Review Article,  J Nucl Ene Sci Power Generat Technol Vol: 11 Issue: 6

Hydropower Plants and their Process of Electricity Production

Niladri Sekhar Roy^1*, Deepak Singh² and Raghvendra³

¹Department of Environmental Science, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana, India

²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Uttar Pradesh, India

³Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Sanskriti University, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

*Corresponding Author:Niladri Sekhar RoyDepartment of Environmental Science, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana, India; E-mail: niladri_fosc@sgtuniversity.org

Received date: 09 February, 2022, Manuscript No. JNPGT-22-47049; Editor assigned date: 11 February, 2022, PreQC No. JNPGT-22-47049 (PQ); Reviewed date: 25 February, 2022, QC No. JNPGT-22-47049; Revised date: 13 April 2022, Manuscript No. JNPGT-22-47049 (R); Published date: 04 May 2022, DOI: 10.4172/2325-9809.1000294

Citation: Niladri SR, Deepak S, Raghvendra (2022) Hydropower Plants and their Process of Electricity Production. J Nucl Ene Sci Power Generat Technol 11:6.

Abstract

Keywords: Electricity; Environment; Hydropower; Power plant; Renewable energy; Turbine.

Introduction

A hydroelectric power plant is a combination of buildings and electromechanical equipment that can constantly transform water energy into electrical energy. The quantity of accessible electrical energy is proportional to the flow rate and elevation change. Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source. Plants, unlike other power plants, may not deplete natural resources or contaminate the air, land, or water. Hydroelectric power has played a significant role in the nation's electric power industry's development. Hydroelectric power plants, both small and large, helped the early development of the electrical power industries. It is impossible to overestimate the significance of hydroelectric power to our nation. Humans and contemporary technology need enormous quantities of energy to create, develop, expand, and grow. Hydroelectric facilities provided up to 40% of total electric energy production in the 1920s. Despite the fact that the quantity of energy generated by this method has continuously increased, other kinds of power plants have grown at a quicker pace, and hydroelectric power now accounts for around 10% of the country's total electrical producing capacity. Because of its capacity to react swiftly [1] to rapidly changing demands or system disruptions, hydropower is an important contributor to the national electricity grid. The first load Plants that use combustion or nuclear methods to generate steam are unable to do so. Water in motion, in the form of labour, generates hydroelectric electricity. The hydrologic cycle, which provides water to the whole world, is powered by the sun and thus can be considered a form of solar energy. Atmospheric water reaches the earth's surface as precipitation in the hydrological processes. While some water evaporates, the majority percolates into the soil or runs off as surface runoff.

Rainwater as well as melting snow ultimately winds up in ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and seas, where they quickly evaporate. Rainwater percolates into the earth, resulting in ground water, and some of it makes its way to water bodies through springs or subterranean streams. During dry times, ground water may rise through the soil and evaporate back into the atmosphere. Water vapour is transported into the sky through evaporation, where it circulates, condenses into clouds, and falls as precipitation.

Literature Review

This study focused on the use of hydropower to generate energy (hydroelectricity). This study also focused at the many kinds of hydropower plants, energy production, transmission, and the main components of hydropower plants. This article is divided into sections that describe hydropower plants before concluding with a discussion and conclusion (Figure 1).

Generation of power

Energy cannot be produced or eliminated in nature, but its form may be changed. There is no additional energy produced when electricity is generated. In actuality, one type of energy gets transformed into another. Water must be flowing in order to produce energy. The kind of energy is converted to mechanical (machine) energy when flowing water spins blades in a turbine. While the turbine spins, the generator rotor revolves, transforming mechanical energy into another type of energy in the form of electricity. We call this hydroelectric power or hydropower since water is the primary source of electricity. Hydroelectric energy is generated by hydroelectric power stations. Dams are required to ensure a stable water supply, despite the fact that some power stations are built on rivers, streams, and canals. Dams are used to hold water for a number of reasons, including agricultural, residential, and industrial usage, as well as power production [2]. The reservoir is similar to a battery in that it stores water and releases it as required to produce electricity. The dam raises the water level to the point when it rushes ahead. The water is transported from the reservoir to the turbine through a conduit (penstock). The turbine blades are propelled by fast-moving water that spins like a pinwheel in the wind. The rotor, which is the moving component of the electric generator, is turned by the water's force on the turbine blades. Electricity is generated when the rotor's wire coils sweep past the generator's stationary coil.

