HYDROPOWER

ENGINEERING

1
 Chapter One
Introduction and Concepts
of Hydropower

2
 Introduction
• Hydropower is the energy extracted from the
natural potential of usable water resources.
It is the capture of the energy of moving
water for some useful purpose.
• When the energy of flowing water is used to
run turbines, then the electricity generated is
called Hydroelectric power.
• The head causing flow, runs the turbine
blades, and thus producing electricity from
the generator coupled to the turbine.
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4
5
6
 Hydrologic cycle….
• Evaporation from
water bodies
• Water vapour
moves upwards
• Cloud formation
• Condensation
• Precipitate
• Interception
• Transpiration
• Infiltration
• Runoff–streamflow
• Deep percolation
• Ground water flow
 Catchment area….
• A watershed is a geographical unit in
which the hydrological cycle and its
components can be analysed.

• Usually a watershed is defined as the

area that appears, on the basis of
topography, to contribute all the water
that passes through a given cross
section of a stream.
 Watershed and watershed divide

Watershed/
catchment
Watershed/
catchment
 Introduction…
• Any water resource program of which a
hydropower scheme may has environmental
and social impacts, which must be taken into
consideration at the initial planning stage.
• Also, legal and political implications must be
carefully considered.
• The latest technological advancements in
hydroelectric power generation permit the
selection of proper designs incorporating
environmental and social requirements.
10
Terms and parameters pertinent
to hydropower schemes

11
• Dead storage. The storage in the reservoir
resulting from the accumulation of sediment
• Live storage. The volume of water that is stored in
a reservoir that can be used for power generation
and etc.
• Spillway. The structure over or through which
reservoir flood flows are discharged.
• Forebay. The impoundment of water above a dam
or hydroelectric plant.
• Baseload. The minimum constant amount of load
connected to the power system over a given period
of time
12
• Peakload. The greatest amount of power
given out or taken by a machine or power
distribution system in a given time
• Generator. A machine that converts
mechanical energy in to electrical energy
• Head. The difference in elevation between
the head water surface and the tail water
surface
• Turbine. A machine which converts the
kinetic energy of fluids to mechanical energy

13
Appurtenant features: Any physical feature other than the
dam, such as the
spillway, outlet, powerhouse, penstock, tunnels, etc.

Excess Inflow
Normal Pool Level, NPL

Intake
Structure
Spillway
Bottom Outlet
Dead Storage
 Advantages of hydropower
Hydropower plants do not require fuel
well suited for peaking power condition
Hydropower plants are highly
reliable, robust, and have higher life
expectancy
Thermal & nuclear 25-30 years
Hydropower 50-100 years
Hydropower is clean and free of
environmental pollutions.
Hydropower has by far the highest energy
conversion efficiency, at 80-90% (Thermal &15
nuclear 30-60 %)
 Sources of Energy
• Energy can be described as potential for
work, which may be withdrawn if needed.

• The source for any kind of energy on earth is

the sun.

• The energy radiated by the sun in the form of

electro- magnetic waves can be utilized for
the generation of power

16
 Sources of energy...
Two major sources of energy (Status)

Conventional sources Unconventional

sources

 Thermal power  Tidal power

 Hydropower  Solar power
 Nuclear power  Geothermal power
 Wind power
 Wave power
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Thermal (steam) power plant

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22
Nuclear power plant

23
• Simply, fission is the action of splitting the
nucleus, or specifically

• “The spontaneous disintegration of a

heavy atom into two or more lighter one,
whereby the process involves a loss of
mass which is converted into nuclear
energy”

24
Wind turbine plant

25
 Ocean tides
• There is a tremendous energy in ocean tides and
waves but it is very difficult to harness this power.

• Only a few favorable points exist at the shore point

which favors for the production of electrical energy.

• In this case, a small dam or weir with large gates

can be built across the mouth of a stury and low
head hydraulic turbines are installed in the dam. At
the time of high tide the gates are opened & Water
is stored in the tidal basin and then the gates are
closed. 26
 Geothermal power
• The earth has a molten core. As a result it
produces steam vents and hot springs. This
steam can be used for the generation of
electric power.

27
 History of hydropower development
• The first hydroelectric power plant was
installed in England in 1870.
• Industrial use of hydropower started in 1880
• The largest projects, Itaipu in Brazil with
14,000 MW and Three Gorges in China with
22,400 MW,
• Hydropower projects are always site-specific
and thus designed according to the river
system they inhabit.

