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Flat Flow
A flat flow duration curve is good because it means that the total annual flow will be spread more
evenly over the year, giving a useful flow for longer periods, and less severe floods.
Characteristics of a flat FDC are:
Deep Soil
Heavy vegetation
Long, gently sloping streams
Bogs, marshes
Even rainfall ( temperate or two monsoons)
Compensation Flow
A portion of the flow, historically called the compensation flow (but now also referred to as the residual,
reserved, prescribed or hands-off flow), may need to by-pass the scheme for aesthetic or environmental
reasons. In schemes where water is diverted from the main course of the river this compensation flow is needed
to maintain the ecology and aesthetic appearance of the river in the depleted stretch.
Hydrological cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrological cycle or the hydrologic cycle, describes
the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth
Load Factor
The load factor is defined as the average load divided by the peak load in a
specified time period
=
=
The higher the load factor is, the smoother the load profile is, and the more the
infrastructure is being utilized.
The highest possible load factor is 1, which indicates a flat load profile.
Plant factor
The ratio total energy consumed in a particular period to the maximum energy available from the
plant in the same period.
Plant factor shows to what extent the energy available from the plant has been used.
Plant factor from Calculation of FDC
Importance of Plant factor
The plant factor shows the extent of energy use from the available energy potential.
A lower plant factor means less energy consumption, less revenue generated and a longer
payback periods which may even increase the plant cost. A plant factor of 0.4 in the initial
years and 0.6 or more in the subsequent years is desirable. Plant factor can be improved by
matching power supply and demand through a careful capability and demand survey.
Matching Power Supply and Demand
Is there enough water to satisfy this demand? If so will the proposed scheme be financially justified
against a diesel option offering a unit energy cost of 8 cents per kilo watt hour? Scheme Cost $40000
and 10% of the scheme as O+M cost
Step 1: Setting Priority
Priority I: Irrigation
Priority II: Lighting (20 KW from 6pm to12 pm)
Priority III: milling (12 KW for 8 hrs from 8 am to 4 pm) : Primary loads
Priority IV: Battery charging (noncommittal basis): Secondary loads
Priority V: HS cookers (noncommittal basis): Secondary loads
Why?
To explore whether the scheme will be effectively managed over
its life in terms of tariff collection, maintaining financial accounts,
resolving conflicts, distributing welfare benefits etc. and to assess
the assistance required to raise capability of locals to required
level.
To explore what demand is there for a new scheme, how much
and where it is needed and in what form, whether there is
willingness and ability to pay and how would the new scheme
bring the benefit to less advantaged people and what are the
disadvantages of the scheme.
Items to be covered by Capability and Demand Survey(1)
Map of village showing distances and position of house and possible future commercial activities
Types of people and their comments on how the proposed scheme will affect their economic security and
opportunities in the future.
Summary of institutions, organization etc who may help in financing the scheme.
Description of current irrigation system and its management and future plans for irrigation and how people
expect hydropower to affect their irrigation system
Assessment of capability of local organization to manage complex scheme involving finance, welfare
distribution, operation and machinery and maintenance of machinery
Items to be covered by Capability and Demand Survey(2)
1
W
0
Y
Catchment Area
3
Z
Steps:
1. Select a site for micro hydro.
2. Record the location of three rain gauge say W, Y, and Z. Let x, y and z be their annual average rainfall in
mm/yr.
3. Connect the rain-gauge location and bisect them to get a common point as shown in figure.
4. Find area covered by each rain gauge.
i. Area W = portion bounded by 1-0, 0-2 & catchment boundary,
ii. Area Y = portion bounded by 1-0, 0-3 & catchment boundary,
iii. Area Z = portion bounded by 2-0, 0-3 & catchment boundary.
iv. Total Area (Catchment Area) = Area W + Area Y + Area Z
5. Then the average rainfall in this catchment area is given by,
=(Area Z / Total Area) * z + (Area Y / Total Area) * y + (Area W / Total Area) * w
6. Find the runoff (mm/yr)
1. Runoff = Rainfall Evaporation
2. Runoff by Rainfall_Runoff Graph
3. Runoff = 50% of Rainfall Rough method
7. Volume of run off in mm3/yr = run off mm/yr * catchment area mm2
8. Finally, ADF= Vol. of run off in m3/s
NET Flow
Net Flow = ADF - ADFirrigation - ADFseepage
For an example:
In graph plot,
Area W=45squares
Area Y=40squares
Area Z=50squares
w=2000mm/yr
y=2500mm/yr
z=3000mm/yr
Scale of map: 1square-box=1mm and 1mm=300m
2
ADF = (135 * 3002* 102 * 1259 * 10-9) / (365 * 24 * 60 * 60) m3/s = 0.49 m3/s
What to do in absence of Rain Gauge??
If you have one or two year time to wait for planning and financial clearance, immediately install a flow
measuring device such as a notched weir into the stream, and monitor as frequently as possible.
Setup and monitor at least one rain gauge in the region of interest.
Do not use short-term records on their own, as two years data can be misleading (fifteen years data are
required) but correlate them with other data
Often data in the form of isohyetal maps are available. These shows lines of constant rainfall. They
should never be used as a single indication of rainfall, but are sometimes useful as a check on other
indications. Should be avoided as catchment area is too small for accuracy.
