Waterwheels, turbines, and mills

In India, water wheels and watermills were built; in

Imperial Rome, water powered mills produced flour from
grain, and were also used for sawing timber and stone; in
China, watermills were widely used since the Han Dynasty.
In China and the rest of the Far East, hydraulically operated
"pot wheel" pumps raised water into irrigation canals.
In 1753, French engineer Bernard Forest de Blidor
published Architecture Hydraulique which described
vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines. By the
late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed
and could now be coupled with hydraulics.
[1]
The growing
demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive
development as well.
[2]

The power of a wave of water released from a tank was
used for extraction of metal ores in a method known as
hushing. The method was first used at the Dolaucothi gold
mine in Wales from 75 AD onwards, but had been
developed in Spain at such mines as Las Medulas. Hushing
was also widely used in Britain in the Medieval and later
periods to extract lead and tin ores. It later evolved into
hydraulic mining when used during the California gold
rush.
At the beginning of the Industrial revolution in Britain,
water was the main source of power for new inventions
such as Richard Arkwright's water frame.
[3]
Although the
use of water power gave way to steam power in many of
the larger mills and factories, it was still used during the
18th and 19th centuries for many smaller operations, such
as driving the bellows in small blast furnaces (e.g. the Dyfi
Furnace)
[4]
and gristmills, such as those built at Saint
Anthony Falls, which uses the 50-foot (15 m) drop in the
Mississippi R Prevents floods: The dams also help prevent
floods in the areas adjoining the large rivers. iver.

In the 1830s, at the early peak in U.S. canal-building,
hydropower provided the energy to transport barge traffic
up and down steep hills using inclined plane railroads. As
railroads overtook canals for transportation, canal systems
were modified and developed into hydropower systems; the
history of Lowell, Massachusetts is a classic example of
commercial development and industrialization, built upon
the availability of water power.
Technological advances had moved the open water wheel
into an enclosed turbine or water motor. In 1848 James B.
Francis, while working as head engineer of Lowell's Locks
and Canals company, improved on these designs to create a
turbine with 90% efficiency. He applied scientific
principles and testing methods to the problem of turbine
design. His mathematical and graphical calculation
methods allowed confident design of high efficiency
turbines to exactly match a site's specific flow conditions.
The Francis reaction turbine is still in wide use today. In
the 1870s, deriving from uses in the California mining
industry, Lester Allan Pelton developed the high efficiency
Pelton wheel impulse turbine, which utilized hydropower
from the high head streams characteristic of the
mountainous California interior.
Irrigation of farms: Water from the dams can also be used
for the irrigation of farm lands thus producing the
agriculture outputs throughout the year even in the areas
where there is scanty or no rainfall.
Hydraulic power-pipe networks
Hydraulic power networks also developed, using pipes to
carrying pressurized water and transmit mechanical power
from the source to end users elsewhere locally; the power
source was normally a head of water, which could also be
assisted by a pump. These were extensive in Victorian
cities in the United Kingdom. A hydraulic power network
was also developed in Geneva, Switzerland. The world
famous Jet d'Eau was originally designed as the over-
pressure relief valve for the network.
[5]

Compressed air hydro
See also: Trompe
Where there is a plentiful head of water it can be made to
generate compressed air directly without moving parts. In
these designs, a falling column of water is purposely mixed
with air bubbles generated through turbulence or a venturi
pressure reducer at the high level intake. This is allowed to
fall down a shaft into a subterranean, high-roofed chamber
where the now-compressed air separates from the water and
becomes trapped. The height of falling water column
maintains compression of the air in the top of the chamber,
while an outlet, submerged below the water level in the
chamber allows water to flow back to the surface at a lower
level than the intake. A separate outlet in the roof of the
chamber supplies the compressed air. A facility on this
principle was built on the Montreal River at Ragged Shutes
near Cobalt, Ontario in 1910 and supplied 5,000
horsepower to nearby mines.
[6]

21st Century
Having fallen out of favor during the late 20th century due
to the disruptive ecological and social effects of large
impoundments, hydropower enjoyed a revival by 2013 as
international institutions such as the World Bank tried to
find solutions to economic development which avoided
adding substantial amounts of carbon to the atmosphere.
[7]

