David Anderson

E-Futures DTC
Overview
Torrs Hydro
Hydro Power Basics
Method to determine long term efficiency
Dilution Gauging
Problems
Flow Modelling
Conclusions
Torrs Hydro
Micro hydro power scheme at New Mills, Derbyshire
Community Scheme set up in 2007
63kW reverse Archimedes screw
Reverse Archimedes Screws
New application to old technology
Water flow turns the screw, driving a generator,
producing electricity.
Advantages
Good for low head sites
Work well at range of flows
Fish Friendly
Hydro power Basics
Head the vertical fall of the water over a weir.
Volume Flow Rate the volume of water passing a
given point per second.
Power = ..g.Q.H
Hydraulic Efficiency
Density of water, 1000kg/m
3
gAcceleration due to gravity, 9.81m/s
2
HHead, 3m
QFlow rate through the turbine, m
3
/s
Head
Flow Rate
Measuring long term efficiency
Install pressure gauge sensors in the River Goyt
Relate water level (pressure) to the flow rate in the
river
Create a calibration graph
W
a
t
e
r

L
e
v
e
l

(
m
)
Flow Rate (m
3
/s)
New Mills
Pressure gauge 2
measures total flow
Pressure gauge 1
measures weir flow
Reverse Archimedes
Screw
Flow through turbine = Total Flow Weir Flow
Measuring the flow rate
Dilution gauging
Continuous Injection
Slug Injection
Continuous Injection Method
Slug Injection Method
Slug injection setup
Detection Site
250m downstream
Fluorescence
detected using
SCUFAs
Injection Site
Instant injection of
~4 litres of
Rhodamine WT
Concentration
injected ~1x10
-3
l/l
SCUFA Self Contained
Underwater Fluorescence
Apparatus
Calculating the flow rate
Flow rate (l/s) = Concentration (l/l) * Volume Injected (l)
Area underneath peak corresponding
to the slug
-2E-09
0
2E-09
4E-09
6E-09
1
0
1
7
1
0
2
0
1
0
2
3
1
0
2
6
1
0
2
9
1
0
3
2
1
0
3
5
1
0
3
8
1
0
4
1
1
0
4
4
1
0
4
7
1
0
5
0
1
0
5
3
1
0
5
6
1
0
5
9
1
1
0
2
1
1
0
5
1
1
0
8
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
7
1
1
2
0
1
1
2
3
1
1
2
6
1
1
2
9
1
1
3
2
1
1
3
5
1
1
3
8
1
1
4
1
1
1
4
4
1
1
4
7
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

R
h
o
d
a
m
i
n
e

W
T

d
e
t
e
c
t
e
d

(
l
/
l
)
Time
Results
Flow rate
measured by
SCUFA 060 (m
3
/s)
Flow rate
measured by
SCUFA 689 (m
3
/s)
Flow Rate at
Marple Bridge
1
(m
3
/s)
Day 1 3.46 * 2.48
Day 2 2.59 3.25 Not Available
Day 3 9.75 2.65 2.20
* - SCUFA didn't record any data,
1 - Contains Environment Agency information Environment Agency and database right
Flow rates are comparable to data obtained from
Marple Bridge gauging station
SCUFA 060 Day 3 deemed an erroneous result
Limitations to the method
Turbidity of the river
Areas of slack water
Background fluorescence not always constant
Air bubbles
Dealing with concentrations around the SCUFAs
detection limit
Estimating the flow rate
Volume flow rate can be estimated
Sheffield Renewables flow modeling method
2
Or 91% of Marple Bridges flow rate
3
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
E
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d

F
l
o
w

R
a
t
e

(
m
3
/
s
)
Flow rate as 91% of Marple Bridge Estimated flow rate at New Mills
Estimating the efficiency
Power = ..g.Q.H so... = Power/.g.Q.H
-Hydraulic Efficiency
-Density of water, 1000kg/m
3
g-Acceleration due to gravity, 9.81m/s
2
Q-Volume Flow rate through the turbine, m
3
/s
H-Head, 3m
Q = Q
river
Q
95
Q
river
-Estimated river flow rate
Q
95
-Flow rate exceeded 95% of the time
Estimated Efficiency for 2009
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
45.00
50.00
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
H
y
d
r
a
u
l
i
c

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
V
o
l
u
m
e

F
l
o
w

R
a
t
e

t
h
r
o
u
g
h

t
h
e

t
u
r
b
i
n
e

(
m
3
/
s
)
Month
Estimated Theoretical Flow through Turbine Overall Efficiency
Estimated Efficiency for 2009
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
H
y
d
r
a
u
l
i
c

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
V
o
l
u
m
e

F
l
o
w

R
a
t
e

t
h
r
o
u
g
h

t
h
e

t
u
r
b
i
n
e

(
m
3
/
s
)
Month
Estimated Theoretical Flow through Turbine Overall Efficiency Efficiency for when turbine is on only
Reasons for low efficiency
Reduction in head
Site restraints
Fixed speed turbine
1 - River Goyt; 2 - River Sett; 3 - Torr Weir; 4 - Headrace (water intake); 5 - Powerhouse; 6 - Fish Pass; 7 - Reverse Archiemedes
Screw Turbine a.k.a Archie; 8 - Tailrace (water outlet); 9 - Leaping Salmon Carving; 10 - Ruins of Torr Mill; 11 Torr Bridge
Conclusions
Dilution gauging provides a possible means of
accurately measuring river flow rate
It does suffer from some impracticalities and the
method still needs to be refined
Estimation of flow rate at New Mills can be achieved
by other means
But calibration of the pressure gauge sensors is
essential
Acknowledgements
Dr Abigail Hathway
Neil Johnson
Chris Davenport
Jon Green
Jon Davidson
James Kelly
Torrs Hydro
References
1. http://www.torrshydro.org/index.php
2. Richard Collins; Hydro Project Technical Report
Summary of 2008; Sheffield Renewables.
3. Torrs Hydro-EA correspondance.
4. http://www.deq.state.la.us/portal/Portals/0/technol
ogy/tmdl/time-of-travel-4.gif
5. http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/main/index.