Submitted by: Aayan Hassan Dar

POWER Enrollment no.: CE-17-05

HOUSE
DETAILS
Submitted to:
Er. Vaqas
hussain
 POWER HOUSE
The power house includes all the structural entities that are
obligatory for the generation of hydroelectricity from the potential
energy of water. The power house is mainly planned for its
functional efficiency. It also serves as a structure which gives
aesthetic look to the overall hydroelectric power plant. The choice of
location of power house mainly depends upon the site of
hydroelectric power plant. If there is provision on the site an
underground power house can be developed. But in many cases the
underground power house cannot be taken into considerations as
the conditions at the site are not feasible for it, e.g., in the case of a
run-of-river plant or in case of a hydroelectric power plant that
operates at very low heads.
 POWER HOUSE STRUCTURE
Talking about a hydro power station or a power house, we can see
that it is divided into three main parts and they are as:

 Sub-structure
 Intermediate structure and
 Super structure.
The sub structure transmits loads from upper structure to the
foundation of the power house. Therefore the sub structure is
constructed with large amount of concrete. The sub structure is
called so as it is located below the level of the operating turbine.
Mostly what we see is that the sub structure is located below the
ground level. The sub structure contains many parts of the power
house but mostly what it has is the presence of drainage pipes
containing waste water which it takes from the power house. Other
parts that are included in sub structure are impulse wheels, grout
galleries etc.

The other part being the intermediate structure whose one ends
lies above the sub structure and the other end lies at the top of the
draft tube of the turbine. Intermediate structure contains number of
parts some of them are casing, servo-motor system, galleries for
auxiliary machines etc. The other part that can also be counted in the
intermediate structure is the turbine inlet valve. There can be the
presence of one or more intermediate floors with the help of which
intermediate structure parts become accessible. The presence of the
turbine floor in the intermediate structure gives the access to the
turbine runner and regulating ring.

The super structure, another part of the whole structure of

the power house extends from the main floor up to the roof top. The
super-structure contains most important parts of the power house in
it. Some of them are generators, control room, exciters etc. Apart
from these super structure also has equipment that is important for
the ventilation and cooling of other structures within it. Walls and
roof also form a part of the super structure. A travelling gantry crane
is also present on the roof level. The office and store is also present
on one side of the super structure.
The super structure in further consists of three bays which are
described under following subheads:

 Unit bay: Also called as machine hall, length of which

depends on the quantity of units present within it and
also the length between the units. Further the length
also depends on the size of machines. The generator
present in the machine hall is not placed directly on the
center line of the hall rather the generator is moved to
one side. It is done to provide sufficient space for
operating crane on the other side of the central line.

 Loading bay: Also called as the erection bay or the

service bay, it is the place where the heavy vehicles are
loaded and unloaded. The left over parts of machines or
the parts that have been taken off from the machines
are placed here. Small parts of the machines can also be
assembled here in the loading bay. The width of the
loading bay should be equal to the distance between the
machine center lines.
  Control bay: in most the power houses what we see is
that the control bay lies just next to the unit bay. The
name of the control bay gives us an idea of what it
contains within it i.e., the main control units of the
power house. It is the control bay which gives
instructions to the operation bay from where control of
the operations is achieved.

Apart from the three bays the super structure also contains within it:

 Service cranes: In order to lift the machines and their parts

the cranes are designed. Some heavy machine parts can weigh
up to 1000 quintals. These heavy parts are usually rotor of the
generator or the turbine runner.
 Cables and bus bars: The cables are placed in specially
designed ducts. The cable ducts are placed in the floor of the
generator or they are placed in cable galleries. There should be
a provision for keeping high and low voltage cables separated.

 Operation room: This is the main part of the power house as

every machine is operated from this room. The instructions to
the operating room come from the control room. Mostly we
see that the operating room lies next to the turbine room or
sometimes it is completely detached from the turbine room.
 FOREBAY
Forebay which is also known as the head pond, is used for temporary
storage of water. The forebay helps in regulating water when the
load conditions vary. When the load decreases forebay starts storing
water and when the load increases water starts moving out of it, so
as to meet the demand. The forebay usually stores water for
demands that are not usual but are sudden.

