Micro hydropower plant

* Where z is the elevation above a reference height (m) or (ft), p is the

pressure(N/m2)or(lb/ft2), γ is the specific weight (N/m3)or(lb/ft3), v is
the average velocity (m/s) or (ft/s), and g is gravitational acceleration
(9.81 m/s2)or(32.2 ft/s2).
Example: Mixed Units in the American System.Suppose a 4-in.-
diameter penstock delivers 150 gpm of water through an
elevation change of 100 feet.The pressure in the pipe is 27 psi
when it reaches the powerhouse. What fraction of the available
head is lost in the pipe? What power is available for the turbine?
Pipe Losses
* friction loss, expressed as feet of head per 100 feet of pipe, for PVC
and for polyethylene (poly) pipe of various diameters. PVC pipe has
lower friction losses and it is also less expensive than poly pipe, but
small diameter poly may be easier to install since it is somewhat
flexible and can be purchased in rolls from 100 to 300 feet long.
Larger-diameter poly comes in shorter lengths that can be butt-
welded on site. Both need to be protected from sunlight, since
ultraviolet exposure makes these materials brittle and easier to crack
Example: Suppose 150 gpm of water is taken from a creek and
delivered through 1000 ft of 3-in.-diameter polyethylene pipe to a
turbine 100 ft lower than the source. Use the rule-of-thumb to estimate
the power delivered by the turbine/generator. In a 30-day month, how
much electric energy would be generated?

at 150 gpm, 3-in. poly loses about 5 ft of head for every 100 ft of
length. Since we have 1000 ft of pipe, the friction loss is
* Larger-diameter pipe will always reduce losses and increase power
delivered, so bigger is definitely better from an energy perspective.
But, large pipe costs more, especially when the cost of larger valves
and other fittings is included, and it is more difficult to work with.
Find the optimum flow rate for the 1000 ft of 3-in. poly pipe in
Example Gross head is 100 ft.

for friction to be one-third of 100 ft of gross head means 33.3 ft of pipe

losses in 1000 ft of pipe. That translates to 3.33 ft of loss per 100 ft of
pipe. For 3-in. poly
Measuring Water flow:

building a temporary
plywood, concrete,
or metal wall, called a
weir, across the creek to
measure water flow
Height h is more than about 5 cm, or 2 in.,
 Design a weir to be able to measure flows expected to be at least 100 gpm
following the constraints

*At the 100-gpm low-flow rate, we’ll use the suggested minimum water surface height
above the notch of 2 in

To give the weir the greatest measurement range under the constraint that h≤W/3,
suggests making W=12.6 in. The maximum water height above the weir can then
be h= 12.6/3 = 4.2in
Turbines:
Impulse turbines capture the kinetic energy of high-speed jets
of water squirting onto buckets along the circumference of a wheel.
Reaction turbine: In contrast, water velocity in a reaction turbine
plays only a modest role, and instead it is mostly the pressure
difference across the runners, or blades, of these turbines that creates
the desired torque. Generally speaking, impulse turbines are most
appropriate in high-head, low-flow circumstances, while the opposite
is the case for reaction turbines.
waterwheel And, finally, the slow-moving, but powerful, traditional
overshot waterwheel converts potential energy into mechanical energy.
The slow rotational rates of waterwheels are a poor match to the high
speeds needed by generators, so they are not used for electric power.
* Impulse turbine (Pelton)
A penstock provides 150 gpm (0.334 cfs) with 50 ft of head to a Pelton
turbine with 4 nozzles. Assuming jet and nozzle diameters are the
same, pick a nozzle diameter.
* Reaction :
 * Electrical aspects:

home-size micro-hydro systems usually generate dc, which is used to charge

batteries