Dynamic Modeling of Distributed

Generation Sources:
Micro Hydropower Systems
2020-21 Academic Year

Juanjo Ugartemendia de la Iglesia

Introduction to Hydropower
Humanity have been tapping energy in flowing water for
centuries
Milling, pumping, and driving machinery
Hydro resource available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Hydropower: water
flow + vertical drop
(head)
Pressurized,
flowing water very
dense resource
Conversion to
electricity: high
efficiency
Conventional
hydroelectric dam

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 Hydropower Categories
Conventional hydroelectric, hydroelectric dams
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Small hydro projects: less than 10 megawatts
Micro hydro projects: few kilowatts to a hundred kilowatts
(isolated homes, villages, or microgrids)
Conduit: utilize water
which has already been
diverted for use
elsewhere –e.g.,
municipal water system
Pumped-storage: stores
water pumped uphill into
reservoirs

Chief Joseph Dam near Bridgeport, Washington, U.S., a

major run-of-the-river station without a sizeable reservoir
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Micro Hydropower Systems

Hydropower, Micro?
Usually run-of-the-river systems
Common in developing countries
Good complement to solar PV systems
A simple formula: P [W ]=5⋅Q [l /s]⋅H [m]
Head vs Flow
Low-head systems (less than 1.5 m vertical drop)
Most of the water through the turbine
Turbines: Turgo or Francis
High-head systems (more than 3 m of head)
Can have hundreds of meters of pipeline to develop the head
Turgo on the low end, the most common, Pelton

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 System Components
Diversion and
intake
Penstock
Turbine
Alternator
Regulator
Batteries
Dump load
Transmission /
distribution

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Micro Hydropower Turbines

Turbines vs waterwheels
Moving water (pressure) strikes (moves) the turbine blades
to spin a shaft
Mechanical shaft power electricity generator
For any hydro system’s output mechanical power:

P=η⋅ρ⋅g⋅Q⋅H where:
60 to 80% efficient
Few companies, and most
high-head turbines
Two types of turbines:
impulse and reaction
P: mechanical power produced
at turbine shaft [Watts]
η: hydraulic efficiency of turbine
ρ: density of water [kg/m3]
g: acceleration of gravity [m/s2]
Q: volume flow rate through the
turbine [m3/s]
H: effective pressure head [m]

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 Impulse Turbines
Fast-moving fluid fired through a narrow nozzle at the
turbine blades
The least complex design
For high-head microhydro systems
Blades usually bucket-shaped: they catch the fluid and direct
it off at an angle
Rely on the velocity of water to
move the turbine wheel
(runner)
Most common types of impulse
turbines:
Pelton wheel
Turgo wheel

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Pelton wheels
Jet force concept
Water funneled into a pressurized pipeline with a narrow
nozzle at one end
Water strikes the double-cupped buckets
Impact of jet spray creates a force that rotates the wheel at
high efficiency rates (70–90%)
They operate the best under low-flow and high-head

Effect of number of buckets on water-bucket interaction

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 Turgo wheels
Upgraded version of Pelton

10 cm turgo
runner seen
from beneath in
an Australian-
made Platypus
turbine

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Turgo wheels
Turgo jet, which is half the size of the Pelton, is angled 20º so
that the spray hits three buckets at once
It moves twice as fast
It can operate under low-flow conditions but requires
medium or high head (30-300 m)
Higher runner speed: direct coupling of turbine and
generator more likely

Outline of the
hit of jet spray

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 Crossflow Turbine
Wide range of flows and heads
Flows: 20 litres/sec - 10 m3/sec
Heads: 1 - 200 m
Water enters the turbine, directed by one or more guide-
vanes and through the first stage of the runner which runs
full with a small degree of reaction

Significant shock losses

Lower efficiency
However, remains
constant for a wide range
of flows and heads: 80%
Water flow in
cross-flow turbine

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Jack Rabbit Turbine

Generate power from a stream with as little as 32 cm3/s of
water and no head
Maximum output power 100 Watts
Daily output averages 1.5–2.4 kilowatt-hours

Jack Rabbit
turbine picture

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 Reaction Turbines
They turn as the fluid flows past them
Don’t change the direction of the fluid flow as drastically as
impulse turbines
Highly efficient, depend on pressure rather than velocity
Often used in large-scale hydropower sites (Francis turbines
for example)

Exception: propeller turbine, works

much like a boat's propeller
3-6 fixed blades at different angles
aligned on the runner

Typical reaction turbine from a

geothermal power plant

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Reaction Turbines
Bulb, tubular, and Kaplan tubular variations of propeller
turbines
Kaplan can be used for microhydro

Kaplan turbine

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 Turbine Performance Characteristics
Manufacturers use scaled models to obtain different curves
correlating their characteristics
Torque-velocity:
correlation between
rotational speed and
turbine torque for
different admission Torque-velocity
degrees characteristic
Maximum torque for a
null speed, hence the high
starting torque of
hydraulic turbines
Speed corresponding to
the points where curves
cut the horizontal axis:
runaway speed

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Turbine Performance Characteristics

Power-velocity
characteristic

Power-velocity: evolving
of power with velocity, at
different degrees of
admission, with H = cte
The two points where
curves cut the horizontal
axis correspond
respectively to null and
runaway speeds

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 Turbine Performance Characteristics

Flow-velocity characteristic

Flow-velocity: Flow admitted by turbines at different speeds,

under constant head, and variable admission degrees
Different behavior depending on the type of turbine

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Turbine Performance Characteristics

Turbine performance

Performance: In the flow-

velocity plane, connecting
points that have same
efficiency, iso-efficiency
curves
Compounding these
curves with the power as
the third axis, hill charts
can be obtained

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 Generator: Induction machine
Nowadays only three-phase alternating current generators
are used
Induction Generator
AC or DC (Batteries) output
Need of capacitors
Must be connected to the grid
Advantages:
Low cost
Rugged construction and
availability
Low harmonics
High efficiency Cross section of asynchronous
3-phase AC machine

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Generator: Synchronous machine

Synchronous Generator
Equipped with DC excitation system associated with a
voltage regulator
They can run isolated from the grid

Permanent Magnet
Generators (PMG)
Excitation field provided by
PM (it varies with speed)
Axial Flux (AFPM) machines
(vs Radial Flux) could
significantly reduce size and
cost

Energy Systems & Design BPM Alternator

from a Stream Engine Turbine

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 Regulation and Operation
Usually control of turbine inlet valve
Target: to maintain constant speed (and frequency) for load
changes on generator
Two approaches to
control runner
speed:
Controlling the
water flow
Adjusting electric
load by electric
load bank
Nowadays PMAs
produce wild AC
that can be
stabilized
Governing System – Block Diagram

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