------------8-25 Table 8.6. SE, LH1000 and Water Baby Parts Lists [H6]. ------------------------8-25 Table 8.7 Hydrologic Units enumeration and location.----------------------------8-27 Table 8.8 Puerto Rico Higher points location. --------------------------------------8-29 Table 8.9 Rio Blanco and Rio Grande de Arecibo Average Discharge-----------8-31 Table 8.10 Potential Kilowatts production by area in Hydrologic Unit-----------8-32 Table 8.11. Approximate Hydrologic Units Power Production. -------------------8-33 8-3 CHAPTER 8 MICRO HYDRO ENERGY RESOURCE 8.1 Introduction On Earth, water is constantly moved around in various states, a process known as the Hydrologic Cycle. Water evaporates from the oceans, forming into clouds, falling out as rain and snow, gathering into streams and rivers, and flowing back to the sea. All this movement provides an enormous opportunity to harness useful energy. Prior to the widespread availability of commercial electric power, hydropower was used for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile machines, and sawmills. Compressed air was produced from falling water, which could then be used to power other machinery at a distance from the water. Hydro power continued to play a major role in the expansion of electrical service around the world. Hydro electric power plants generate from few kW to thousands of MW and are much more reliable and efficient as a renewable and clean energy source than fossil fuel power plants. This resulted in upgrading of small to medium sized hydro electric generating stations wherever there was an adequate supply of moving water and a need for electricity. As electricity demand was increasing Mega projects of Hydro power plants were developed. The majority of these power plants involved large dams which flooded big areas of land to provide water storage and therefore a constant supply of electricity. In recent years, the environmental impacts of such large hydro projects are being identified as a cause for concern. It is becoming increasingly difficult for developers to build new dams because of opposition from environmentalists and people living on the land to be flooded. Therefore the need has arisen to evaluate smaller scale hydroelectric power plants in the range of mini and micro 8-4 hydroelectricity power plants. Table 8.1 shows a classification of hydroelectric power plants based on power generation. Table 8.1 Classification of Hydro Plants [H8] Large All installations with an installed capacity of more than 1000 kW. Small All installations in the range between 500 to 1000 kW. Mini Capacity between 100 to 500 kW Micro Hydropower installations with a power output less than 100 kW 8.2 How is Hydro Electricity Generated? Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator. In this case the energy extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head. The amount of potential energy in water is proportional to the head [H1, H2]. To obtain very high head, water for a hydraulic turbine may be run through a large pipe called a penstock, see Figure 8.1. Figure 8.13. Hydroelectric Power Generation Diagram. 8-5 For a volume of a fluid which is not in motion or is in a state of constant motion, Newton's Laws states that it must have zero net force on it - the forces going up must equal the forces going down. This force balance is called the hydrostatic balance. The net force over one point is due to the fluid weight [H9]. In Figure 8.2 we can see the linear variation of pressure by water height, and then the basic hydrostatic equation is: PP= 0 + γ h (8.2.1) Where γ = Specific Weigh of the fluid (lb/ft3), 2 P0= Atmospheric pressure (lb/ ft ), h = Height (ft). Figure 8.2. Variable Pressure by Water Height. To determine the hydraulic power we use the Conservation Energy Law which states that the energy can neither be created nor destroyed. This means that 8-6 the total energy of a system remains constant. The total energy includes potential energy due to elevation and pressure and also kinetic energy due to velocity. Considering the system in Figure 8.2 we can state that the total energy in point 1 is: P 1 W E=+ Wh W1 + v2 = constan t t 11γ 2 g (8.2.2) PP1211WW22(8.2.3) EWhWtl=+1122 + v −=+ HWhW + v γγ22gg Equation 8.2.3 is also known as Bernoulli’s Equation, where Where v1,v2 = velocities at point 1 and 2 respectively (ft/s), Hl = Represents losses in pipe (ft). From Equation 8.2.3 we determine that the velocity at the intake of the system point 1 is the same as the velocity in point 2, but not necessarily the same at the turbine input. This is due to the use of nozzles at the pipe end in some cases. The Continuity Equation states that for steady flow in a pipeline, the weight flow rate (weight of fluid passing a given station per unit time) is the same for all locations of the pipe [H9, H10]. To illustrate the significance of the continuity equation, refer to Figure 8.3, which shows a pipe in which fluid is flowing with a weight flow rate W that has units of weight per unit time. The pipe has two different-size cross-sectional areas identified by stations 1 and 2. The continuity equation states that if no fluid is added or withdrawn from the pipeline between stations 1 and 2, then the weight flow rate at stations 1 and 2 must be equal. (8.2.4) WW12= γγA11vAv= 2 2 (8.2.5) 8-7 Figure 8.3. Continuity