HYDRO POWER PLANT

BASIC TERMS, TYPES and

COMPONENTS

By
Prasad Vejendla
Faculty in Mechanical Engineering
KHIT, Guntur
03.09.2012
 TYPES OF POWER HOUSE

Surface.
Semi Under Ground
Under Ground.
 SURFACE POWER HOUSE
All components of the Hydro power projects are
on the natural/excavated ground surface.
Surface power house has the advantage of pre-
determined topography ,design and is easy to
construct. However, these have the
disadvantage of limitation of head available as
per the topography.
In such projects the water inlet to the machines
could be from a penstock or from a tunnel
terminating into a penstock. The water outlet
goes into a tail race.
If the power house is located just adjacent to the
Dam then it is sometimes called a Dam-toe
power house.
Surface Power House
Surface power house

EOT CRANE

GENERATOR
TURBINE
Semi Underground powerhouse
Some components of the power house are
underground, while others are on surface.
The advantages of both surface &
underground are clubbed together in a
semi-underground powerhouse, provided
topography & geology so permit.
 UNDER GROUND POWER HOUSE

Depending on the topography, a power house may

have to be located inside a mountain. Such a
power house is called an under ground power
house.
In such power houses the complete power house
equipment are located inside Cavern. In such
power houses various tunnels such as Head race
tunnel for the water inflow to the turbine, Tail race
tunnel for water out flow of the turbine and various
access tunnel have to be provided inside the
hill/mountain.
Such power houses take greater amount of time
and capital cost to construct.
 Contd---
This is very advantages as it overcomes
the limitations of head available as per
topography and provide compact and
economical layout.
This requires less land and consequently
reduce rehabilitation and resettlement
problems(R&R). However, this has the
disadvantages of geological uncertainties
resulting into indeterminate design and
construction problems leading to time and
Under ground power house with tunnels
 Salient Features of Uri Project
(underground power house)

Under ground power house of 4 X 120MW.

HRT - 10.6 km X 9.5m dia. Horse shoe Concrete lined
TRT - 2.2 km X 9.5m dia Horse shoe Concrete lined
Surge Shaft - 22m circular X 90m depth
Adits- 4Nos Total1.7km X 6m modified shoe
Adits- 6-TRT .471km X 6.5 X 7m modified shoe
Main Access -- .630km tunnel
Total Tunneling- 19.34km
Machine Hall- 127mLx22mBx28mH
All the equipment are placed inside a Cavern

Underground Chamera HEP

CH PH
CH PH
 TYPE OF HYDRO POWER
PROJECT
Multi-purpose Project
Purely Hydro-electric Project
Run of river project
Storage Project
Pump Storage project
Multi-purpose Project
Power generation may be one of the
benefits along with Flood Control,
Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water
Supply etc.

Purely Hydro-electric Project

Project is conceived exclusively for
power generation.
 Run of River Project
As the name implies, the project is planned as run of
the river.
Water is diverted from the river, routed through the
water conductor system and finally water after
generation of power is thrown back to the river at a
lower level on down stream.
It takes advantage of the drop in elevation that
occurs over a distance in the river and does not
involve water storage.
Power generation fluctuates with the river flow and
the firm power is considerably low, as it depends on
the minimum mean discharge.
Canal power projects are also run-of-river projects.
 Storage Project
Storage projects provide storage or
pondage and thereby, evens out stream
flow fluctuations and enhances the water
head.
It increases firm power and total power
generation by regulating the flow.
Providing storage is complicated and
costly as it involves construction of dam.
 Pump Storage project
Pump storage projects involve reversible turbines,
which can generate power from water of upper
reservoir during peak hours and pump back water from
lower reservoir to the upper reservoir during off peak
hours.
These projects are advantageous in power system of
mix type, which have thermal and nuclear power
houses in addition to hydro power projects.
Pump storage project utilizes the off peak surplus
power of the grid in lifting the water from lower
reservoir to higher reservoir and generates power
during peak hours thus flattening the load curve.
 HYDRO DEVELOPMENT- IMPORTANT
TERMS

FRL (FULL RESERVOIR LEVEL)

FRL is the Upper level of the reservoir (selected based
on techno-economic& submergence considerations)
MDDL (MINIMUM DRAWDOWN LEVEL)
Lowest level up to which the reservoir level could be
drawn down to withdraw waters for energy generation
(selected from considerations of silt & turbine
operational limits)
GROSS STORAGE
Total storage capacity of the reservoir
Hydro Development- IMPORTANT TERMS-
Cont