Transmission of power

Energy must then be transported to where it is required, such as our homes, schools, workplaces, and companies, once it has been generated. Dams are often built in distant areas, requiring long-distance power transmission to the dam's customers. Massive transmission systems and power plants are utilized to deliver energy in a usable form to humans. All of the energy generated at a power plant is channelled via transformers, which increase the voltage so it can be sent over great distances through electric lines. Transformers reduce voltage at local substations, enabling power to be split and spread across a larger region. Transformers mounted on poles (or buried underground in certain cases) lower the amount of electrical energy to a level acceptable for household appliances and usage. Other power plants produce steam by burning fossil fuels or breaking atoms, which is then utilized to generate electricity. Hydroelectric plants are one kind of power plant. Gas turbines, solar, geothermal, and wind turbines are some of the various energy sources [3].

To deliver electricity to you, all of this power plant may utilize the similar systems of transmission line as well as stations in a given region. Electricity may be exchanged across various utility systems using this Power grid to satisfy changing needs. So the energy that powers your reading lamp right now might have come from hydro-power plants, a wind turbine, nuclear power plant, coal, gas as well as oil-fired power plant, or a mix of these sources. The regions, in which you reside, as well as its energy supplies, are major determinants of the kind of electricity you consume. Hydroelectric power Plants, for example, supplied almost 80% of the electrical power in Washington State in 2002. In contrast, owing to the abundant coal availability in the state, coal-fired power plants provided almost 87% of the electrical energy in Ohio during the similar year. Electrical utilities vary in size from huge systems that serve vast regions to tiny power businesses that serve specific towns. Investor owned (private) power firms control the majority of electric utilities.

Hydropower systems

Hydropower projects may be divided into four categories. This is a common occurrence when these two forms of technology collide. Pumping might be employed in storage projects to supplement the water flowing into the reservoir naturally, and run-of-river projects could offer some storage.

Run-of-river hydropower

Water from a river is used to spin a turbine through a canal and penstock. A run-of-river project's storage space is usually limited or non-existent. Run-of-river offers a consistent supply of power (base load) as well as some flexibility in functioning for daily changes in demand due to the facility's control of water flow.

Storage of hydropower

Vast systems that holds waters in a reservoir using a dam [4]. A turbine pumps water from a reservoir into a generator, which creates electricity. Storage hydropower provides both base load and the capacity to respond quickly to system demands by shutting down and restarting (peak load). It has sufficient storage capacity to run for weeks, if not months, without requiring water.

Pumped storage hydropower

Pumps move water among a bottom and top reservoir, supplying peak-load supplies with surplus energy from the system during low-demand periods. When there is a strong demand for power, water is discharged back into the lower reservoir using turbines to generate energy.

Offshore hydropower

The use of tidal currents or wave tendency to create energy from seawater is a less well-known but rapidly growing technology.

Computed of power

Engineers calculate how much electricity can be generated when a hydroelectric power plant is finished before it is built. The amount of water discharged as well as the vertical space the water falling defines the actual energy output of a dam (head). As a consequence, a given amount of water falling a given distance generates a given amount of energy. The kind of turbine to be utilized is determined by the head and discharge at the power plant, as well as the required generator rotational speed. The head generates pressure (water pressure), and the higher the head, the more pressure is produced to power turbines. The amount of force that this pressure exerts is measured in pounds. More power equates to more head or faster water flow. This formula is used to determine theoretical horsepower (a unit of mechanical energy) from a certain place [5]:

THP=(Q x H)/8.8

Where: THP=Theoretical horsepower

Q=Flow rate in cubic feet per second (CFS)

H=Head in feet

8.8=A constant

To improve the approximations of these available powers, more complex formula is employed. The formulation accounts for head losses caused by friction in the penstock, as well as other changes caused by the effectiveness of mechanical components employed to harness the power. We must translate the mechanical measures into electrical ones to determine how much electrical power we may anticipate (watts).

Component of hydropower plants

The following are the six components of a hydropower plant.

Forebay as well as intake structures

Forebay, as the names implies, is an expanded body of the water in front of the consumption. When the penstock draws water straight from the reservoir, it functions as a forebay. When the canal carries water towards the turbines, the part of the canal in front of the turbines is extended to form a forebay. Before being delivered to the turbines, water is temporarily held in the forebay. As water comes reservoirs, it must not be allowed to flow freely. A hoist is installed at the intake gates to regulate the flow of water. To prevent garbage, trees, and other objects from entering the penstock, trash racks are placed in front of the gates. At regular intervals, rakes are supplied to clear the garbage racks.

Head race

They are responsible for transporting water from the reservoir toward the turbine. The decision between an open channel and a pressurized conduit (Penstock) is based on the site circumstances. The pressure conduit may be a flared intake channel in the dam's body, a lengthy steel or concrete conduit, or even a tunnel among the reservoir as well as the power plant. The pressure conduit does not match the ground contours at all, and any gradient is utilised depending on the circumstances on the job site. Water velocity is also higher in the power conduit than in the open channel.

