DESIGN OF PENSTOCKS

BY CGS GUNASEKARA NCP DE LIYANAGE

Introduction
From the forbay tank down to the turbine water is conveyed through the penstock.

Major components
Forbay Penstock value Vent pipe Support pier

Components..
Anchors Drain valve Air bleed value Bends Thrust block

Major components ( joint types)

flanged

Socket

Sleeve type

Components of penstock

Material used for construction

Mild steel uPVC (unplastizied polyvinyl chloride) HDPE (high density polyethylene) Ductile iron Prestressed concrete GRP (glass reinforced plastic)

Important factors to be considered when selecting material ..

Design Pressure Surface Roughness Weight of material Ease of transportation Method of jointing Cost of material etc

Constraints in deciding diameter

Price Head loss

Compromise: Minimum cost (smallest

diameter) or Minimum head loss ? (acceptable head loss)

Major contributions to head loss, hf *

Friction (due to surface roughness) h f = . V2.L.f / g.D Darcys equation
V flow velocity L penstock length D diameter f -- friction constant
from moody chart

Major contributions to head loss, hf

Turbulence ( caused by due to bends ,inlet, valves ,reductions etc) hf =

Ki .Vi2 / 2.g

Ki = turbulence loss coefficient

Calculation of head loss & diameter

CASE STUDY:- A steel penstock ,500 m long STUDY: has a design flow of 0.42 m3/s and a gross head of 220 m. Calculate and diameter and wall thickness. head loss < 2% of gross head. Select diameter as , D =300 mm Flow velocity V = 4.Q / pi .D2 = 5.9 m/s Renolds no = V.D x 106 = 1.8x 106

Surface roughness of mild steel is, f = 0.3 So , K/D = 0.3/300 = 1x 10-3

from Moody chart f = 0.005, From Darcys eqn ,

h f = x 5.92 x 500 x 0.0046 / 9.81x 0.25

= 15.0 m

in our case gross head = 220 m H f = (15 /220 )x 100 =6.8 %

Calculation of diameter is an iterative process ,

increase D by 10 mm , now V = 5.5 m/s K/D = 0.3/310 = 9.6 x 10-4 Re = V X D = 5.5 X .310 = 1.7 x 10 6 corresponding f = 0.005 hf = 12.7 m hf = 5.77 %

Results of 15
iterations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Diameter (mm ) 300 310 315 320 325 330 335 340 350 355 360 365 370 375 380

iterations
V /(m/s) 5.9 5.5 5.3 5.22 5 4.9 4.7 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.1 4 3.9 3.8 3.7 %hf 6.82 5.77 5.36 4.91 4.55 4.23 3.73 3.50 3.00 2.82 2.59 2.45 2.27 2.14 1.95 15 12.7 11.8 10.8 10 9.3 8.2 7.7 6.6 6.2 5.7 5.4 5 4.7 4.3

hf / (m )

Constraints in deciding wall thickness

Cost Strength (withstanding pressure)

Compromize:

Minimum cost or Minimum strength ?

Calculation of wall thickness

Wall should be thick enough to withstand the maximum water pressure Maximum pressure = static + surge
Surge pressure :- worst possible case :(instantanious closure of valve)

Surge pressure , hsurge

h surge = C .V / g
V flow velocity C velocity of pressure wave

C = 1/ [ (1/k+D/E.t) ]
D diameter t Wall thickness E- Youngs modulus of elasticity K Bulk modulus of water density of water

Thickness , tmin = .g.hmax.D/ (2.T /S) (2.

T ultimate tensile strength S - safety factor typically 3

Procedure: this is an iterative process 1 Estimate t 2 Calculate C, hmax , tmin 3 Compare t with tmin 4 If t < tmin increase t 5 if t > tmin reduce t close to tmin 6 Repeat 2 and 3

Calculation of penstock wall Thickness

Let us select t as 5 mm , D = 380 mm Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 Iteration 4

Penstock Wall thickness

10 Thickne ss / m m 8 6 Series1 4 2 0 1 2 3 Iterations 4 5

References :
Micro hydro power Adam Harvey ,Andrew Brown , Rod Edward , VAris Bokalders

Thank You !

ok

Results of iterations
1 Wall Thickness Diameter Velocity t= D= V= 5.00 380 3.70 1088.93 410.71 626.41 7.30 mm mm m/s m/s m m mm

Surge wave velocity C = h serge =

P max =hstatic+hserge t min

2 Wall Thickness Diameter Velocity t= D= V= 7.30 380 3.70 1172.29 442.15 657.85 7.66 mm mm m/s m/s m m mm

Surge wave velocity C = h serge =

P max =hstatic+hserge t min

3 Wall Thickness Diameter Velocity t= D= V= 7.66 380 3.70 1181.93 445.78 661.48 7.71 mm mm m/s m/s m m mm

Surge wave velocity C = h serge =

P max =hstatic+hserge t min

4 Wall Thickness Diameter Velocity t= D= V= 7.71 380 3.70 1183.21 446.27 661.97 7.71 mm mm m/s m/s m m mm

Surge wave velocity C = h serge =

P max =hstatic+hserge t min