Sometimes there may be cases of extra water that gets stored in

the forebay. This extra water should then be easily passed with the
help of an outlet or any spillway.
 INTAKES
Intakes are kept at the opening of a pipe. It is the intake with the
help of which water is allowed to pass into the water system. Intakes
serve as multifunctional units. The intakes regulate the discharge of
water into the conveyance system of the powerhouse. The presence
of a gate or a valve helps intake to regulate the discharge of water
into the power house conveyance system.

Usually if we want the water entering the conveyance system

should be free from turbulence, a Bell-mouth entry is provided at the
entrance which ensures the flow remains smooth and turbulence
free after passing through intake and entering powerhouse.

Apart from serving these functions one of the main function of

intakes is to check the entry of unwanted material like boulders,
wood, in some cases ice as well and many other things that can block
the passage. This is usually achieved with the help of special devices
like silt traps etc.
 TYPES OF INTAKES

There can be as vast category of intakes present which usually

depends upon the type of power plant used.

Following are some of the intakes that are usually used:

 Run-of-river intakes
 Canal intakes
 Dam intakes
 Tower intakes
 Shaft intakes and,
 Intakes of special design.

UNDERGROUND POWER
STATION
The first underground power station was developed in Switzerland
on the river Salanfe for Verayaz power station. The underground
power house became widely popular after second world war as they
were less susceptible to damage by enemy countries. Many countries
in the world have made significant developments in the construction
of underground power stations.

Underground power house is not constructed in every

hydropower plant rather it is provided in some special cases or in a
place which is more prone to earthquakes. It is also provided in
places which are more prone to avalanches or earth slides. What is
more important for the construction of a underground power house
is the presence of a rock which has not undergone weathering and is
present at a depth that is required for the construction of power
house.

LOCATION OF AN
UNDERGROUND POWER
STATION
The location of an underground power station is influenced by a
number of factors such as the quality of rock, ease with which
tunneling can be performed and also economy. The different
locations thus for an underground power station can be as under:

 When the plant is kept fully underground, the access to the

power house is then given with the help of tunnels.
 Sometimes the power house is constructed inside a pit. The
access to this is given directly from surface.
 Power house can also be made as semi-underground. Here
some parts are placed on surface while others as underground.
 The power house can also be buried.
 The place where a fully stable rock is present, the power house
can be located in the cut of the rock.
 TYPES OF UNDERGROUND
POWER STATIONS
The layout of any underground power plant depends largely upon
the alignment of various parts such as head, tail ponds. Generators,
control valves, transformers, access shaft, ventilation shaft and
control room.

Possible layouts that have been given with respect to the head
and tail ponds are described below:

 Upstream station or head development: Also called as

Swedish type development. This type is particularly used in
cases when the head of water is low and discharge is quite
high. Usually the head of water for this is about 25 to 50
meters.

 Downstream development or Tail-race development:

Also called as alpine development. This type is best suited for
places having a rugged terrain. It is usually used in places
where the head of water is quite high which can be up to
several hundred meter high.
 Intermediate station development: In this case the use of
surge tank is must as long head race tunnel and a long tail race
tunnel arrangement is used. The surge tank is provide on both
upstream as well as downstream to meet the high pressure
due to long tunnels.
 COMPONENTS OF
UNDERGROUND POWER
HOUSE
Various components of underground power house are listed below:

1. Valve chamber
2. Machine hall
3. Service bay
4. Transformer hall
5. Control room
6. Cable gallery
7. Access gallery and,
8. Ventilation tunnel.

CONCLUSION
To sum up about the underground power station, we can say these
are a development in the hydropower plant. There are various
advantages of the underground power stations some of them are
economically feasible, easy to operate, help in conservation of
nature and also protect land from getting deteriorated and also
underground power house meets the defence requirements of a
nation as well. But at the same time there are some limitations of
underground power house as well like the presence of a stable rock
is not usually found at the site so we have to go for some methods to
meet our demand which in turn increases the cost of the project.