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 Hydropower status in the world
• The installed capacity of hydropower by the end of
2008 contributed 16% of worldwide electricity
supply
• The total worldwide technical potential for
hydropower generation is 14,576 TWh/yr
• Worldwide total installed hydropower capacity in
2009 was 926 GW, producing annual generation of
3,551 TWh/y
• Undeveloped capacity ranges from about 47% in
Europe and North America to 92% in Africa

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Hydropower generation (TWh) by region

30
Regional hydropower technical potential

31
 8000
Power (Twh/yr)

7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Potential Exploited
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 Utilized percentage worldwide
60

50

40
%age utilized

30

20

10

33
Hydropower Potential and Its Development in Ethiopia
• The water power (electricity generation), came to
existence in Ethiopia at the beginning of 1930's
• The first hydropower scheme was Abasamuel (Awash
basin) commissioned in 1932
• This station was capable of generating 6 MW and
operational up to 1970
• In Ethiopia, by 1990,
– about 94 % of the energy requirement satisfied through the
traditional energy sources (wood, charcoal…)
– the remaining 6% through modern sources such as fuel oil, gas
and electricity
• Ethiopia has got substantial hydropower potential from
which very small amount has been utilized yet
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• Ethiopia is naturally endowed with quite a
substantial amount of water resource potential.

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• The hydropower potential of Ethiopia is very
considerable more than 45,000 MW

• Most of the rivers generally drop hundreds of

meters in relative short distances

• About 85% of the total hydropower potential is

found in Blue Nile, Ome-Gibe & Baro basins

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37
 Potential Gross hydro-
Runoff irrigable land electric potential Estimated ground
River basin Area (km2) (Bm3) (ha) GWH/yr water potential (Bm3)
Tekeze 8235*** 8.2 83,368 5,980 0.2
Abbay 199,812 54.8 815,581 78,820 1.8
Baro-Akobo 75,912 23.6 1,019,523 13,765 0.28
Omo-Gibe 79,000 16.6 36,560 0.42
Rift Valley 52,739 5.6 139,300 * 800 0.1
Mereb 5,900 *** 0.65 67,560 0.05
Afar /Denakil 74,002 **** 0.86 158,776
Awash 112,696 4.9 134,121 4,470 0.14
Aysha 2,223 **** - - - -
Ogaden 77,121 **** - - - -
Wabi-
Shebelle* 202,697 ** 3.16 237,905 5,440 0.07

Genale-Dawa 171,042 ** 5.88 1,074,720 9,270 0.14

Total 1,135,494 124.25 3,798,782 155,102 2.86
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 Existing hydropower plant
S No Plant name River Name Capacity MW Year of completion
1 Aba Samuel Akaki River 6 1932
2 Tis Abay I Nile River 12 1953
3 Koka Dam Awsh River 42.3 1960
4 Awash II Awash River 32 1966
5 Awash III Awash River 32 1971
6 Fincha Dam Fincha River 100 1973
7 Melka Wekena Dam 153 1989
8 Sor Dam 5 1990
9 Tis Abay II Nile River 75 2001
10 Gilgel Gibe I Omo River 184 2004
11 Tekeze High dam Tekeze River 300 2009
12 Gilgel Gibe II Omo River 420 2009
13 Tana Beles Belesa River 435 2010
Ashegoda wind
14 farm 120

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 Under construction or Proposed
Hydroelectric
station Type Capacity Year completed River
Gilgel Gibe III Reservoir 1870 2015 Omo River

Fincha Amerti
Neshe Reservoir 100
Gilgel Gibe IV Reservoir 1472 Omo River
Gilgel Gibe V Reservoir 660 Omo River

Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Reservoir 6000 2017 Blue Nile River

Halele
Worabesa Reservoir 440 2015 Omo River
Chemoga Yeda Reservoir 278 2015

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 Chapter two

Classification and Types

of Hydropower Plants

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 Classification and Types of
Hydropower Plants
• Hydropower plants could be classified on
the basis of
– The hydraulic features of the plant
– Operating features
– Location & topographical features
– Presence or absence of storage
– The range of operating heads
– The hydraulic features of the plant
42
 Classification based on hydraulic
features
The basic hydraulic principle governs the type

Conventional Pumped storage Unconventional

Hydro-plants plants Hydro-plants

Tidal power plant Wave power Depression

plant power plant
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1. Run-off River Plants
Are those which utilize the minimum
flow in a river having no appreciable
pondage on its upstream side and the
power station is integrated within the
weir structures in different
arrangements.

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 Run-off-river plants

a)Block b) Twin c) Island d) Pier e) Submer

power block plant head sible
plant plant plant plant
ROR Hydropower plant in Holland
 Powerhouse

Navigation lock

47
ROR Hydropower plant in Germany
2. Diversion Canal
the flow from the impounded water in
the river upstream of the barrage is
diverted in to a power canal and rejoins
the river further downstream after
passing through the power station

Example: Tis Abbay

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Diversion canal plant
3. Valley dam plants (medium to high head
plant)

• The dominant feature is the dam which creates

the required storage (to balance seasonal
fluctuation) and necessary head for the power
house.
• Power house is located at the toe of the dam
• Water flows through the penstock embedded in
the dam & enters the power house.

