Hydroelectrical Power Generation

Traditional Methods of Hydroelectric Generation

Low Head Power Generation
Medium Head Power Generation
High Head Power Generation

Large Dams (Three Gorges, Itaipu)

Environmental Effects of Large Dams

Energy in the News

Breast Shot Wheel

Breast shot wheel:
One type of traditional
Water wheel
Water wheels: source
Of power for the
Industrial revolution

Overshot Wheel
More efficient that breast shot
Wheel. Some mills using
These wheels still in operation
In rural appalachia in 1950s
Miller: Mrs. Aarendale

Typical Hydroelectrical Station

Outflow water: can be very cold. Why? (Grand Canyon)

Low Head Hydroelectrical Generators

Low head:
Propellor type
Turbines

Power =
Change in Potential
Energy per Unit time
= weight*
Vertical drop/time
Energy =
Power*time

Microhydro Installation
Small stream with
Hydroelectrical generator:
Power for one family
(Jim Keener)

Moderate Head Hydro

Head: height difference
Between water level in
Reservoir and water
Level entering turbine
Head= height in potential
Energy equation
Penstock: tube water flows
Through

Francis turbine
Turbine used for moderate
Head hydroelectrical power
statiosn

Water Flow in a Francis Turbine

Left: relative to turbine blades Right: true water path

High Head Hydro

Pelton Water Wheel

Used for high head applications:
(above 250 meters)
Are impulse turbines.
Francis and Propeller type turbine
Are reaction turbines.
Reaction turbines: run submerged.
Impulse turbines: run in normal air

Jets of Water Hitting Pelton Wheel

Jets of water are directed through a nozzle onto Pelton wheel
Cups on the wheel transfer kinetic energy from water to wheel.

Optimum Hydroelectric Turbine Type

Optimum water
Wheel: not
Just a function
Of head, also
Depends on
Water flow rate

Hydroelectrical Power Use by State

States Producing Most Hydroelectricity

Why is there
So much
Variation in the
Gallons of water
Per kilowatthour?

Hydropower Output by Nation

Lure of
Hydropower
Big Dams
Vs
Rebar

Itaipu Dam
Presently worlds largest
Hydroelectric plant
On Parana river between
Brazil and Paraguay
Capacity: 12,600 MW
(drought a problem
recently):
Provides:
25% of Brazil power
78% of Paraguay power

Three Gorges Area of Yangtze River

Under
construction
Three Gorges
Dam in China
Moving 1.2 million
People
Capacity of
18,600 MW
Will finish in 2009

Three Gorges Area

Great beauty
Many historic
Sights
Still pressing
Ahead on dam
construction
Gorge length;
~San Francisco
To LA

Environmental Problems with Dams

1) Silt buildup fills reservoir (Yangtze; levees)
2) Fish migration disrupted (Columbia)
3)Water temperature decreases (Colorado)
4) Water gets more saline (Colorado)
5) Water loses oxygen (Brazil)
6) Water slows down, increases disease
(mosquitos, schitosomiasis (Aswan))
7) Water traps pollution, slows pollution flushing
8) Induced seismicity may occur