AGS-Energy
Building a new World with environmentally clean and renewable energy technologies
Small Hydro Plants Although large hydroelectric installations generate most of the world's hydroelectricity, some situations require small hydro plants. These are defined as plants producing up to 10 megawatts, or projects up to 30 megawatts in North America. A small hydro plant may be connected to a distribution grid or may provide power only to an isolated community or a single home. Small hydro projects generally do not require the protracted economic, engineering and environmental studies associated with large projects, and often can be completed much more quickly. A small hydro development may be installed along with a project for flood control, irrigation or other purposes, providing extra revenue for project costs. In areas that formerly used waterwheels for milling and other purposes, often the site can be redeveloped for electric power production, possibly eliminating the new environmental impact of any demolition operation. Small hydro can be further divided into mini-hydro, units around 1 MW in size, and micro hydro with units as large as 100 kW down to a couple of kW rating. Micro Hydro Turbines: 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. Micro hydro systems complement photovoltaic solar energy systems because in many areas, water flow, and thus available hydro power, is highest in the winter when solar energy is at a minimum. Pico Hydro Turbines: 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. 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 being exhausted back to the stream. Small hydro schemes are particularly popular in China, which has over 50% of world small hydro capacity. Small hydro units in the range 1 MW to about 30 MW are often available from multiple manufacturers using standardized ''water to wire'' packages; a single contractor can provide all the major mechanical and electrical equipment (turbine, generator, controls, switchgear), selecting from several standard designs to fit the site conditions. Micro hydro projects use a diverse range of equipment; in the smaller sizes industrial centrifugal pumps can be used as turbines, with comparatively low purchase cost compared to purpose-built turbines. A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy from moving water. Water turbines were developed in the nineteenth century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now they are mostly used for electric power generation. They harness a clean and renewable energy source. Water turbines incorporate different type of wheels depending on the specific speed (rpm means rotations per minute) Pelton Wheel - Specific Speed 5.0 rpm Francis Turbine - Specific Speed 30 rpm Francis Turbine - Specific Speed 70 rpm Kaplan Turbine - Specific Speed 113 rpm Click on the four arrows of the photo to magnify the image. Then please click inside the image to focus on the text under each turbine wheel. The photo shows various types of water turbine runners. From left to right: Pelton Wheel, two types of Francis Turbine and Kaplan Turbine Reaction turbines: Types of water turbines
Various types of water turbine runners. From left to right: Pelton Wheel, two types of Francis Turbine and Kaplan Turbine Reaction turbines: Francis Kaplan, Propeller, Bulb, Tube, Straflo Tyson Water wheel Archimedean screw turbine Impulse turbines: Pelton Turgo Michell-Banki (also known as the Crossflow or Ossberger turbine) Renewable Energy Products and Services in New Mexico |
