non conventional sources of energy

REGISTRATION NUMBER=253

NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY

(A recent advancement in energy utilization.)

AUTHORS:-

K.M.ABHILASH YADAV C . GOVARDHAN

(05245A0202) (04241A0210)

B.TEC H (III / IV EEE) B.TEC H (III / IV EEE)

G. R. I. E. T G. R. I. E. T

HYDERABAD HYDERABAD

E-MAIL ID: - PHONE NO:-

Yadav.abhilash@gmail.com 9849960313

c.govardhan@yahoo.co.in 040-69598765

Abstract:

THE SUN: Sun plays the major source of renewable energy available known as solar

Energy It serves as a basic need of living things prevailing on earth, its intermittent in

Nature, eco- friendly and non polluting energy its availability is ample in nature through

Out the world, thus it serves as a basic source of energy. The solar energy can be directly

C onverted into electrical energy (by Photovoltaic conversion) and into thermal energy.

The objective of my paper is to provide a clear cut idea of “non conventional

Energy resources ” depending upon the present status of our resources in our country .

We cannot predict the availability of the resources in near future, so we have to opt any other alternative.

Some of the sources discussed in my presentation are :

Leading role of electricity amongst the available forms of energy sources.

• Magnet Hydro Dynamic Power Generation

• Importance of the SUN

• Geo thermal power generation

• Tidal power generation

• Wind energy

• Energy from waste industries

• Role of India in utilization on Non conventional energy resources

• C onclusion.

MAJOR ROLE OF ELECTRICITY IN EXISTING RESOURCES:-

Electricity occupies the most significant role in our life's .It has innumerable uses in different fields, it
serves its purposes in industry sectors, homes, education and in entertainment.

It is graded as the most economic source, as it is pollution free, and easily

transmitted through over head cables and it can be generated in variable proportions

Electrical energy is definitely superior to any other form of energy due to some very useful reasons like
cheapness, convenience, high efficiency, ease in control, no pollution, very flexible, cleanliness etc.

This power generation of electricity is done by conversion of different natural sources.

some of the methods are discussed below:

(1)The kinetic energy of blowing winds is converted into electrical energy by usage of “WIND MILLS”

(2)Pressure heads of water are converted as electrical energy by the use of Dams more specifically
“TURBINES ”

(3)The nuclear reactors, by chain reactions of radio active substances, more specifically by fusion and
fission reactions.

The conventional methods of power generation mostly make use of prime movers for driving electrical
machines, which convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.

The place where this energy conversion takes place is called power station . The electricity requirements
of the world including India are increasing at alarming rate and the power

demand has been running ahead of the supply.

Experts have proved that the energy obtained from these conventional methods will not be sufficient to
meet the ever-increasing demand of the future needs of electricity.

Also the generation of electrical power by coal based steam power plants or nuclear power plants causes
pollution.

Therefore we are opting other alternate methods of generating electrical energy from some other sources
of energy called non-conventional sources of energy and convert that energy in to electrical energy.

This method of generating electricity without the use of prime-movers are called non-conventional methods
of power generation.

The magnet-hydro-dynamic (MHD) power generation is one of the examples of a new unique
method of power generation. The other non-conventional methods of power generation may be such as
solar cells, fuel cells, thermo-electric generation, thermonic converters, solar power
generation, wind power generation, geo-thermal energy generation, tidal power generation
etc.

All of these methods are still in experimental stages and of little commercial or industrial importance.

Non-conventional energy sources: The main non-conventional sources of energy are the Sun, wind,
terrestrial heat, ocean tides and waves. Let us discuss each one in brief.

The sun

The sun is the primary source of energy. The energy radiated by the sun is in the form of electro-magnetic
waves, which include the heat, light and a lot of ultraviolet radiations.

The radiated heat energy by the sun can be utilized for the generation of electric power.

The Sun is 150 million kilometers away, and amazingly powerful. Just the tiny fraction of the Sun's energy
that hits the Earth (around a hundredth of a millionth of a percent) is enough to meet all our power needs
many times over if only we could harness it properly.

Solar Cells (really called "photovoltaic" or "photoelectric" cells) that convert light directly into electricity.

Some times this solar energy gathered from the sun is utilized for the combustion purposes.

It is extensively used nowadays in solar furnaces by using the Parabolic collectors as shown in the next
page..

Advantages
• Solar energy is free - it needs no fuel and produces no waste or pollution.