Example: Koka power plant

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Valley dam plants

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Valley dam Hydropower plant
54
4. Storage Plants / high head plants
– are essentially having an upstream
storage / reservoir of sufficient size.
– the dam structure is separated from the
power station by a considerable distance
over which the water is conveyed by a
tunnel or a canal.

Example: Gilgel Gibe – I

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Storage/high head plant

Storage

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Pumped Storage Plants
generates power during peak hours, but
during the off-peak hours, water is
pumped back from the tail water pool to
the head water pool for future use.

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Pumped Storage Plant
 Pumped Storage
Upper Reservoir

Lower Reservoir

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60
Oskar VonMiller
power plant in
Germany

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Potential site in our country, Abaya-Chamo lakes

Head difference b/n

the two lakes = 62 m

GOD Bridge

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 BASIC CONCEPTS
• Pumped/storage hydropower developments
are energy-storing systems.
– Water is pumped from a lower reservoir to a
higher one,
– utilizing low-cost "dump" power produced during
periods of low demand by power plants
– which can be operated economically at a
constant load.
• The water in the higher reservoir is then
released through turbines to produce power
needed during periods of peak demand.
65
• In this system more energy is expended in
pumping than can be produced by the
turbines,

• The relative monetary value of "peak" power

compared to "dump" power makes the
system economically feasible.

• Frequently, peak power is worth at least

three times as much as dump power.

66
Figure Graphic accounting of energy storage cycle for pumped/storage
hydropower development.
67
 APPLICATION SITUATIONS
• Three basic situations should be considered
for planning purposes:

– Short-term peaking,
– Weekly peaking, and
– Seasonal peaking.

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 Short-term peaking
• This involve turbines operating for a few
hours each day

– to meet daily peaks

– the recovery pumping during the early morning
hours when energy loads are lowest
– and cheap dump power is available.

69
 Weekly peaking
• This requires operating turbines in generating
mode to meet several peak loads during the
workweek,
• Refilling the upper reservoir to a degree each
day but gradually drawing down the upper
reservoir during the week
• Major recovery pumping during the weekend
when loads are low.
• This requires relatively large reservoirs.

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Figure Weekly electric load variation and
pumped/storage operation.
71
 Seasonal peaking
• Seasonal peaking would require very large
upper reservoir storage

– to provide longer generator operation during

seasonal peaks
– The recovery pumping would take large blocks of
dump power.

72
 ARRANGEMENT OF UNITS
1. Complete pump and motor units and
separate but complete turbine and
generator units, involving four machines
2. Multistage pump and impulse turbine with a
common motor/generator, involving three
machines
3. A single-stage pump/turbine and a common
motor/generator involving two machines in
which units have reversible directions for
operation
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74
 PLANNING AND SELECTION
• Two Important parameters in planning for
pumped/storage hydropower development are

– Head and
– Discharge to be utilized in sizing the plant.

• It is evident that the head will vary as the

reservoirs are drawn down.
• Sites with heads less than 1000 ft are not likely
to be economical for pure pumped/storage HP
75
• An analysis must be
made for the length of
time the units will
operate
– To determine the
volume of water that
must be stored in an
upper reservoir.

• The figure presents a

graph that is useful in
determining the live
storage required.

76
• Example
Tidal power Plants

Essentially work on the principle that

there is a rise in sea water during high
tide period and a fall during the low ebb
period.

77
 Classification on the basis of operation
Based on actual operation in meeting the
demand

isolated plant - operating independently (not

common now a days)
interconnected in to grids
In a grid system, a power station may be
distinguished as a base load plant or peak
load plant. Hydropower plants are best suited
as peak load plants
78
 Location of Hydropower in ICS
Hydropower
Load (MW)

Nuclear

Thermal

Time (months)
Place of hydropower in a power system.
Classification based Classification based
on plant capacity on head

• Micro hydropower • Low head plants <

less than 5 MW 15m
• Medium plant 5 to • Medium head plants
100 MW 15-50m
• High capacity 100 to • high head plants 50-
1,000 MW 250m
• Super plant above • very high head
1,000 MW plants > 250m
80
 Principal components of a Hydro
electric scheme
• Three basic elements are necessary in
order to generate power from water:

a means of creating head

a conduit to convey water and
a power station

81
• To provide these functions, the following
components are used
– Dam or weir
– Reservoir
– Intake
– Headrace (canal or tunnel)
– Forebay or surge tank
– Penstock or pressure shaft
– Control equipments (gates and valves)
– Power house (turbines and generators)
– Draft tube
– Tailrace
– Switch yard 82
• The components of Hydro electric power
scheme can be seen in two different
layout