DEAD STORAGE
Reservoir storage which cannot be used for generation
and is left for silt deposition( below MDDL)
LIVE STORAGE
The storage in the reservoir which is available for power
generation (between FRL & MDDL)
FIRM POWER
Continuous power output in the entire period of
hydrological data at 90% dependability
FIRM ENERGY
Energy generated corresponding to firm power
 Hydro Development- IMPORTANT
TERMS- Cont

Peak Energy
Electric energy supplied during periods of relatively high
system demands.
Off-peak Energy
Electric energy supplied during periods of relatively low
system demands.
Load Factor
Ratio of the average load over a designated period to the
peak-load occurring in that period
DIURNAL STORAGE
Storage required to meet daily variations in load demand. It
depends upon the minimum flows and peak discharges.
 Hydro Development- IMPORTANT TERMS
Cont

CRITICAL PERIOD
Most critical period with respect to system load
requirements, begins when reservoir begins
delivering water for generation from full i.e the
available storage is fully drafted at one point
during the period; and the critical period ends
when the storage has completely refilled.
CRITICAL DRAW DOWN PERIOD
That portion of the critical period in which
reservoir live storage is completely drafted while
meeting firm energy requirements
 IMPORTANT TERMS HEAD Cont.

Design Head
The head at which the turbine will operate
to give the best overall efficiency
under various operating conditions.

Gross Head
The difference of elevations between
water surfaces of the forebay/ dam and
tailrace under specified conditions.

Net Head
The gross head chargeable to the turbine
less all hydraulic losses in water
conductor system.
Major components of Hydro
Power Stations

Dam/Barrage
Water Conductor System
Power House
 Dam/Barrage
Located on rivers, where rock is
available at larger depth.
The dam/ Barrage is used for
delivering/diverting the water to
the water conductor system.
The barrage is used to regulate the
water for power generation.
DAM KURICHU
BARRAGE AT URI
 Water Conductor System
Water conductor system consists of
head race tunnel of suitable size.
Water conductor system may consist
of tunnel, channel, cut and cover as
per the topography involved.
At end of tunnel there is surge shaft.
The water conductor system conveys
water to penstock.
 Components of Water
Conductor System
Water intake structure
Head Race Tunnel
Surge shaft ,Pressure shaft ,gates,
gates and hoisting mechanism
Penstock Protection Valve
Penstock
Main inlet Valve
Tail Race Tunnel
 Water Intake Structure
It consists of gated structure at the
dam/Barrage to control the flow of
water and provided with gates along
with hoisting arrangement.
Normally these gates remain open and
allows water to flow to the tunnel
/channel as the case may be until and
unless water conductor system is
taken under shut down for repair and
maintenance.
 Surge Shaft
Surge shaft is located at the end of
tunnel .
It is a well type structure of suitable
height and diameter to absorb the
upcoming and lowering surges in case
of tripping and starting of the machine
in the power house.
The surge shaft is provided with gates
to stop flow of water to the penstock if
repairs are to be carried out in the
penstock or inlet valves.
Penstock Protection Valve