• In sunny countries, solar power can be used where there is no easy way to get electricity to a remote
place

Disadvantages

• Doesn't work at night.

• Very expensive to build solar power stations. Solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of
electricity they'll produce in their lifetime.

• C an be unreliable unless you're in a very sunny climate. In the United Kingdom , Solar power isn't much
use, as you need a very large area of solar panels to get a decent amount of power.

Magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) power generation:

The basic principle of MHD generation is the same as that of a conventional electrical generator i.e. the

motion of a conductor through a magnetic field induces an emf in it called the faraday's law of electro
magnetic induction.

In MHD generation, electrical energy is directly generated from hot combustion gases produced by the
combustion of the fuel without moving parts.

The conventional machines are basically electro-mechanical converters while the MHD generator is heat
engine operating on a turbine cycle and transforming the internal energy of gas directly into electrical
energy.

In an MHD generator, the electrically conducting gas at a very high temperature is passed at right angles
to the strong magnetic field with a very high velocity in the direction of flow, this hot gas then gets ionized
and positive and negative charges are formed

in them.

These charges will be collected by the positive and the negative conducting plates which are placed in the
opposite sides of the path, there by generating the electrical energy.

This electrical energy is then collected from stationary electrodes placed on the

opposite sides of the channel.

The current so obtained is the direct current, which can be converted into ac by an inverter.

The advantages of MHD:

• Since high temperatures are involved, operation efficiency is high.

• No moving part, so more reliable and simpler. Ability of reaching full power level instantly.

• The overall costs of the MHD power generation are also estimated to be lower than those of conventional
power plants.

Geo-thermal power generation

The center of the Earth is around 6000 degrees C elsius - hot enough to melt rock.

Even a few kilometers down, the temperature can be over 250 degrees C elsius. In general, the
temperature rises one degree C elsius for every 36 meters you go down.

In volcanic areas, molten rock can be very close to the surface. Geothermal energy has been used for
thousands of years in some countries for cooking and heating. The name "geothermal"comes from two
Greek words: "geo" means "Earth" and "thermal" means "heat".

The power station is usually built on the spot where the temperature of the land is very hot within very less
distance from the surface of the earth, as shown in the figures below.

THE SITE OF THE GEO THERMAL POWER PLANT IN NEW-ZEALAND

DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW THE STEAM ENERGY IS BROUGHT OUT.

How it works : -

Hot rocks underground heat water to produce steam. We drill holes down to the hot region; steam comes
up, is purified and used to drive turbines, which drive electric generators.

There may be natural "groundwater" in the hot rocks anyway, or we may need to drill more holes and
Pump water down to them.

The working can be easily understood from the figures in the next

HOT STEAM C OMING OUT FROM THE EARTH'S SURFAC E IN THE MOUNTAINS NEAR HIMALAYAN BELT

PRINC IPLE OF WORKING OF THE GEO-THERMAL POWER PLANT.

Geothermal energy is an important resource in volcanically active places such as Iceland and New
Zealand .

Advantages
• Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the Greenhouse effect.

• The power stations do not take up much room, so there is not much impact on the environment and no
fuel is needed.

• Once you've built a geothermal power station, the energy is almost free.

It may need a little energy to run a pump, but this can be taken from the energy being generated.

Disadvantages

• The big problem is that there are not many places where you can build a geothermal power station. You
need hot rocks of a suitable type, at a depth where we can drill down to them.

• The type of rock above is also important, it must be of a type that we can easily drill through.

• Sometimes a geothermal site may "run out of steam", perhaps for decades.

• Hazardous gases and minerals may come up from underground, and can be difficult to safely dispose
off.

Tidal power generation

This process generally involves two large tides, which are used to rotate very huge amounts of water. This
continuous process would let us a great deal of power.

A major drawback of tidal power stations is that they can only generate when the tide is flowing in
or out. However, tides are totally predictable, so we can plan to have other power stations generating at
those times when the tidal station is out of action.

HOW IT WORKS:-

Tidal power works similar to the principal of “Hydroelectric power stations”.

It is much Similar to a dam, only the size do differs so it's called a “Barrage”.

When the tide goes in and out, the water flows through tunnels in the dam. The flow through the turbine
turns a tide.

Large lock gates, like the ones used on canals, given below : allow ships to pass.

The largest tidal power station in the world (and the only one Europe) is in the France estuary in northern
France . Series of such turbines across the barrage is shown in the figure below:

Advantages

• It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste.