The speed may vary from 2.5-3 m/sec up to 60 meters above the ground. The velocity may be much greater for taller heads. It is sometimes more easy or cost effective to use open channel as the primary conduit, either partially or entirely. The head race canal is used in low-head systems with considerable head losses to direct water to the turbines or penstocks. An open channel has the benefit of being able to be utilized for irrigation or navigation.

 Surge tank

Surge tanks are storage tanks that are installed just at steep end of a very long pipe line or penstock to catch flow that is refused when the pipe line is abruptly stopped by a valve. As a result, a tank relieves the pipe line of the additional pressure created by its closure, removing the positive water hammer effect. A surge tank is found in a hydroelectric plant. It's accomplished by pumping a huge quantity of water into the surge tank that would otherwise flow out of the pipe but rather returned to the tank since the pipe end is locked. It also provides extra flow to the hydraulic prime movers when they are required. Surge tanks are often utilized to manage pressure fluctuations caused by fast changes in flow in water power stations and big pumping operations. The governor must shut the turbine gates to regulate the flow of water and maintain the turbine speed constant whenever the load on a turbine in a water power plant decreases quickly. The water, on the other hand, is already on route to the turbine.

The flowing water should return once the turbine gates are locked. The use of a surge tank as a holding tank for the rejected water would prevent water hammer. The governor re-opens the gates in accordance to the increasing demand when the turbine's production is urgently required, needing more water to be supplied. It takes a long time for the whole mass of water to be accelerated in a lengthy conduit. The surge tank, which is usually near the turbine, will manage the rapid rise in water demands until the velocity in the top section of the line reaches a new level.

Turbines

There are numerous different kinds of turbines, even though there are only two fundamental types (impulse and response). After all working evaluations as well as cost projections are completed, the particular kind of turbines to be utilized in power plants is chosen. The turbine that is selected is mainly determined by the location circumstances. A response turbine is a horizontals/Vertical wheel that minimizes turbulence by operating with the wheel fully immersed. In principle, the response turbine operates similar to the revolving lawn sprinkler, with water under pressure at a central point that exits through the blades' ends, producing rotation. The most common kind is reaction turbines [6].

The kinetic-energy of the water striking the bucket/blades of an impulse turbine causes it to spin horizontally or vertically. The wheel is encased in housing, as well as the buckets/blades are intended to rotate the flow of water inside the housing by 170 degrees. After spinning the blades, the water flows to the lowest of the wheel housing as well as spills out (Figure 2).

Power house

The hydraulic and electrical equipment are supported and housed in the house of the. The powerhouse is easily separated into two parts.

Substructure

The substructure may be included into the dams as well as intake construction. In additional instances, the substructures are distinct from the dams, with the dam intake as well as power house being different buildings. The substructure is entirely made of concrete, with steel reinforcements where required [7].

Super-structure

The producing chamber, which is generally spanned by a power and hand-operated overhead crane that spans the width of the power plant, houses the primary units and their accessories. The switchboard and operating stand are generally located in the centre of the station, either on the ground floor or on the second floor or a level above the ground floor for better visibility [8].

Tail race and draft tube

In the case of an impulse wheel, the tail race is the canal into which the turbines are discharge; in the case of a reaction turbine, the tail race is the draught tube. The suction pipe, also known as the draft tube, is an airtight tube installed on the output side of all reaction turbines. It stretches from the turbine runner's discharge end to approximately 0.5 meters below the tail water level's surface. To progressively decrease the velocity of water, flare of 4-6 degree is usually applied to the straight draft tube [9].

The water in this tube produces a same suction force on the runner as a comparable head, allowing the turbine to generate the very same amount of electricity as if it were positioned at the surface of the tail water. An impulse wheel's tail race is often a roughly rectangular tunnel that runs from under the wheel to beyond the real powerhouse foundations, where it joins the exit canal or the river. The tail race passage is considerably less than that of the reaction turbine due to the modest discharge of the impulse wheel and the greater allowed velocity [10].

Hydropower, society and environment

It's crucial to recall that peoples as well as their activities are all parts of the natural environment. Natural resources provide the materials for construction, electricity, clothes, food, and many other aspects of our daily lives. Our surrounds are mainly made up of a built environment buildings and amenities that people have constructed for their own comfort, security, and well-being. We become increasingly dependent on the services provided by our built environment as it expands [11].

Electricity, which may be produced from natural fuels, is required to fulfil our requirements and sustain our built environment. The majority of resources are non-renewable, and there is a finite supply. Drilling oil wells, tapping natural gas reserves, and mining coal and uranium are all common ways to acquire resources. Storage dams are required to put the water to effort on a big scale. Using every kind of energy has a cost to the environment. It's all about how much of an effect you have on the environment. Some human actions have greater and longer-lasting consequences than other. Methods for extracting resources from under the earth's surface may leave permanent scars on the landscape. The attractiveness of wide, grassy fields may be harmed by oil wells. Reservoirs behind dams may obliterate scenic valleys. Once accessible, energy sources may have a variety of effects on the air, land, and water.