 Surface Hydropower and

 Under ground Hydropower

84
 Surface hydropower layout

Dam

Main river
Reservoir
Power canal

Reservoir
forebay
penstocks

power house

85
 Surface hydropower plant

Dam structure Reservoir

Fore bay Power canal

penstocks

Power house
86
 Chapter three
Hydropower Planning and
Hydrological Analysis for
Hydropower

87
 Hydropower studies
• Three types of studies are commonly made:

Reconnaissan Feasibility studies Definite plan or

ce studies design studies

Find potential Made to Made before

energy sources formulate a final design &
Estimate specific project initiation of cons.
energy available Assess the Require daily or
in a stream desirability of at least monthly
May not be implementing flow data
site specific hydropower Operational
development. studies
88
 PARAMETERS TO BE ANALYZED
• Principal parameters necessary in making
hydro- power studies are water discharge
(Q) and hydraulic head (H).

• The measurement and analyses of these

parameters are primarily hydrologic
problems.

• Good contour maps may be sufficient to

determine the value for the head
89
90
DEM of the Reservoir Site
Different Losses in the system
• Trashrack structure losses (htr)
• Entrance losses (hen)
• Gate & valve losses (hg)
• Transition losses (ht)
• Bend losses (hb)
• Exit losses (hex)
• Friction losses (hf)
 Different Conduit Losses
• Trashrack structure losses
(htr)
• Entrance losses (hen)
• Gate & valve losses (hg)
• Transition losses (ht)
• Bend losses (hb)
• Exit losses (hex)
• Friction losses (hf)

9
Total loss = h L = ∑ h i
i =1
 Hydropower system design
Entry arrangements: Trash rack losses

43
t v2
ht = K t   sin φ
b 2g

Values for Kt
 Hydropower system design
Entry arrangements: trash racks
 Hydropower system design
Entry arrangements: Entry losses into the
penstock
 Hydropower system design
Entry arrangements: Entry losses into
the penstock
v2
he = K e
2g

Type Ke

Hooded 1.0

Projecting 0.8

Sharp corner 0.5

Slightly rounded 0.2

Bell mouth (r>0.14D) 0

Hydropower system design
Penstocks: Losses in bends
Hydropower system design
Penstocks: Losses in bends

v2
hb = K b
2g

r/D Kb
r

1 0.6
2 0.5
3 0.4
4 0.3
Hydropower system design
Penstocks: Other Losses

• Contractions
D1/d2 Kc
1.5 0.25
2 0.35
2.5 0.40
5 0.50

• Valves
Type Kv
Spherical 0
Gate 0.1
Butterfly 0.3
 Estimating Power Potential of a river
Water power potential is the amount of power
generated when Q m3/sec of water is allowed
to fall through a head difference of H meter
which is given by:

P theoretical = γw ȠQ H (KW)

where γw = the specific wt. of water = 9.81 KN/m3

The theoretical power resource of any river or river
system are given by aggregate of the values
computed for the individual stretches. n
Ptheoretical = γ w ∑ Q i H i
102
i =1
 Reservoir Capacity – mass curve
Mass curve for Reservior Capacity Estimation

30
(12, 28.75)
(10, 23.96)
25
Cummulative flow (Mm)

Mass curve
3

Demand line
20
(10, 17.5)
15
(3, 11.25)

10
(3, 7.19)
5

0 0, 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
months 103
 Flow duration curve
• A flow duration curve is a plot of flow versus
the percent of time a particular flow can be
expected to be exceeded.
• A flow duration curve merely reorders the
flows in order of magnitude instead of the
true time ordering of flows in a flow versus
time plot.
• The flow duration curve also allows the
characterizing of the flow over long periods
of time to be presented in one compact
curve 104
 Determination of flow for power estimation of a rivers

Flow Duration Curve

60
FDC
50 Avg

40
Q (m /s)
3

30

20
Qmean
Q50
10 Q95
Q100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% tage of time 105
 Power System Terminologies

• Storage increases the firm yield/power of the river

Flow Duration Curve

60
FDC without storage
50 FDC with storage

40
Q (m /s)
3

30

20

10
Q100 for firm power
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
% tage of time 106
 Conventional Potential Powers
• Minimum Potential Power – P100  Q100
computed from the minimum flow that is
available for 100% of the time (365 days or
8760 hrs.)

• Small Potential Power – P95  Q95

computed from the flow available for 95% of
the time (8322 hrs) .This represented by P95

107
 Conventional Potential Powers
• Median Potential Power – P50  Q50
computed from the flow available for 50% of
time
• Mean Potential Power – Pm  Qm gross
power potential
To compute the technical available power from the
theoretical potential, introduce a reduction factor (0.75
– 0.80) to account for conveyance and plant losses.

Ptechnical = (7.4 to 8.0)∑ Q m H (KW)

108
 Electrical Load on Hydro-turbines
• The power demand is defined as the total
load, which consumers choose, at any
instant of time, to connect to the supplying
power system.