Hydropower types
Main article: Hydroelectricity

A conventional dammed-hydro facility (hydroelectric dam)
is the most common type of hydroelectric power
generation.
Conventional hydroelectric, referring to
hydroelectric dams.
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, which captures
the kinetic energy in rivers or streams, without
the use of dams.
Small hydro projects are 10 megawatts or less
and often have no artificial reservoirs.
Micro hydro projects provide a few kilowatts to a
few hundred kilowatts to isolated homes,
villages, or small industries.
Conduit hydroelectricity projects utilize water
which has already been diverted for use
elsewhere; in a municipal water system for
example.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity stores water
pumped during periods of low demand to be
released for generation when demand is high.
A hydropower resource can be evaluated by its
available power. Power is a function of the hydraulic
head and rate of fluid flow. The head is the energy per
unit weight (or unit mass) of water. The static head is
proportional to the difference in height through which
the water falls. Dynamic head is related to the velocity
of moving water. Each unit of water can do an amount
of work equal to its weight times the head. The power
available from falling water can be calculated from the
flow rate and density of water, the height of fall, and
the local acceleration due to gravity. In SI units, the
power is:
Can easily work during high peak daily loads: The
daily demand of power is not constant throughout the
day. The peak power occurs at night. It is very
difficult to start and stop the thermal and nuclear
power plants on daily basis. The hydroelectric power
plants can be easily started and stopped without
consuming much time. Water can be collected in the
dam throughout the day and this can be used to
generate electricity during peak periods. ritten by:
Haresh Khemaniedited by: Lamar
Stonecypherupdated: 9/19/2008
Impacts and Trends
Hydroelectric power is a clean source of renewable energy
where an adequate water source is readily available.
Hydropower plants provide inexpensive electricity without
environmental pollution such as air emissions or waste
byproducts. And, unlike other energy sources such as fossil
fuels , water is not consumed during electrical production,
but can be reused for other purposes.
Long life: The life of hydroelectric power plants is longer
than the life of thermal power plants. There are some
hydroelectric power plants that were built more than 50-
100 years ago and are still running.
However, hydropower plants that rely on impoundments
can negatively affect the reservoir site and the surrounding
area. New reservoirs will permanently flood valleys that
may have contained towns, scenic locations, and farmland.
The permanent inundation also destroys fish and wildlife
habitat that once existed at the reservoir site; however, new
and different habitat is created. Hydropower operations that
use run-of-the-river dams can block the passage of
migrating fish, such as salmon. For example, many large
dams in the Columbia River Basin impede Pacific salmon
during their annual migrations through the river system.
Only 2,400 of the 80,000 dams in the United States are
used for hydroelectric power. It is costly to construct a new
hydroelectric power plant, and construction uses much
water and land. In addition, environmental concerns have
been voiced against their use. According to the U.S.
Geological Survey, the likely trend for the future is toward
small-scale hydroelectric power plants that can generate
electricity for single communities.
No air-pollution is created: Since the hydroelectric power
plants dont burn any fuel no pollution is caused by them. It
does not emit harmful gases and particulate matter, thus
keeps the surrounding atmosphere clean and healthy for
living. written by: Jayant R Rowedited by: Lamar
Stonecypherupdated: 8/23/2011
No fuel required: One of the major advantages of the
hydroelectric power plants is that they dont require any
fuel for producing power. The hydroelectric power plants
utilize renewable energy of water to generating electricity.
SEE ALSO A RMY C ORPS OF E NGINEERS , U.S. ; B
UREAU OF R ECLAMATION , U.S. ; C OLUMBIA R
IVER B ASIN ; C ONFLICT AND W ATER ; D AMS ; E
NERGY FROM THE O CEAN ; G EOTHERMAL E
NERGY ; H OOVER D AM ; PLANNING AND M
ANAGEMENT , H ISTORY OF W ATER R ESOURCES
; R ESERVOIRS , M ULTIPURPOSE ; S ALMON D
ECLINE AND R ECOVERY ; S ECURITY AND W
ATER ; T ENNESSEE V ALLEY A UTHORITY .
William Arthur Atkins

Read more: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-
Hy/Hydroelectric-Power.html#ixzz2v9l87rww
Bibliography
Graham, Ian. Water Power. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-
Vaughn, 1999.
Kellert, Stephen R., ed. Macmillan Encyclopedia of the
Environment, vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Library
Reference USA, 1997.
Internet Resources
Hydroelectric Power Water Use. Water Science for
Schools, U.S. Geological Survey.
<http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html> .
International Small-Hydro Atlas. <http://www.small-
hydro.com> .