• It needs no fuel. And It produces electricity reliably. Not expensive to maintain.

Disadvantage

• Very expensive to build.

• Affects a very wide area - the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream.

• There are very few suitable sites for tidal power stations.

Wind energy power generation:

Wind has been serving as a prime energy source since a very long time.

It's basically used for irrigation and grinding of corn in some countries this is generally termed as “Wind
mills”.

The winds produced by the sun got sufficient energy, which can be utilized, in windmills to drive small
generators.

The great advantage of this source of energy is that it is plentiful, inexhaustible, non-polluting and it does
not require any operator.

It also does not require any maintenance and repairs for long intervals.

We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propeller on the top.

We tend to build many of these towers together, to make a " wind farm " and produce more electricity.

The more towers, the more wind, and the larger the propellers, the more electricity we can make wind
farms in places that have strong, steady winds.

Some of the world famous wind farms are shown in the figure below.

Advantages

• Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel and the land beneath can usually still be used for farming.

• Wind farms can be tourist attractions and a good method of supplying energy to remote areas.

Disadvantages

• The wind is not always predictable - some days have no wind.

• Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive.

• C an kill birds - migrating flocks tend to like strong winds. effects television reception

Energy from wastes of industries.

Wood played the major role of fuel before some years and partly plays the same role.

But basically in power plants using Rankin cycle for the generation of heat, which generates steam for the
running of prime mover use coal as the major source.

THE C YC LE IS AS SHOWN BELOW.

But we have already seen that the availability of coal cannot be predicted in future so for the fuel in the
above cycle the usage of the waste material will be a very sensible task.

There will be many advantages by using the power, which is readily available in the natural waste
materials.

Sugar cane is grown in some areas, and can be fermented to make alcohol, which can be burned to
generate power in the same way as coal.

Alternatively, the cane can be crushed and the pulp can be burned to make steam to drive turbines, the
solid wastes, can be burned to provide heat, or used to make steam for a power station.

"Bioconversion" uses plant and animal wastes to produce fuels such as methanol, natural gas, and oil.

The station usually provides power for the sugar mill, as well as selling electricity to the surrounding area .

Two of the biggest power stations, which use the wastes from the sugar cane industry and generate
electricity in France , are shown below:

The station usually provides power for the sugar mill, as well as selling electricity to the surrounding area .

Advantages:

It makes sense to use waste materials where we can manufacture the fuel which is cheap.

• Less demand on the Earth's resources

Disadvantages:

• C ollecting the waste in sufficient quantities can be difficult.

• We burn the fuel, so it makes greenhouse gases.

Role of India in utilization of non conventional energy resources in generation electrical power Rajasthan,
with the highest solar energy potential in the country, has a vast potential for generating solar power.

The Government of Rajasthan has adopted a policy for Promoting generation of power through non-
conventional energy resources from March 1999.

The salient features of the policy are as follows:

• India now has the 5 th largest wind power installed capacity in the world which has reached 1870 MW.

• 1805 MW of the total installed capacity has come through commercial projects. About 11.8 billion units of
electricity have been fed to various State grids from Wind power projects.

• India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5000 trillion KWhr/year, which is far more than the total
energy consumption of the country. The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 -7
KWhr/m 2 depending upon the location.

Technologies in India are given below:

S.NO. SOURC ES / TEC HNOLOGY POTENTIAL

1. Wind Energy 45,000 MW
2. Biomass Energy 19,500 MW
3. Solar Energy 20 MW/sq.km
4. Small Hydro 15,000 MW
5. Energy from Waste 1,700 MW

CONCLUSION:

Despite the impressive growth of the renewable sector, there are concerns and barriers to further growth.

Some of the major ones are

• High initial costs products ,low product responses to user needs

• Weak markets and market-support infrastructure including networks of suppliers, dealers, credit
facilitators, maintenance and spares supply organizations etc.

Energy based technologies will provide immense business opportunities in the near future.

There would be tremendous growth in the Renewable Energy Sector not only for Power Generation but also
as a form of reducing carbon emissions by ensuring utilization of clean energy technologies especially
those based on harnessing of Natural Sources like the "Sun" and "Wind" .

We will further witness greater and greater use of "Green Power" so as to ensure less dependence on
"Fossil Fuels" and also in order to prevent environmental degradation.

In a nut shell Renewable Energy in India is the key to progress in the coming years.

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