The Penstock protection valves are

provided after the surge shaft to facilitate
maintenance of the penstocks. The valves
are of butterfly type. The BF valve are
operated hydraulically with provision of
pressure accumulators in case of power
failure.
 Pressure Shaft
When the water conduits in the Surge
shaft and Main Inlet valve are not exposed
to the atmosphere and buried in the
ground/concrete due to its high pressure,
these are called Pressure shaft.
 Penstock
Penstocks are the water conductor conduit of
suitable size connecting the surge shaft to main
inlet valve
It allows water to the turbine through main inlet
valve.
At the end of the penstock a drainage valve is
provided which drains water from penstock to
the draft tube.
In case of long penstock and high head,
butterfly valve is provided just before the
penstock.
It takes off from the surge shaft in addition to
spherical valve at the end of the penstock acting
as the main inlet valve.
 Main Inlet Valve
Main inlet valve works as the gate
valve/isolating valve in the water
conductor system.
It is located before turbine and allows
water flow from penstock to turbine.
MIV acts as closing valve and cuts the
flow of water during an emergency trip.
They are of following type.
Butterfly valve (upto 200 m head)
Spherical valve (more than200m head)
BUTTERFLY VALVE
BUTTERFLY VALVE
SPHERICAL VALVE
 Components of MIV
Spherical valve/Butterfly valve
Bypass valve
Oil pumping unit
Spherical valve consist of plate which is in line with
the flow of water when in open condition and in
totally vertical direction when in closed position.
Bypass valve acts as a means to charge the
spherical valve and balance the pressure on either
side of valve I,e penstock and turbine
Oil pumping unit is used to pump the oil to operate
the valve.
 Draft Tube
Draft tube is located between lower ring of
turbine and tail race . It conveys water after
discharge from runner to tail race tunnel.
Draft tube (DT) gates are provided for
isolating the Power house and tail pool
before taking maintenance of the turbine.
The DT gates are provided with hoisting
mechanism.
The DT gate may be a single piece or a
combination of more than one piece
 TURBINE
Turbine converts potential energy of water to
mechanical energy and transmits it to the generator.
Turbines can be of:
Kaplan type
Francis type
Pelton type
Bulb type
Main components of the turbine include:
Runner
Labyrinths
Shaft Seal
Guide Bearing
Top Cover
Lower Ring
Guide Vanes
 Turbines

The hydro project are site specific as such

the use of standard or off the shelf unit may
not be possible. The selection of type of
turbine is made on the basis of Head. The
broad classification is given below.
Low head(upto60 m) Kaplan Turbine
Medium head(30to600m)Francis Turbine
High head (more than300m) Pelton
X-SECTION THROUGH
KAPLAN TURBINE
PELTON TURBINE

Nore Doppel -
NORWAY
KAPLAN
SPIRAL CASING
CUT SECTION SPIRAL CASING
FRANCIS RUNNER

AGUS-
PHILIPINES
FRANCIS RUNNER LIFTING
FRANCIS RUNNER BEING
HANDLED BY EOT CRANE
 GENERATOR
Hydro generator is coupled to the turbine and converts the
mechanical energy transmitted by the turbine to electrical energy
Generators can be of:
Suspended type
Umbrella type
Main Generator components include:
Stator
Rotor
Upper Bracket
Lower Bracket
Thrust Bearing & Guide Bearings
Slip Ring & Brush Assembly
Air Coolers
Brakes & Jacks
Stator Heaters
 UMBRELLA TYPE GENERATOR
COMBINED
LOWER
THRUST &
GUIDE
BEARING
 SUSPENDED TYPE GENERATOR
UPPER
THRUST
BEARING -1
UPPER GUIDE
BEARING -1
LOWER GUIDE
BEARING -1
GEN SEC
STATOR SEGMENT
ROTOR
 GOVERNOR

Used for controlling the guide vanes by

detecting turbine speed & its guide vane
opening in order to keep turbine speed
stable or to regulate its output.
The performance of the governor
dominates the controllability of the power
plant and quality of electrical power
produced .
 GOVERNOR
The hydraulic turbine governor
is equipment for controlling the
guide vanes by detecting turbine
speed and its guide vane
opening in order to keep the
turbine speed stable or to
regulate it's output

Governors are provided with the

following features;

Quick Response and Stable

Control
Guide Vane Opening Detection
with High Accuracy
Speed Detection with High
Accuracy
High Reliability
Easy Maintenance
Thank You
1.What are the component of water
conductor system
Ans:Intake structure, Head race tunnel,
Surge shaft,Penestock, MIV,Draft tube
and Tail RaceTunnel
2.True/falls
MDDL-Minimum draw down level(yes/no)
3.FRL- Full reservoir level (yes/no)
4.RUN OF RIVER have pondage (yes/no)
5. Pumped storage scheme are generally
used for peaking power (yes/no)
6.Dewatering system is used to dewater the
draft tube and other turbine component
(yes/no)
7. Surge Shaft is used control upsurge/lower
Surge in the hydro power station (yes/no)
8.Under ground power station is installed w
here there is scarcity of land(yes/no)
9.GIS stands for Gas insulated Switchgear
(yes/no)
10.What are advantages of GIS over
Conventional switchgear.
 What are the main component on turbine?
Why single phase transformers are
preferred in hydro power plant?
Sulfer Hexafluoride gas(SF6) is used in GIS.
(yes/no)
Rotor is the heaviest part of hydro
generating machine.(yes/no)