Read more: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-
Hy/Hydroelectric-Power.html#ixzz2v9lQje6J
Safety of the dams: The safety of the dams is very crucial
as it can affect lives of millions of people. In this age when
the terrorists attacks are increasing there are greater
concerns for the safety of large dams.
Affects on environment: Though the hydroelectric power
plants do not require any fuel, dont produce greenhouse
gases and dont create pollution directly, it does have a
number of detrimental affects on the environment. The
construction activity of the dam itself disturbs the
environment to a great scale.
When the course of water is changed the surrounding areas
may get flooded disturbing natural flora and fauna. Human
beings living in these areas also get displaced. The large
quantities of water collected due to the floods also emit a
lot of greenhouses gases like carbon dioxide. Thus though
the hydroelectric power plants dont generate greenhouse
gases directly, they generate it indirectly. Over several
years, a number of vehicles coming to the construction site
for loading and unloading materials also emit greenhouse
gases that directly affect the sensitive plants and animal life
found in forests.
Very high capital cost or investment: The initial cost of
the construction of the hydroelectric power plants is very
high. It also takes long time to construct the plant. Lots of
designing, planning, and testing goes into the construction
of the dams. Each dam is unique in itself so the designs
cannot be standardized. Construction of dams requires lots
of steel, iron and cement which make the hydroelectric
power plants very expensive. The project can contain
multiple risks to humans and/or the environment. Overall,
lots of time, money and human efforts are invested in the
construction of hydroelectric power plants.
6) High quality construction: The construction materials
used for the construction of the dams should be of high
quality. Any breakage in the dam can cause large scale
destruction of the human, plant and animal lives. The
failure of the Banqiao Dam in China resulted in the deaths
of more than 171,000 people and millions of people were
rendered homeless.
7) Site specific: The hydroelectric power plants cannot be
constructed at any locations. They can be constructed only
in places where abundant quantity of water is available at
sufficient height and throughout the year. A number of
other safety parameters also have to be considered.
Construction of the dams at inappropriate locations can
cause human casualties. An example of the inappropriate
locations is of the Vajont Dam in Italy, where almost 2000
people died, in the year 1963.
written by: Haresh Khemaniedited by: Lamar
Stonecypherupdated: 10/19/2009
advantages
Inexhaustible fuel source
Minimal environmental impact
Viable source--relatively useful levels of energy
production
Can be used throughout the world
William Howe
Trust Points: 3645 Member Since: 10/10
ydroelectric energy offers a number of advantages for
people who use it, the environment, and electricity
suppliers. Read on to learn more about the advantages of
hydroelectric power:
1. Using this type of energy to generate electricity is not
dependent upon the price of uranium, oil, or other types of
fuel. This makes electricity costs lower and more stable,
one of its most significant advantages.
2. The pollution created by hydroelectric energy generation
is quite minimal. There is some pollution involved in
initially constructing the power stations, but this is true of
all power plants. It also does not produce radioactive waste
or involve the environmental impact of fuel being
transported to it.
3. It doesn't require many employees to run a hydroelectric
station. According to wikipedia.org, most plants of this
type are largely automated. This is another one of the
advantages which help keep the cost of hydroelectricity
low.
4. Hydroelectric power stations can be set up in almost any
size, depending upon the river or stream used to operate
them; big enough to power a single home, factory, small
town, or large city.
5. Another of its advantages is that hydroelectric is a
renewable form of energy, like wind and solar; it does not
rely upon finite resources like natural gas or coal to
generate power.
6. Hydroelectric stations can operate for many years after
they are built. Wikipedia.org states that a number of
operational hydro stations were constructed fifty to one-
hundred years ago; in contrast to this, IAEA.org indicates
that the "design life" of nuclear power plants is generally
thirty to forty years.
7. Small hydro electricity generation systems sometimes
offer more economic advantages for home owners than
solar power, and tend to last longer than solar panels do.
The above-mentioned factors make hydroelectric a form of
energy generation which offers advantages with regard to
cost, pollution, flexibility of installation, and conservation
of resources.
Hydropower is the cheapest way to generate electricity
today. No other energy source, renewable or
nonrenewable, can match it. Producing electricity from
hydropower is cheap because, once a dam has been built
and the equipment installed, the energy source-flowing
water-is free.

Although Hydropower does present a few environmental
problems the inherent technical, economic and
environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an
important contributor to the future world energy mix,
Environmental Impacts
Hydro-electric power plants have many environmental
impacts, some of which are just beginning to be
understood. These impacts, however, must be weighed
against the environmental impacts of alternative sources of
electricity. Until recently there was an almost universal
belief that hydro power was a clean and environmentally
safe method of producing electricity. Hydro-electric power
plants do not emit any of the standard atmospheric
pollutants such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide given
off by fossil fuel fired power plants. In this respect, hydro
power is better than burning coal, oil or natural gas to
produce electricity, as it does not contribute to global
warming or acid rain. Similarly, hydro-electric power
plants do not result in the risks of radioactive
contamination associated with nuclear power plants.
A few recent studies of large reservoirs created behind
hydro dams have suggested that decaying vegetation,
submerged by flooding, may give off quantities of
greenhouse gases equivalent to those from other sources of
electricity. If this turns out to be true, hydro-electric
facilities such as the James Bay project in Quebec that
flood large areas of land might be significant contributors
to global warming. Run of the river hydro plants without
dams and reservoirs would not be a source of these
greenhouse gases.
Conclusions
Hydro-electric power has always been an important part of
the world's electricity supply, providing reliable, cost
effective electricity, and will continue to do so in the future.
Hydro power has environmental impacts which are very
different from those of fossil fuel power plants. The actual
effects of dams and reservoirs on various ecosystems are
only now becoming understood. The future of hydro-
electric power will depend upon future demand for
electricity, as well as how societies value the environmental
impacts of hydro-electric power copmpared to the impacts
of other sources of electricity.
Sources:
Philip Raphals, "The Hidden Cost of Canada's Cheap
Power", New Scientist, February 15, 1992.
Geoffrey P. Sims, "Hydroelectric Energy", Energy Policy,
october 1991.
Eric M. Wilson, "Small-scale Hydroelectricity", Energy
Policy, october 1991.
Michael Brower, Cool Energy: The Renewable Solution to
Global Warming, Union of Concerned Scientists, 1990.
Solar Energy Research Institute, The Potential of
Renewable Energy, An Interlaboratory White Paper,
SERI/TP-260-3674, Golden Colorado, 1990.
Peter Kakela, Gary Chilson & William Patric, "Low-Head
Hydropower for Local Use", Environment,
January/February 1984.
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