College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Hydropower Engineering

Lecture 3: Hydrologic and Hydraulic Design Concept

By:- Tilahun k.(MSc.)
September,2021
Main components of a conventional Hpp
Cont….
Surge chamber or thanks
Main components cont….
Main components Cont….
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Hydraulic theory and working principle in HPE
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 Example 1
1.Consider a mountain stream with an effective head of 25 meters
(m) and a flow rate of 600 liters (ℓ) per minute
a. How much power could a hydro plant generate?
b. How much energy (E) will the hydro plant generate each year?
c. About how many people will this energy support (assume approximately
1,500 kWh / person)?
Assume plant efficiency () of 83%
 Solution
a. Power generated from the hydropower plant is
H = 25 m
Q = 600 ℓ/min × 1 m3/1000 ℓ × 1 min/60sec
Q = 0.01 m3/sec
= 0.83
P  gρQH = 10*(0.83)*(0.01)*(25)*1000 = 2.075KW
P  2.1 kW
b. The energy generated per year will be
E = P×t
E = 2.1 kW × 24 hrs/day × 365 days/yr
E = 18,396 kWh annually
c. No of People = E÷1,500 = 18,396/1,500 = 12.264
About 12 people
 Factors Determining Potential of Hydropower
➢The factors which affects the potential of hydropower
are the following

▪ Head and head losses

▪ Flow rate

▪ System losses

▪ Component inefficiencies
 Factors Determining Potential of Hydropower
Head
➢ Head is one of the factors which have great influence on the system capacity
➢ In any real system water losses its some energy because of frictional drag and
turbulence as it flows in channels and through pipes and the effective head will be less
than actual head
➢ These flow losses vary from system to system: in some cases the effective head can be
less than 75% of actual head, in others it can be greater than 95%
For example
Two systems with flow rate of 100 m3/s and plant efficiency of 83%
First system(low-head) Second system(high-head)
Effective head 10 m 110 m
Available power(ghQȠ) 8,142 kW 8,9565.3 kW
Conti…
 Conti..
Flow rate

➢ Flow rate is another very important factor which can influence system capacity.

For example:

Two systems with effective head of 100 meters and plant efficiency of 83%
First system Second system

Flow rate 0.0024 m3/s 6000 m3/s

Available power 1.95 kW 4,885,380 kW

 Conti…
System losses
➢ When electricity is transported along a transmission system, the losses occur. As a result,
what comes out of the system at the consumer is less than what is input into the system at
the generation site.

➢ Component inefficiencies

Component losses include losses in:

Penstock ,Turbine , Generator, Step up & down transformer losses, Transmission losses

➢ The generator efficiency gives the ratio between mechanical energy of the turbine shaft
and electrical energy delivered from the generator.
 Summary
❖If favorable conditions exist, hydropower is the cheapest renewable energy
resource.
❖The available power output is proportional to the product of vertical height
(head) in meters and the flow rate in cubic meter per second.
❖Ethiopia has an immense hydropower potential (large medium, and small),
which discourages aggressive involvement in other renewable energy
technologies such as wind and solar.
❖Varieties of turbine designs are available to meet the requirements of low,
medium and, high head applications.

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 Summary …
❖The most common turbine types are Pelton, Kaplan, and Francis.
❖The environmental effect of large hydropower plant requiring dams can be dislocation of
animals from their natural habitat and disturbance of natural water level in the surrounding
areas
❖Furthermore, in some cases, resettlement of people in the rural areas may be necessary
which has of course a negative impact.

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❖Large-hydro (> 100 MW feeding into a large electricity grid)
❖Medium-hydro (15 - 100 MW usually feeding a grid)
❖Small-hydro (1 - 15 MW - usually feeding into a grid)
THANK
❖Mini-hydro (0.1 - 1 MW)

YOU!!!
➢ Either stand alone schemes or more often feeding into the grid
❖Micro-hydro
➢From 5 - 100 kW
➢Usually provided power for a small community or rural
industry in remote areas away from the grid.
❖Pico-hydro (< 5 kW)
➢Remote areas away from the grid.
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