Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 19, © 1998 WIT Press, www.witpress.

com, ISSN 1743-3541

Hydraulic computational advances in the

design of small hydropower plants
Helena Ramos & A. Betamio de Almeida
Department of Civil Engineering, Inst. Superior Tecnico
Technical University of Lisbon
Av. Rovisco Pais, 1096 Lisbon, Portugal
Email: hr@civil. ist. utl.pt

Abstract

In small hydropower plants the hydraulic conveyance system and the turbine
discharge control system could be relevant factors in the civil engineering design.
The computational advances in hydraulic analysis and in modelling must be
transformed in practical tools for engineering design, in particular, when applied
to analyse small hydroelectric power plants with long hydraulic circuits. An
integrated modelling system was developed by the authors, based on the
interaction of different components, that enables to know the dynamic response
and the definition of the more adequate methods of control rules. The case of
reaction turbines (e.g. Francis) with low specific speed are especially relevant due
to the fast transient overpressures caused by overspeed.

1 Introduction

The hydraulic transient problems are very important when associated with
long conveyance circuit and the type of the turbine, in particular for
reaction turbines with low inertia. Furthermore, a long hydraulic circuit
allows improving the head and power, nevertheless has more potential
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258 Hydraulic Engineering Software

troubles and constraints with hydraulic transients. These types of

problems are distinguished in case of a total pressurised system or for a
mixed one: with canal followed by a penstock. The specific rotational
speed is a characteristic parameter of each turbine and an important factor
for dynamic behaviour of the turbomachine.
Different solutions need to be tested since the early phases of the design
and the transient analysis should be made as accurate as possible, in order
to verify investment costs reductions, safety conditions and
environmental impacts minimisation. The type of intake control system
and special protection devices or unconventional solutions could be
chosen should the engineer have made a reliable analysis.

The application of simple criteria is usually based on manoeuvre duration

and also on empirical formulations leads frequently to erroneous results
and anti-economic solutions. An expert computation system supported by
different real cases studies, demands basic concepts in order to produce
standards systems (conveyance structure type of canal, tunnel or pipeline
or mixed one).
In a small hydroelectric powerplant, the conveyance system and the
powerhouse can induce a major influence, in what concerns economical
and operational conditions. In order to increase the available total head of
small hydropower plants it is usual to consider longer hydraulic circuits
nevertheless these circuits have more potential troubles due to transients
and stability problems.

2 Integrated Hydraulic System

The characteristic of the integrated system response with the different

components depends on the disturbance type or excitation induced. The
interaction of different behaviours can induce potential accidents and at
limit resonance phenomenon. In what concerns the transient analysis it is
necessary to be able to simulate with efficient computer codes the
different operational regimes along the conveyance system (e.g. a
pressure (penstock) system or a mixed free-surface (canal)/pressure
(penstock)) system. The control of hydrotransients and the dynamic
behaviour of hydroelectric system is fundamental for the design and the
exploitation in order to guarantee a safe and reliable solution. A unified
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Hydraulic Engineering Software 259

free-surface/pressure model that uses the MacCormack method to solve

the interior sections and MOC (Method of Characteristics) to solve the
boundary conditions was developed.
This model enables one to get the dynamic response along the hydraulic
circuit induced by the dynamic behaviour of turbo-generators.
The effectiveness of new computational analysis' techniques allows
analysing the global behaviour in order to identify eventual operational
limitations since the beginning of the exploitation. The computational
modelling can be an important tool to support design activity and in
particular to minimise investment cost and reduces environmental
problems.

2.1 Governing equations for the conveyance system

The transient regimes in hydraulic conveyance circuits of powerplants

can be modelled by 1-D flow models should the reaches are straight and
uniform, and the cross section is much lower than its length.
In these type of canals it is important to know the unsteady flow
behaviour provoked by fast and strong discharge variation, with eventual
formation of shock waves. In this case there is a discontinuity in the water
surface or bore, with rapid varied flow, and a gradual varied flow at the
upstream and downstream of the bore.
The explicit methods with second order accuracy have proved to be
suitable for flow modelling having shocks and bores. The following
general assumptions are accepted for free-surface equations:
the transient flow is 1-D with the horizontal water surface and
uniform velocity in each cross-section;
the streamline curvature is small and vertical accelerations are
neglected, hence the pressure is hydrostatic;
the transient friction losses and turbulence are modelled by
empirical resistance laws (quasi-stationary assumption).