Flow correlation method
assignment
Head
Important parameter in designing micro-hydro
Must be accurate (3% )
Atleast measured by three separate method
Material Required:
Nylon Hose
Height Marker
Prepared Record Sheet
Procedure:
b. Using graded rods
i. Person Y measures height A1 at expect forebay surface level.
ii. Person Y stays in the same place and measures B1, just as person X has moved downhill and
measures A2
iii. Finally all heights are summed
H1=A1-B1
H2=A2-B2
H3=A3-B3
Hn=An-Bn
Head=H1+H2+H3+Hn
Sighting meters (Abney Level)
Pressure Expressed as HEAD
Builders levels
Accuracy 1mm
Expensive
Heavy
Slow
Skill operator are needed
Not suitable for steep, wooden sites.
theodolites
Expensive
Heavy
Fast and accurate work where ground is clear.
Slow on wooded sites and lots of error.
Note:
Both requires calibration and re-calibration.
Do not trust on borrowed theodolites. You must calibrate it again.
Methods of FLOW measurement
You need:
tape measure
watch or stop-watch
rod, yard or meter stick to measure depth
buoyant objects such as a weighted block of wood or oranges (objects that float immersed at the water
surface)
stakes for anchoring tape measure to stream banks
wader
Site Selection:
straight section of stream
uniform in grade
minimum surface agitation
Velocity
V = travel distance/ travel time
Because surface velocities are typically higher than mean or average velocities
V mean = k Vsurface where k is a coefficient that generally ranges from 0.66 to 0.75, depending on channel
depth.
Procedure:
Choose a suitable straight reach with minimum turbulence (ideally at least 3 channel widths long).
Mark the start and end point of your reach.
If possible, travel time should exceed 20 seconds.
Drop your object into the stream upstream of your upstream marker.
Start the watch when the object crosses the upstream marker and stop the watch when it crosses the
downstream marker.
You should repeat the measurement at least 3 times and use the average in further calculations.
Measure streams width and depth across at least one cross section where it is safe to wade.
If possible, measure depth across the stream's width at the start and stop cross sections and average
the two but if only measuring one cross section choose the one downstream.
Use a marked rod, a yard or meter stick to measure the depth at regular intervals across the stream.
Five depth measurements are typical but more is better, especially in larger streams.
Average your cross-sectional areas (A)
Using the average area and corrected velocity, you can now compute
discharge, Q.
Errors
Error in Width
Minimized by taking segments at equal distances and the total surface width
be measured with more sophisticated instruments available now.
Error in Depth
Minimized by taking segments at equal distances and the depth measured by
more sophisticated instruments available now.
Error in Area Measurement
Minimized by correction of width and depth.
PROCEDURE
Decide on the amount of salt, and the distance between injecting the salt and monitoring
conductivity.
Take a temperature reading of the stream and record it.
Collect a bucket of water from the river and measure the natural conductivity and record it.
Then add a known quantity of table salt to the bucket.
Throw the bucket of solution into the river at approximately 20 times the width of the river
being sampled.
Then measure the conductivity downstream and record the reading on the meter every 5
seconds until the reading stabilizes.
Plot graph between Conductivity and time.
Example
In a flow measurement process using salt gulp method, 100 gram of salt was mixed with water in a
bucket and poured into the stream at a point which is 20 meter up from the location of the conductivity
meter. The readings of conductivity meter when plotted v/s time gave a total of 130 squares each square
being 5 second X 5 ohm -1 X 10-6.
If the temperature of water is 22 oC, find the flow of the stream in liter/sec.
Reciprocal of the conversion factor K-1 for 22 oC is 2.04X10-6 ohm-1/mgl-1.
Mass = 100 gm
Conversion factor =k=1/k-1
Area = no. of square * time *Conductivity
Examples of bad and good reading
Weir method
Q = C*L*H1.5
1
2
0.0012
= 1.838 1 + 1
10
Where,
Q = River flow (m3/s)
L:; Opening width of weir (m)
H: Overflow depth (m)
Current measurement Device
load demand curves of various loads
A graphical plot showing the variation in demand for energy of the consumers on a source of supply
with respect to time is known as the load curve.
If this curve is plotted over a time period of 24 hours, it is known as daily load curve . If its plotted for a
week, month, or a year, then its named as the weekly, monthly or yearly load curve respectively.
Commercial load
Demand Forecast
In general, the demand for electricity at night is bigger than that in the daytime.
The demand forecast is done for the nighttime.
Demand = Pr + Pp + Ld +
where,
Pr: Power consumed by residents (kW)
Pr = Nh y pr
where,
Nh: Number of households (HH)
: Households increase rate (HH/year)
y: Years considered (years)
pr: Power consumption per household (kW/HH)
= 0.1 0.2 (kW/HH) in rural areas
Pp: Power consumed by public facilities (kW)
Ld: Loss over distribution line (kW)
= about 10% of power consumed
: Other consumption for specific facilities
Optimum Generating Installed Capacity
All technical, economic and reliability indices are considered in a trade-off relation
for this purpose.
Using this approach, determine the annual energy potential by using flow duration
curve in different months.
Then, after specifying the income and costs of the plant, the economic indices of
different alternatives including all the benefits are extracted.
The reliability indices are then calculated.
Ultimately, through comparison of the technical, economic and reliability indices, a
superior alternative can be selected, determining the optimal installation capacity.
Geological Consideration
The visit to the proposed site should include a geological survey. It is aimed to return home with some
idea of the following:
Future Surface Movements: for example, loose rock slopes that may be disturbed by construction
work or by heavy rainfall, dry mud indicating mud flows, storm gulley's that may take torrents, and rock
flow during heavy rainfall, signs of flood behavior at valley base level;
Soil and Rock types: information is a need in order to design the foundation of civil works, to decide
which materials to use in channel construction and to assess which building materials are available
on-site.
References
Adam Harvey, Micro-hydro design manual
Tri Ratna Bajracharya, Mini and Micro Hydropower System
Design
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)
khullabs.com