Dams

S.Yashwanth

Overview

A dam is a barrier that holds the water in the form of reservoirs. There are many types of dams that can be classified in on the basis of size, use and structure, and the materials used for building it. Some notable dams are Hoover Dam in the Arizona regions of U.S.A., Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand and the Three Gorges Dam in China.

There are over 800,000 dams worldwide.

On the Basis of Structure

Arch Dam Gravity Dam Arch-Gravity Dam

Barrage
Embankment Dam Rock-fill Dam Concrete-face Rock-fill dams

On the Basis of Size

Large Dams: more than 15 metres Major Dams: more than 150 metres

On the Basis of Use

Saddle Dam Weir Check Dam

Dry Dam
Diversionary Dam Underground Dam Tailings Dam

On the Basis of Materials Used

Steel Dam Timber Dam

On the Basis of Structure : Arch Dam

An arch dam is a type of dam that is curved and commonly built with concrete. The arch dam is a structure that is designed to curve upstream so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, compressing and strengthening the structure as it pushes into its foundation or abutments.

An arch dam is most suitable for narrow gorges or canyons with steep walls of stable rock to support the structure and stresses

Gravity Dam

In a gravity dam, the force that holds the dam in place against the push from the water is Earth's gravity pulling down on the mass of the dam.

The water presses laterally (downstream) on the dam, tending to overturn the dam by rotating about its toe (a point at the bottom downstream side of the dam).
The dam's weight counteracts that force, tending to rotate the dam the other way about its toe. The designer ensures that the dam is heavy enough that the dam's weight wins that contest.

Arch-Gravity Dam

A gravity dam can be combined with an arch dam into an arch-gravity dam for areas with massive amounts of water flow but less material available for a purely gravity dam. The inward compression of the dam by the water reduces the lateral (horizontal) force acting on the dam. Thus, the gravitation force required by the dam is lessened, i.e. the dam does not need to be so massive. This enables thinner dams and saves resources.

Barrage

A barrage dam is a special kind of dam which consists of a line of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing the dam.

The gates are set between flanking piers which are responsible for supporting the water load, and are often used to control and stabilize water flow for irrigation systems.

Embankment Dam

Embankment dams are made from compacted earth, and have two main types, rock-fill and earth-fill dams.

Embankment dams rely on their weight to hold back the force of water, like gravity dams made from concrete.

Rock-fill Dam

Rock-fill dams are embankments of compacted freedraining granular earth with an impervious zone. The earth utilized often contains a large percentage of large particles hence the term rock-fill. The impervious zone may be on the upstream face and made of masonry, concrete, plastic membrane, steel sheet piles, timber or other material. The impervious zone may also be within the embankment in which case it is referred to as a core. In the instances where clay is utilized as the impervious material the dam is referred to as a composite dam.

Concrete-face rock-fill dam

A concrete-face rock-fill dam (CFRD) is a rock-fill dam with concrete slabs on its upstream face. This design offers the concrete slab as an impervious wall to prevent leakage and also a structure without concern for uplift pressure. In addition, the CFRD design is flexible for topography, faster to construct and less costly than earth-fill dams.

The CFRD originated during the California Gold Rush in the 1860s when miners constructed rock-fill timber-face dams for sluice operations.

Earth-fill dam

Earth-fill dams, also called earthen dams, rolled-earth dams or simply earth dams, are constructed as a simple embankment of well compacted earth.

A homogeneous rolled-earth dam is entirely constructed of one type of material but may contain a drain layer to collect seep water. A zoned-earth dam has distinct parts or zones of dissimilar material, typically a locally plentiful shell with a watertight clay core. Modern zoned-earth embankments employ filter and drain zones to collect and remove seep water and preserve the integrity of the downstream shell zone.

On the Basis of Use: Saddle Dam

A saddle dam is an auxiliary dam constructed to confine the reservoir created by a primary dam either to permit a higher water elevation and storage or to limit the extent of a reservoir for increased efficiency. An auxiliary dam is constructed in a low spot or saddle through which the reservoir would otherwise escape. On occasion, a reservoir is contained by a similar structure called a dike to prevent inundation of nearby land.

Dikes are commonly used for reclamation of arable land from a shallow lake. This is similar to a levee, which is a wall or embankment built along a river or stream to protect adjacent land from flooding.

Weir

A weir (also sometimes called an overflow dam) is a type of small overflow dam that is often used within a river channel to create an impoundment lake for water abstraction purposes and which can also be used for flow measurement or retardation.

Check Dam

A check dam is a small dam designed to reduce flow velocity and control soil erosion. Conversely, a wing dam is a structure that only partly restricts a waterway, creating a faster channel that resists the accumulation of sediment.

Dry Dam

A dry dam also known as a flood retarding structure, is a dam designed to control flooding.

It normally holds back no water and allows the channel to flow freely, except during periods of intense flow that would otherwise cause flooding downstream.