The elastic model of pressurised flow for small hydroelectric conveyance

systems (pipe element) is compatible with the following assumptions
(Ramos):
- the flow is slightly compressible (liquid);
- the velocity and pressure follow the uniform distribution in each
cross section (a = a' = I);
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260 Hydraulic Engineering Software

- the rheological behaviour is elastic and linear;

- the convective terms in the basic equations are neglected
comparing with the other terms.

Any disturbance induced in the flow is propagated with a celerity that

will strongly influence the dynamic response in the hydraulic circuit. For
pressure flows the celerity of the elastic waves correspond to the storage
capacity of the fluid compressibility and pipe deformation:
K
c= (i)

and in free-surface flows corresponds to the kinetic energy as a function

of flow characteristic:

c— (2)

where
A - flow cross section;
E - Young's modulus of elasticity of the conduit walls;
K - bulk modulus of elasticity;
he - depth of the centroid of area A;
i// - nondimensional parameter that depends upon the elastic properties
of the conduit;
1 and 2 - upstream and downstream of wave front.

For free-surface flow the complete dynamic model based on Saint-Venant

equations which must be written under the conservative form in order to
simulate the propagation of the bores:

(3)

where U, F(U) and D(U) are the following vectors:

~Q

u= F(U} = D(U} = (4)

Q gAh §A(i - J)
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Hydraulic Engineering Software 261

The basic differential equations of the unsteady pressurised flows can

also be written in a matrix form similar to that presented for free-surface
flow equation (4), yielding the following vectors:
0
F(U} = (5)

in which x = distance along the canal bottom or the pipe axis; t = time; A
= cross-section flow area; Q = water discharge; h = water depth (canal);
H = piezometric head (penstock); i = channel bottom slope; J = slope of
the energy grade line; g = acceleration due to gravity; c = wave celerity in
open channel/pressure pipe.
The interior points will be solved using the MacCormack method.
According to MacCormack recommendation the predictor and corrector
steps are used alternatively with the finite forward and backward
differences. The MOC is used to solve the boundary conditions, which is
applied to both differential continuity and dynamic equations, in order to
transform them in ordinary differential equations valid along the
characteristic lines defined in x-t plane.
These equations will be integrated using an explicit finite difference
scheme with a method of specified time steeps along the characteristic
lines C* and C .

2.2 Water level regulation

For small powerplants without any capacity of storage, the maximisation

of produced energy is obtained by adjusting the turbine discharge to input
discharge. Using a water level regulator allows controlling the level
above the minimum one in the admission structure or device (e.g. dam or
forebay). In mixed hydraulic conveyance systems composed by a canal
forwarded by penstocks, the discharge control depends on the water level
regulation, which formulation for a PID type is
dn(i)
, (6)
"*
where
q(t) - relative discharge variation related to the reference one;
n(t) - relative water level variation related to the reference one;
 Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 19, © 1998 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541

262 Hydraulic Engineering Software

Kp, Ki, Kd - proportional, integral and differential regulator gains.

The system stability must be verified for different operational conditions

or when occur different types of manoeuvres in the discharge control
systems to define the extreme forebay or dam water levels.

2.3 Turbines

2.3.1 Impulse turbines

The conveyance hydraulic system at upstream of the impulse turbines will

be influenced by the discharge variation control imposed by the closure
law of the nozzles. This law and the hydraulic circuit characteristics will
be very important on the transient pressures, being allowed to differ the
total duration of the manoeuvre changing the effective time of discharge
annulment. This type of phenomenon can transform a theoretical slow
manoeuvre into a fast one (Figure 1).

% closure
Figure 1: Discharge variation as a function of nozzle closure law
and of hydraulic circuit characteristics

The Figure 1 shows the hydraulic characteristics influence in the effective

time closure, expressed by fL/D parameter (being f the Darcy-Weisbach
factor, L the total length and D the conduit diameter).

2.3.2. Reaction turbines

The fast reaction turbines (e.g. Kaplan or propeller) have high values of
specific speed (with n^ - N^l P / H *'*, being N = rated rotating speed,
P = installed power and H = net head) and do not provoke special
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Hydraulic Engineering Software 263

waterhammer problems. The discharge variation under runaway

conditions increases and it implies consequently a dumping of the
maximum pressure head.

j330 us
Tw/Tm \ 310
#, • 290 Tw/Tm
@.
"•'8-
n "*' • 1,50
9 8 TC/TEM3.7 •O -0,99
)
» O 2,29
•^•-^:S;a/_ i 170 O" '•" 1,15
•- - I 150 ^ --0-"

wicket closure effect

overspeed e#ect

Figure 2: Estimation of Francis turbine upsurge after a full load rejection.

