Constituents of Hydro Electric Plant
The constituents of a hydro electric plant are
- Hydraulic Structures
- Water Turbines
- Electrical Equipments
1)Hydraulic Structures
Hydraulic structures in a hydro electric power station include dam ,spilways,head works,surge tank,penstock and accessory works.
a) Dam
A dam is a barrier which stores water and creates water head.Dams are built of concrete or stone masonary,earth or rock fill.This type and arrangements depend upon the topography of the site.A masonary dam may be built on a narrow canyon.An earth dam may be best suited for a wide valley.The type of dam also depends upon the foundation conditions,local material and transportations available,oocurance of earth quakes and other hazards.at most of sites more than one type of dam is suitable and the one which is most economical is chosen
b) Spilways
there are times in which the river exceeds the storage capacity of the reservoir.Such a situation arises during heavy rainfall in the catchment area.In order to discharge the surplus water from the storage reservoir into the river on the down stream side of the dam spilways are used.Spilways are constructed of concrete piers on the top of the dam.Gates are provided between these piers and surplus water is discharged over the crest of the dam by opening of these gates.
C) Head Works
The headworks consists of the diversion structures at the head of an intake.They generally include booms and racks for diverting floating debris,sluices for by-passing debris and sediments and valves for controlling the flow of water to the turbine.The flow of water into and through headworks should be as smooth as possible to avoid headloss and cavitation.For this purpose,it is necessary to avoid sharp corners and abrupt contractions or enlargements.
d) Surge Tank
Open conduits leading water to the the turbine require no protection.However,when closed conduits are used,protection become necessary to limit the abnormal pressure in the conduit.For this reason,closed conduits are always provided with a surge tank.A surge tank is a small reservoir of tank(open at the top) in which water level rises or falls to reduce pressure swings in the conduit.A surge tank is located near the beginning of the conduit.When the turbine is running at a steady load,there are no surges in the flow of water through the conduit ie the quantity of water flowing through the conduit is just sufficient to meet the turbine requirements.However,when the load on the turbine decreases,the governor closes the gates of the turbine,reducing water supply to the turbine.The excess water at the lower end of the conduit rushes back to the surge tank and increases the water level.Thus the conduit is prevented from bursting.On the other hand when the load on the turbine increases,additional water is drawn from the surge tank to meet the increased load requirements.Hence a surge tanks overcomes the abnormal pressure in the conduit when load on the turbine falls and acts as a reservoir during increase of load on turbine.
e) Penstocks
Penstocks are opened or closed conduits which carry water to the turbines.They are generally made of reinforced concrete or steel.Concrete penstocks are suitable for low heads(<30m)as great pressure causes rapid deterioration of concrete.The steel penstocks can be designed for any head,the thickness of penstock increases with the head or working pressure,
Various devices such as automatic butterfly valve,air valve and surge tank are provided for the protection of penstocks.Automatic butterfly valve shuts off water flow through the penstock promptly when it reptures.Air valve maintains the air pressure inside the inside the penstock equal to the atmospheric pressure.When water runs out of a penstock faster than it enters,a vacuum is created which may cause the penstock to collapse.Under such situations,air valve opens and admits air in the penstock to maintain inside air pressure equal to the outside air pressure.
2. Water Turbines
Water turbines are used to convert the energy of falling water into mechanincal energy.The principal types of water turbines are:
a) Impulse Turbines
b) Reaction Turbines
a) Impulse Turbines
Such turbines are used for high heads.In an impulse turbine entire pressure of water is converted into kinetic energy in a nozzle and the velocity of the jet drives the wheel.The example of this type of turbine is the Pelton Wheel.It consists of a wheel fitted with elliptical bucket along its periphery.The force of water jet striking the buckets on the wheel drives the turbine.The quantity of water jet falling on the turbine is controlled by means of a needle or spear placed in the tip of the nozzle.The movement of the needle is controlled by the governor.If the load on the turbine decreases,the governor pushes the needle into the nozzle,there by reducing the quantity of water striking the buckets.Reverse action takes place if the load on the turbine increases.
b)Reaction Turbines
Reaction turbines are used for low and medium heads.In a reaction turbine water enters the runner partly with pressure energy and partly with velocity head.The important types of reaction turbines are
i) Francis Turbines ii) Kaplan Turbines
A Francis turbine is used for low to medium heads.It consists of an outer ring of stationary guide blades fixed to the turbine casing and an inner ring of rotating blades forming the runner.The guide blades control the flow of water to the turbine.Water flows radially inwards and changes to a downward direction while passing through the runner.As the water passes over the rotating blades of the runner,both pressure and velocity of water is reduced.This causes a reaction force which drives the turbine.
A kaplan turbine is used for low heads and large quantities of water.It is similar to Francis Turbine except that the runner of Kaplan turbine receives water axially.Water flows radially inwards through regulating gates all around the sides,changing direction in the runner to axial flow.This causes a reaction force which drives the turbine.
3. Electrical Equipment
The electrical equipment of hydro -electric power station includes alternators,transformers,circuit breakers and other switching and protecting devices.
Written by John on September 24th, 2008 with
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