Hydro Energy

ABCT 1D11D
KF Yung
Room Y834 Tel:34008863
Email: bckfyung@polyu.edu.hk
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History of Hydro Energy

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Irrigation Waterwheel

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Roman Water Mill

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Norse Water Mill

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 Types of Water Wheels

Overshot

Undershot Breastshot
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Fourneyron’s Turbine

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© Renewable Energy Oxford University Press
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 Origin of Hydro Energy
• Energy source : Solar energy
• Water source : Oceanic water
• Conversion of energy
– Thermal energy (sun) => kinetic energy (water
vapor) => Potential energy (rain fall) => kinetic
energy => (river water) => kinetic energy (turbine)
=> electricity (generator)
• No emission, renewable source of energy

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 Types of Hydro Electric System
• Impoundment
– Building Dams to store water for electricity
generation
• Diversion or run-of-river systems
– Artificial tributary for electricity generation
• Pumped Storage
– Bidirectional flow
– Pumped up to a storage reservoir and returned to
a lower elevation for power generation
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Impoundment

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© http://www.eere.energy.gov
 Head Size
• Head – Difference in the water level
• Low : < 100 feet Medium :100 – 800 feet
• High : >800 feet

© Renewable Energy Oxford University Press

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 Head size vs pressure
• Head size determines
the energy stored in
the water (potential
energy = mgh)
• For same amount of
water, larger head size
means more energy
can be extracted
during electricity
generation 13
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 Types of Dams

Arch dams Embankment

dams

Buttress dams Gravity dams

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http://www.australiangeographic.com.au
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http://blog.thecivilengg.com/types-of-dams/
 Example of Impoundment

Glen Canyon Dam Hoover Dam

• Arch-Gravity Dam
• High-head size
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 Diversion or run-of-river systems
• Smaller scale
• Particularly
useful for
remote area
• No dams
required and
fewer
destruction
of river flow
http://www.worldwatch.org
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Tazimina project in Alaska

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© http://www.eere.energy.gov
Pumped Storage

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© Wikipedia
Small Scale Pumped Storage

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© Wikipedia
Operation of Pumped Storage

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Energy Output for Pumped Storage

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© Wikipedia
Hydro Turbine Design

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Francis Turbine

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© Wikipedia
Francis Turbine

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Francis Turbine

HUGE!! 26
 Fixed-Pitch Propeller

• Suitable for very large volume flow

• Technically simpler to optimize

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 Various Installation Mode

Axial system Right angle system

Direct system
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 Kaplan Turbine
• Rotatable blades
• Handle huge
amount of water
• Optimize the angle
for different flow
rate
• Use multiple poles
generator (no
gears, 1:1 speed)

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© Wikipedia
 Kaplan Turbine

www.hcipub.com

• Exchange of a fixed- propeller into Kaplan

Turbine
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Pelton Wheel Turbine

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© Renewable Energy Oxford University Press
 Motion of Runner

• Rotation speed depends on the

size of bowl and speed of water
• At optimum velocity, transfer
nearly all KE of water to the
bowls
© Renewable Energy Oxford University Press 32
Turgo Turbine

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Turgo Turbine

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© Wikipedia
Cross flow Turbine

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Turbine Working Range

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Different Turbine Comparison

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© MIT OpenCourseWare
 Hydro Energy Calculation

P  g   Q  H
P  10   Q  H
• P = power in kilowatts (kW)
• g = gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s2)
•  = turbo-generator efficiency (0<n<1)
• Q = quantity of water flowing (m3/sec)
• H = effective head (m)
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 Advantages for Hydro Power
• Emission free energy
• High energy output (comparable to fossil fuel
power station)
• High efficiency
• Low operation cost
• Long lifetime
• Can act as massive energy storage

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 Disadvantages for Hydro Power
• Loss of natural aqua habitat
• Output not stable
• Impact on aquatic ecology (fish and
microorganism)
• Lost of river peripheral land
• High initial cost
• Long construction time

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World Hydro Energy Statistics

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International Hydro Energy Statistic
Annual hydroelectric Installed Capacity % of total
Country
production (TWh) capacity (GW) factor capacity

China 652.05 196.79 0.37 22.25

Canada 369.5 88.974 0.59 61.12
Brazil 363.8 69.080 0.56 85.56
United States 250.6 79.511 0.42 5.74
Russia 167.0 45.000 0.42 17.64
Norway 140.5 27.528 0.49 98.25
India 115.6 33.600 0.43 15.80
Venezuela 85.96 14.622 0.67 69.20
Japan 69.2 27.229 0.37 7.21
Sweden 65.5 16.209 0.46 44.34
© Wikipedia
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Largest Scale of Hydro Energy Facilities
Rank Station Country Capacity (MW)

1 Three Gorges Dam China 20,300

2 Itaipu Dam Brazil / Paraguay 14,000

3 Guri Dam Venezuela 10,200

4 Tucurui Dam Brazil 8,370

5 Grand Coulee Dam United States 6,809

© Wikipedia
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The Three Gorges Dam

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 Facts on Three Gorges Dam
• Height 181m
• Length 2335m
• Spillway capacity
116000m3/s
• Three Gorges
Reservoir
39.3 km3
• Annual
Generation
80TWh
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Discussion Question
Is Hong Kong suitable to adopt Hydro
Power?

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