While conservation may help conserve energy, our population continues to increase. Growth is unavoidable, as is the rise in demand for electricity. Because resources like natural will continue to be utilized, the best answer is to approach their future usage with caution and planning. All options must be considered, with the most efficient and acceptable techniques being followed. Many features of hydroelectric Plants promote the development of new projects and the upgrade of existing power plants:

• Hydroelectric power plants provide energy without depleting finite non-renewable resources.
• They do not pollute the atmosphere.
• They are dependable, have little failures rate, and low running expenses.
• In the case of a system-wide power outage, they may supply starting power.

Reservoirs also provide aesthetic as well as recreational values to campers, anglers, and water sport enthusiasts. Fish and animals may also be found in the water. Dams increase household water supplies, regulate water quality, offer agricultural irrigation, and prevent floods. Through allowing mud as well as other debris to settle out, dams may actually enhance downstream conditions.

Existing power plants may be upgraded, as well as new power plants can be constructed with little environmental effect on existing dam sites. Environmental considerations may be taken into account while building new buildings. Dams, for example, may be constructed in isolated places with subterranean power plants and selective withdrawal methods to regulate that temperature of the water discharged from the dam. Fish and wildlife-friendly characteristics, such as salmon streams as well as migratory bird resting areas, may be incorporated into plants. All energy planners must consider the importance of water. Some water has been dammed and can now be used to generate hydroelectric power. Other water is now being squandered. The fuel used to replace this lost energy is no longer available, and our country has suffered a loss. The longer we put off developing our hydropower potential in a balanced way, the more we waste other valuable resources.

Discussion

When we speak about conventional energy, we're referring to non-renewable energy sources. The energy that is naturally accessible in nature is referred to as conventional sources of energy. They are only found in trace amounts across the globe, and if they are not utilized responsibly, they will die. Traditional energy sources include natural gas, coal, oil, thermal power plants, and hydropower Plants. Hydroelectricity is one of these sources that are regarded to be a clean as well as efficient source of energy for long lasting usage. The most serious drawback of traditional energy sources is that they damage the environment. In terms of amount accessible for extraction, they are likewise extremely restricted and finite. Hydroelectricity is the sole exception. Hydropower Plants in India have a lot of potential for producing energy. As a result, you must have a thorough understanding of hydroelectricity and hydropower plants.

Hydroelectricity is the generation of electrical current from the kinetic energy of flowing water. It might be a water turbine-driven electric generator in a dam, a generator powered by a water wheel in a stream, or even an air-driven electric generator driven by ocean waves compressing air to drive the generator. Because it is powered by water, hydropower is a clean source of energy. Unlike power plants that utilize fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, hydroelectric electricity does not pollute the air. Hydro power is a local energy source that allows any country to generate electricity without having to import fuel. Hydropower offers lower electricity with high lifetime when compared to other energy sources. Pre-existing infrastructure, such as bridges, tunnels, and dams, may even be utilized to save money on development [12].

Conclusion

Reclamation is assisting in meeting the requirements of our nation, one of the most urgent of which is the increasing need for energy. More than 42 billion kWh of hydroelectric electricity is generated annually by reclamation power plants, enough to satisfy the yearly home energy requirements of 14 million people or even the energy equivalence of more than 80 million barrels of crude oil. The electric power production sector in the United States is undergoing major changes as a result of wholesale energy deregulation and the adoption of open transmission access standards. As a consequence of this restructuring, clean, reliable energy sources such as hydropower become even more essential. From an operational perspective, hydropower is advantageous because it does not need any "ramp-up" time, as so many combustion technologies do. To meet shifting demand, hydropower may quickly raise or reduce the quantity of electricity it delivers to the system. Hydropower plays a vital role in providing dependable electrical supply and fulfilling customer requirements in a market-driven sector because of its essential load-following capabilities, peak capability, and voltage stability characteristics.

Furthermore, hydroelectric pumped storage facilities are the only major source of energy storage at the moment. The capacity of hydropower to supply peaking power, load following, and frequency regulation helps safeguard against system problems that may damage equipment or even cause brownouts. Hydropower offers value to the electrical system in the form of efficiency, security, and, most importantly, dependability, in addition to being emissions-free and renewable. Hydroelectric advantages are important to the achievement of our country's electric deregulation experiment. Hydropower makes use of one of our most precious resources: water. Reclamation, as a national leader in hydropower management, is assisting the country in meeting its current and future energy requirements while also protecting the environment by upgrading and managing hydroelectric facilities.

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