• Maximum demand determines the size of the

plant and its cost.

109
 • The peak load usually determines the size of the plant

Typical load curve

250
Load curve

200
Peak load Average load
Load, MW

150

Average load
100

50
Base load
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
110
Time
Load Duration Curve
Firm Power
Secondary power

111
 Average load
Load Factor =
peak load
Load factor - gives an idea of degree of utilization capacity. Thus an
annual load factor of say 0.4 indicates that the machines are
producing only 40% of their yearly maximum production capacity.
Average output of plant for a given period
Capacity Factor =
Full plant capacity
Energy actually produced
=
Energy that a plant is capable of producing at full capacity

• Capacity factor is also called plant factor

• If the peak load = plant capacity, then capacity factor = load
factor.
• If the plant is not used to its full capacity, then load factor and
capacity factor are different 112
 Power utilized
Utilization Factor =
Power available
Utilization factor indicates the quantity of water actually utilized
for power production from the available potential in the river.
This value usually varies b/n 0.4 to 0.9

113
• Hydropower potential is commonly divided
into three categories:
Theoretical: is the sum of the potential of all
natural flows from the largest rivers to the
smallest, regardless of the inevitable losses
and unfeasible sites.
Technical: From technical point of view,
extremely low heads (less than around 0.5m)
are considered as infeasible.
Economic: Economic potential is only that
part of the potential of more favorable sites
114
 Extrapolation of flow data to
ungauged sites
• Most of the time the stream flow data might
not be available at the location for which a
hydropower site analysis is to be made.

• Methods are required to develop

extrapolations of measured flow duration
data which will be representative of a given
site on a stream.

115
• This type of analysis is particularly useful

• The procedure is to make plots of flow

duration curves for all gauged streams within
homogeneous drainage basin

• From these flow duration curves a family of

parametric duration curves in which flow (Q)
is plotted against the average annual runoff
for several exceedance percentages.

116
• A separate curve is developed for each
exceedance interval used.

• A correlation analysis then performed to

obtain the best-fitting curve for the data
taken from the measured records of
stream flow.

• The result is a parametric flow duration

curve

117
 118
FDC for gauging stations in a homogeneous drainage basin
Parametric flow duration curves 119
 Chapter four

Water Conveyance
Structures

120
 Cont’d
Conveyance system
is required to carry the water from the reservoir or
pond to the power house. It includes:
 Intake
 Tunnels or canals
 Pipes ( penstocks / pressure shafts )
Penstock/Pressure shafts – are high pressurized conduits
which carry water from the fore bay or surge tank to the
turbine
Fore bay
an enlarged body of water just upstream of the penstocks. A
fore bay is required only when the conveyance system has
channel flow 121
 Cont’d
Surge tank
If the conveyance system is tunnel under a very high
pressure, surge tank is usually required at the beginning of
pressure shaft to reduce the effect of water hammer
Power house
is a building for housing the equipments required for
generation of power, such as
turbines, generators, transformers etc….
Tail race
is the channel in which the water after passing through the
turbines is discharged in to the natural stream

122
• Intakes
–An intake is provided at the mouth of
a water conveyance system for a
hydropower project.
• Necessary conditions for intake,
– minimum head loss as water enters from the
reservoir
– there should not be any formation of vortices
– floating material should not enter the water
conducting system.

123
124
 • Tunnels
• Tunnels are
underground
conveyance
structures
constructed by
special tunneling
methods
• Important in high
head plant
125
• Tunnels of hydropower projects fall into
two categories:
– water carrying tunnels
• Subjected for high pressure
– Head race tunnel, Tail race tunnel and diversion tunnel
– service tunnels
• Cable tunnels: to carry cables from underground
power house to the switch yard
• Ventilation tunnels: fitted with fans at the open end
to supply fresh air to the underground
• Access or approach tunnels: this is a passage
tunnel from surface to underground power house.

126
127
 Classification of Tunnels
• Classification based on shape, alignment
and design aspects.
– Shape: Tunnels are either circular or non-
circular in shape.

a) Circular shape b) Horseshoe shape C) D-shape

128
• Alignment:
– tunnels are aligned nearly horizontal.
– Shaft is a tunnel with vertical alignment or
inclined alignment
• Alignment of the tunnels should consider
folds, faults, joint planes, weak strata
• Design Aspects: Aspects of lining, pressure
condition considers.
• Concrete lining is a protective layer of concrete, R.C. or
steel on the inner surface of the tunnel and it is an
important aspect in classification of tunnels.