Piezometric head variation along penstock when protected by
an elastic surge tank

Nevertheless, for long hydraulic circuits and low values of specific speed
(e.g. Francis) the overspeed effect can induce fast discharge reduction
(OCR^QRW/QO? with QRW - discharge at runaway conditions and Qo - rated
discharge) and consequently the pressure increases.
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264 Hydraulic Engineering Software

3. SIMTRAH Model

An integrated and complete modelling technique can avoid some

traditional protection devices in early phases of the design (e.g. surge
chambers, for pressurised penstock, or large forebay, for a mixed system).
The computational model developed by the author (SIMTRAH) enables
the calculation of extreme pressures during the hydrotransients and to
choose a more economic and safe solution, including long penstocks. It is
an expert system that includes the complete modelling of the integrated
system, as a whole, allowing the analysis of the dynamic behaviour along
the total conveyance hydraulic system trough control and regulations
structures.
The SIMTRAH model can be applied to powerplant equipped with
impulse (action) or reaction turbines, when the technical information is
still scarce and enables one to analyse the alternative solutions, even
unconventional ones, for a better and a posterior optimisation of the
system, in particular the design of the intake, hydraulic circuit and the
total power installed. Figure 3 shows the different general typologies for
typical small hydropower plant: 1) the mixed hydraulic circuit results of a
combination between a free surface flow with a pressure one; 2) a total
pressurised circuit composed by low pressure circuit (tunnel or conduit)
followed by a penstock. Tailrace can be simulated as a free surface
circuit. Different boundary conditions and alternative solutions must be
taken into consideration in the different phases of the design and along
the exploitation of the system.
The model uses the steady state and the transient's regimes to analyse the
stability, supposing the small hydropower plants linked to an infinite net
(national electric line) that is equivalent to neglect the transitory effects
of the transmission line. Due to this, the hydraulic system will be
unlinked from the electric component it results to consider only hydro-
mechanic type analysis.
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Hydraulic Engineering Software 265

Typology of the pressure system

DP2

Main components of the hydraulic system

Tfi Intake
USU Overspeed valve
GC Tunnel or conduit
DP1/DP2 Protection device (Surge Chamber/air vessel/relief valve)
CF Penstock
UP Protection valve
T Turbine
to continue

Typology of tl ie mix<2d circuit

Alb. IJC
/1 7^" ""'•- —
CAN OT
C.C. \ O.P Q

u.p. r
Main components of the lydraulic system
Alb. : Reservoir USU : Overspeed valve
(2 ; Discharge control (gate)
T.fl. : Intake DP Protection device
p o . Wave front CF : Penstock
Oes'c.': W^r UP : Protection valve
C.C. : Forebay T : Turbine
CAN : Canal R : Tailrace
| ' KNTt:P /to continue j

Figure 3: Example of different typologies for

hydraulic conveyance system of SHP
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266 Hydraulic Engineering Software

References

[l] Almeida, A. B., Koelle, E., Fluid Transients in Pipe Networks.

Computational Mechanics Publications. Elsevier Applied Science,
1992.

[2] Pejovic, S., Boldy, A, P., Obradovic, D., Guidelines of Hydraulic

Transients Analysis, Technical Press, 1987.

[3] Ramos, H., Simulation and Control of Hydrotransients at Small

Hydroelectric Power Plants (English abstract and Portuguese version).
Ph.D. Thesis. Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, 1995

[4] Ramos, H., Almeida, A. B., Hydrotransients Induced by Dynamic

Behaviour of Turbo-generators at Small Hydroelectric Power Plants -
Pressure Surges and Fluid Transients - Harrogate, England - pp 417-
429, BHR Group April, 1996.

[5] Ramos, H., ALMEIDA, A. B., Modelling and Practical Analysis of

the Transient Overspeed Effect of small Francis Turbines. XVIII
IAHR Symposium - Hydraulic Machinery and Cavitation. Valencia,
Spain: 16th - 19th September, 1996.

[6] Ramos, H., Almeida, A. B., Dynamic Behaviour in Hydraulic

Circuits of Small Power Plants. 5^ International Conference and
Exhibition. Hidroex Ltd. Sept 29 - Oct. 1, Dublin, Ireland, 1997.