Diversionary Dam

A diversionary dam is a structure designed to divert all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. The water may be redirected into a canal or tunnel for irrigation and/or hydroelectric power production.

Underground Dam

Underground dams are used to trap groundwater and store all or most of it below the surface for extended use in a localized area. In some cases they are also built to prevent saltwater from intruding into a freshwater aquifer. Underground dams are typically constructed in areas where water resources are minimal and need to be efficiently stored, such as in deserts and on islands like the Fukuzato Dam in Okinawa, Japan.

They are most common in north-eastern Africa and the arid areas of Brazil while also being used in the south-western United States, Mexico, India, Germany, Italy, Greece, France and Japan.

Tailings Dam

A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store tailings which are produced during mining operations after separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore. Conventional water retention dams can serve this purpose but due to cost, a tailings dam is more viable. Unlike water retention dams, a tailings dam is raised in succession throughout the life of the particular mine.

Typically, a base or starter dam is constructed and as it fills with a mixture of tailings and water, it is raised. Material used to raise the dam can include the tailings (depending on their size) along with dirt.

Hydro Power

Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water and running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as watermills, sawmills, textile mills, dock cranes, domestic lifts, power houses and paint making.

Early uses of Hydro power

In India, water wheels and watermills were built; in Imperial Rome, water powered mills produced flour from grain, and were also used for sawing timber and stone; in China, watermills were widely used since the Han Dynasty. In China and the rest of the Far East, hydraulically operated "pot wheel" pumps raised water into irrigation canals.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 per cent of global electricity generation 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, and is expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years.

Hydel Generation Methods

Conventional Pumped Storage Run-of-the-River

Tidal
Underground

Conventional

Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator.

The power extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head. The amount of potential energy in water is proportional to the head. A large pipe (the "penstock") delivers water to the turbine.

Pumped Storage

This method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, excess generation capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir. When there is higher demand, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine. Pumped-storage schemes currently provide the most commercially important means of large-scale grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the generation system. Pumped storage is not an energy source, and appears as a negative number in listings.

Run-of-the-River

Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so that the water coming from upstream must be used for generation at that moment, or must be allowed to bypass the dam. In the United States, run of the river hydropower could potentially provide 60,000 MW (about 13.7% of total use in 2011 if continuously available).

Tidal

A tidal power plant makes use of the daily rise and fall of ocean water due to tides; such sources are highly predictable, and if conditions permit construction of reservoirs, can also be dispatchable to generate power during high demand periods. Less common types of hydro schemes use water's kinetic energy or undammed sources such as undershot waterwheels. Tidal power is viable in a relatively small number of locations around the world. In Great Britain, there are eight sites that could be developed, which have the potential to generate 20% of the electricity used in 2012.

Underground

An underground power station makes use of a large natural height difference between two waterways, such as a waterfall or mountain lake. An underground tunnel is constructed to take water from the high reservoir to the generating hall built in an underground cavern near the lowest point of the water tunnel and a horizontal tailrace taking water away to the lower outlet waterway.

Sizes and capacities of hydroelectric facilities

Large Small Micro

Pico

Large

Although no official definition exists for the capacity range of large hydroelectric power stations, facilities from over a few hundred megawatts to more than 10 GW are generally considered large hydroelectric facilities. Currently, only three facilities over 10 GW (10,000 MW) are in operation worldwide; Three Gorges Dam at 22.5 GW, Itaipu Dam at 14 GW, and Guri Dam at 10.2 GW.

Small

Small hydro is the development of hydroelectric power on a scale serving a small community or industrial plant. The definition of a small hydro project varies but a generating capacity of up to 10 megawatts (MW) is generally accepted as the upper limit of what can be termed small hydro.

This may be stretched to 25 MW and 30 MW in Canada and the United States. Small-scale hydroelectricity production grew by 28% during 2008 from 2005, raising the total world small-hydro capacity to 85 GW. Over 70% of this was in China (65 GW), followed by Japan (3.5 GW), the United States (3 GW), and India (2 GW).

Micro

Micro hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power.

These installations can provide power to an isolated home or small community, or are sometimes connected to electric power networks.
There are many of these installations around the world, particularly in developing nations as they can provide an economical source of energy without purchase of fuel.

Pico

Pico hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power generation of under 5 kW. It is useful in small, remote communities that require only a small amount of electricity. For example, to power one or two fluorescent light bulbs and a TV or radio for a few homes.[17] Even smaller turbines of 200-300W may power a single home in a developing country with a drop of only 1 m (3 ft.).

Pico-hydro setups typically are run-of-the-river, meaning that dams are not used, but rather pipes divert some of the flow, drop this down a gradient, and through the turbine before returning it to the stream.

Calculation of Power produced by Dams

P=hrgk Where, P is power in watts, is the density of water, h is the height in metres, r is flow rate in m3/s, g is the acceleration of water due to gravity, and k is the co-efficient of efficiency, it depends on the turbine, which is normally 1.

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