129
130
Diversion Tunnel Concrete Lining
132
133
• Lining of tunnels is required:
– For structural reasons to resist external forces
when the strata is of very low strength.
– When the internal pressure is high, above 100m
– For prevention or reduction of seepage losses
– For protection of rock against aggressive water

Low-pressure tunnels (H < 10 m) H

Medium pressure tunnels (10 m

< H < 100 m)

High-pressure tunnels (H>100 m)

134
• low-pressure tunnels
– the tunnel surface may frequently be left unlined
except for visible fissures.
• Medium head Tunnels
– A water tight lining concrete is almost always
needed
– If the lining is only for water sealing purposes,
and no load is carried by it
γw H ≤ γr hr
With γw = 1 ton/m3, we have H ≤ γr hr
Using a factor of safety of η, γ r hr
H= (m )
η
135
• High Head Pressure Tunnels
– Usually steel lining is used (R.C. Concrete lining
not satisfactory )
In order to provide proper
contact b/n rock and
concrete and b/n steel lining
& concrete, all voids are
filled by grouting with
comment mortar.

Very rough rock surface--- 1 to 2.0 m/s

Trimmed rock surface ---1.5 to 3.0 m/s
Concrete surface--------- 2 to 4.0 m/s
Steel lining------------ 2.5 to 7 m/s
136
 Tunnel Design Features
• In addition to the bove discusion
– Alignment
– Geometrical Shape
– Longitudinal Slope
– Flow Velocity In unlined tunnels, a velocity of 2
to 2.5 m/s is the upper limit, while in concrete
lined tunnels 4 to 5 m/s is often employed.
– Rock Cover (overburden), In the case of
unlined tunnels , the entire internal water
pressure is resisted by the overburden rock
pressure.
137
 1 γr
hw = L cos β
η γw
Where L is the shortest distance between the ground surface and the studied
point of the tunnel (or shaft) and β is the average inclination of the valley side
with the horizontal.

138
 Optimum X-section
• The optimum x-section of a tunnel or a shaft
is one for which the sum of tunnel
construction cost and the economic loss due
to head loss is minimum.
For concrete-lined tunnels:

D = 0.62 Q 0.48

Total cost
Cost
For steel-lined tunnels
Q 0.45
Economic loss
Construction cost D = 1.12 0.12
H

X-section

139
 Tunneling Methods
• Two commonly used types of tunneling
techniques:
– Conventional “Drill and Blast”
– Use of tunnel boring machines (TBM)
• Conventional “Drill and Blast” Method:
– The main equipment used is the so-called drilling
jumbo or drilling rig

Drilling Charging Blasting Ventilating

Mucking and hauling Tunnel supporting

Scaling 140
 Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM)
• TBM excavate the entire cross-section in a
single operation without the use of explosives.
• TBM consists of a wheel cutter head fitted with
teeth or rollers to cut the rock.

141
• The wheel is forced against the tunnel face by
hydraulic jacks and is made to rotate.
• As excavation proceeds, the rock-cuttings are
picked up in buckets attached around the rim
of the wheel and are discharged on to a
conveyor belt

142
• Advantages of TBM over conventional
drilling and blasting method

– For long tunnels (> 3 km) the excavation time

and the costs in many cases are considerably
lower
– The tunnel will have a circular profile with a
smooth contour
– Potential problems due to blast vibrations are
eliminated
– Less number of “adits” is required.

143
 Tunnel Supports
• The following support methods are the most
commonly used in hydropower tunneling

– Rock bolting
– Shotcreting
– Steel support
– Grouting
– Concrete lining

144
• Rock bolting
– A rock bolt is a steel bar, which is inserted into a hole drilled
in a rock to improve the rock competency.

On average, the length of rock bolts in water tunnels is 1.5 to 4 m and the
145
diameter is 16 to 25 mm.
• Shotcreting
– A shotcrete is a quick-setting concrete plaster shot
at rock surfaces pneumatically.
– In practice the shotcrete is placed in 5 cm layers
until a desired thickness is attained.
– The use of steel fibers in the concrete mix has an
effect of increasing the strength of the shotcrete

Fig Typical fiber used in shotcreting 146

Principle of shotcreting

147
• Steel support

148
 Water Hammer

• Water hammer is a phenomenon of

pressure change in closed pipes caused
when flowing water in a pipeline is
decelerated or accelerated by closing or
opening a valve or changing the velocity of
the water rapidly in some other manner

• For sudden closure….

149
• The time required for pressure wave to travel
the entire length L of the conduit is

At the end of phase II the original pressure inside

the conduit maintained (T/2).

Owing to the movement of the water masses to U/S

direction with velocity v momentum of water
masses created with negative over pressure at the
valve and this negative pressure travels with
celerity speed to U/S direction.

Fig Progresses of water hammer wave in the

150
penstock in the case of zero time of closure
The case of gradual closure Tc
• Change in presure will be gradual

• For this case flow velocity following linear rel.

• At any time t<Tc the over presure at any point

151
• In order to present clear analysis of maximum
pressure along the penstock the following case
should be considered

152
 Surge Tanks
• A surge tank is a device introduced within a
hydropower water conveyance system to
absorb the excess pressure rise in case of a
sudden valve closure.
• It also acts as a small storage from which
water may be supplied in case of a sudden
valve opening of the turbine.

153
Fig Typical Arrangements of Surge Tanks
154
• Types of Surge Tanks
• Surge tanks may be classified according to :
– Material of construction
• Concrete
• or steel
– Location relative to terrain
• underground surge tank
• over ground surge tank
– Location in the hydraulic system
• Upstream surge tank
• Downstream surge tank on the tailrace tunnel
– Hydraulic functioning & cross-sectional shape
155
• Classification based on hydraulic functioning &
cross-sectional shape

a) Simple surge tank b) Restricted orifice surge tank

c) Differential surge tank d) Surge tanks with expansion chambers

156
• A simple surge
tank is a shaft
connected to
pressure tunnel
directly cross-
sectional area not
less than the area
of the head race
tunnel

157
• Restricted Orifice
Surge Tank: A
simple surge tank
in which the inlet is
throttled to
improve damping
of oscillations

158
• Differential Surge
tank is a throttled
surge tank with an
addition of a riser
pipe may be inside
the main shaft,
connected to main
shaft by orifice or
ports.

159
 Design Consideration of Surge Tank
• The hydraulic design of surge tank considers
two main aspects.
– Its height
– Its cross-sectional area.
• For up-surge, the worst conditions are:
– Instantaneous total closure
– Reservoir level at its maximum
• For down-surge, the worst conditions are
– Instantaneous total opening
– Reservoir level at its minimum
160
 Z1up
HRWL

Hlive
LRWL
Z0

Z1 down
Pressure tunnel
h

H tan k > Z 1up + Z 1 down + H live + Z 0 + h

161
 Chapter Five

Power Houses
and Facilities
162
 Hydraulic Turbines

• Turbines are machines which convert the

hydraulic energy in to mechanical energy.
The mechanical energy so developed by the
turbine is then used to generate electric
energy by direct coupling the shaft of the
turbine with the generator.
• The turbine has vanes, blades, or buckets
that rotate about an axis by the action of
the water.
163
 Hydraulic Turbines…
• The rotating part of the turbine is often
referred to as the runner.

• Hydraulic turbines may be divided into two

classes
 Impulse turbines or velocity turbines
Reaction turbines or pressure turbines
Reversible pump-turbines

164
 Reaction turbines or pressure turbines

• Develops power from the combined action

of pressure energy and kinetic energy of
the water.
• They must be encased to contain the water
pressure
• They must be fully submerged in the water
• Most water turbines are reaction turbines and
are used in low and medium head applications.

165
 Examples of Reaction turbines

• Francis, Kaplan, Propeller, Bulb, Tube

166
 Constitutive elements of reaction
turbines
• wicket gates (or guide vanes)
vanes that guide water onto the
runner, with appropriate velocity
and direction

• Runner connected to the

rotating shaft, it extracts energy
from the water

• Draft tube if water’s kinetic

energy is still relatively high at
the runner’s exit, a draft tube is
used to recover part of this
kinetic energy

167
 Francis Turbine
• Flow enters through a
scroll casing which is
designed to distribute
the flow around the
periphery of the inlet
guide vane.
• The inlet guide vanes
increases the angular
momentum of the water

168
169
170
Runner

171
172
Scroll case – Gilgel Gibe II

173
Turbine installation – Gilgel Gibe II

174
 Kaplan Turbine
• Kaplan turbines are
axial flow reaction
turbine, generally
used for low heads.

• The flow enters in a

radial manner inward
and makes a right-
angle turn before
entering in an axial
direction. 175
176
 Impulse turbines
• The jet of water strikes the
runner tangentially to a
circular line of the pitch
diameter of the buckets
• The water striking the
buckets of the runner is
regulated through the use of
bulb-shaped needle in a
nozzle
• The position of the needle
determines the quantity of
water striking the runner

177
 Impulse turbines...
• Prior to hitting the turbine blades, the water's
pressure (potential energy) is converted to
kinetic energy by a nozzle and focused on
the turbine.
• No pressure change occurs at the turbine
blades, and the turbine doesn't require a
housing for operation.
• Pelton wheel consists of one or more nozzles
which produces high velocity jet of water
which impact a series of buckets
178
179
180
• Turbines may also be classified according to
the main direction of flow of water in the
runner as

• Tangential flow turbine ( pelton wheel)

• Radial flow ( Francis)
• Mixed flow (modern Francis)
• Axial flow turbine of fixed blade (propeller)
or movable blade (Kaplan or bulb) type.

181
• Reference values of working parameters
and outputs for the main types of hydraulic
turbines:

182
 Characteristics of Turbines
• The speed at which the turbine runs for a
particular discharge (Q) and unit head to
produce unit power is NS (specific speed)

Where, n is rotational speed (rpm)

Q flow rate in m3/s
H head in m

183
Specific speed empirical correlation
for various types of turbines

184
 Speed
• If the turbine is directly connected to the
generator, the turbine speed, n, must be a
synchronous speed.
• For turbine speed, n, to be synchronous, the
following equation must be fulfilled:

Where n is rotational speed (rpm)

F is electrical current frequency, hrtz (Hz)
Np is number of generator poles
185
• The speed of a turbine is an important
parameter of design.

• The higher the speed, the smaller the diameter

of the turbine runner

• High speed, however, makes a turbine more

susceptible to cavitation.

186
• speed factor or peripheral coefficient , φ is the
ratio of peripheral speed v to water speed
v ωr 2πN πDN
φ= = φ= =
DN
2 gH 2 gH ω= 60 2 gH 84.6 H
60

D and H in m; N in rpm

Type of runner φ Ns H (m) Efficiency (%)

Impulse 0.43 – 0.48 8-17 85-90
17 >250 90
17-30 90-82
Francis 0.6 – 0.9 40 – 130 90-94
130-350 25-450 94
350-452 94-93
Popeller 1.4-2.0 380-600 <60 94
600-902 94-85

187
 Procedure in preliminary selection of Turbines
• From design Q and H, calculate approximate
P that can be generated , P = η γ Q H

f
n = 120
• From calculate n ( or assume ) &
Np

comput ns. From this, the type of turbine can

be suggested

DN
• Calculate D from: φ =
84.6 H

• If D is found to be too large, either N can be188

increased or more units may be adopted.
 Approximate calculations of runner
diameter (Mosony)
1
Q  3

• D =a  
n
D in m; Q in m3/s; n in rpm
• a = 4.4 for Francis and a = 4.57 for Kaplan.
• Nominal diameter, D , of pelton wheel
H
D = 38 dj is diameter of the jet for
N
Q
dj = 0.542
H

• Number of buckets, n b = 0.5 m + 15 ( good

for 6<m < 35)
D
• Jet ratio given by m = d 189
j
 Efficiency of the turbine
• Hydraulic turbines (runner) is designed for
optimum speed & maximum efficiency at
design head.

• But in reality, head and load conditions change

during operation

• Since “fast” turbines operate with higher flow

rates and thus higher velocities, impact losses
affect more substantially these turbines rather
than “slow” ones. 190
191
 Turbine scroll case
• A scroll case is the conduit directing the
water from penstock to the runner in reaction
type turbine installation

• A spiral shaped scroll case of the correct

geometry
– ensures even distribution of water around the
periphery of the runner
– minimum possible eddy formations

192
Francis turbine with steel spiral case

Recommended dimensions of scroll casings 193

 Draft Tubes
• A draft tube is a conduit discharging water
from the turbine runner to the tailrace.
• It is employed in conjunction with reaction
type turbines
• Advantages of draft tube
– To recover the velocity energy of the water
leaving the runner
– To utilize the vertical distance between the
turbine exit and the tail-water level, called the
static draft head (to allow the turbine to be set at higher
elevation without losing the advantage of elevation difference).
194
Elbow type
draft tube

Straight
conical draft
tube

195
 Cavitation and turbine setting
• Cavitation is defined as the formation of voids
within a body of moving liquid when the local
pressure is lower than vapor pressure and the
particles of liquid fail to adhere to the
boundaries of the passage way

• cavitation is associated with three conditions

– High velocity flow
– Low pressures
– Abrupt changes in the direction of the flow
196
Effects of cavitation
• Pitting of the boundary surfaces due to
collapse of bubbles,
Investigation of cavitation
• U.S. Department of the Interior (1975)
made very high speed photographic studies
of the cavitation phenomenon in laboratory
– bubbles had diameters of about 0.25 in
– life spans of only 0.003 sec
– velocity of collapse was calculated to be 765 ft/sec
– bubbles' collapse could cause pressures of at least
50,000 lb/in2
197
Effects of cavitation on turbine 198
• Cavitation result is pitting, vibration & reduction
in efficiency & is certainly undesirable.

• Cavitation may be avoided

– suitabl designing
– Installing
– pressures in the units are above the vapor
pressure of water.

199
• The above criteria can be fullfilled by
calculating Thoma cavitation coefficient 𝝈:
σ = Thoma number
patm = atmospheric pressure
pv = vapour pressure
Ys = elevation above tailwater
H = total net head
ρ = density
g = gravity
In order to avoid cavitation, Thoma coefficient must
be higher than a critical threshold value 𝜎c
2
 Ns  for Francis
σ c = 0.0432 
 100 
3
N 
σ c = 0.28 + 0.0024 s  for propeller
 100  200
With an increase by 10% for Kaplan turbines.
THE END

201