innovation is our business

7/29/2019 Innovation is Our Business

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SMALL

HYDROPOW

ER:INNOV

ATIONISO

URBUSINE

SS

wi th suppor t f r om

EUROPEAN

SMALL HYDROPOWER

ASSOCIATION

Preserve environment

Ensure competitiveness

Improve reliability

Increase efficiency

SMALL HYDROPOWER:

INNOVATION IS OUR BUSINESS


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Cavitation

on a blade

Pelton runner

Francis

runner

Hydro-mechanical engineering:site-specific small hydropower plant

The main objective of hydro-mechanical engineers is todevelop turbines thatuse water resource optimally,by designing turbines that are specific to the sites.

Therefore the R&D on SHP has focused on very-low-

head and low-head turbines, as these sites make

up the important remaining potential in developed and

emerging countries. Notably, pico and micro hydro

turbines are developed to meet the demand for rural

electrification and small isolated network.

Optimal use of the water resources implies an improvement in the hydraulic design

that aims not only at higher efficiency, but also lower costs, a high reliability

and an optimal environmental integration (fish-friendly turbines). Such objectives

are achieved through CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) calculation, systemisation

and laboratory development, and specific small hydro products are to be designed,

rather than simply scaling down larger turbines.

Moreover the development of solutions for the equipment of existing infrastruc-

tures (such as irrigation channels, drinking water and sewage networks), by using

for example new materials to reduce cost, is another challenge the hydro-mechanical

engineers have to face.

8-blade

turbine for

low-head

site

CFD (Computational

Fluid Dynamics)

Axial turbine set

on a test bench

SMALL-HYDROPOWERENGINEERING

AWIDEAREAOFINNOVATIONS

FORGREENPOWERGENERATION

Nowadays engineers working in the small-hydropower (SHP)

field keep on developing techniques specific to small hydro-

power, in order to face up to the following challenges:

increase environmental integration

decrease cost

maximize electricity production

8-blade turbine for

low-head site


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SMALL

HYDROPOW

ER:INNOV

ATIONISO

URBUSINE

SS

Electrical engineering:for an easy and low-costintegration to the grid

A

vailable solutions for SHP electrical engineering range from

generators, grid connection over electric drives to the control

and management of the whole power plant.

New generator designs such as high pole synchronous ge-

nerators with permanent magnet excitation have been

introduced to the SHP market. Designed for direct grid connection

or in combination with a frequency converter for variable speed

operation, such generators allow to avoid speed increasers and

make very compact submersible turbine designs possible.

Moreover environment-friendlytransformers such as oil-free

cast resin ones can also be found on the market. Current digital

control systems offer site specific optimization methods in

order to adapt the overall control to any hydrological or other

condition. This can include identification of the optimum runner

and guide vane set points, the optimized water level control, the

improved operation of the trash rack cleaner and the automatic

identification of any malfunction.

State of the art industrial automation components and excellent

communication features ensure that an operator can identify

the status of the plant at any time and anywhere, using

computers, PDAs, cell phones or just a simple telephone and

allow to respond remotely on problems, where applicable.

New concepts such as scheduled production, prediction of

the energy output and condition monitoring are currently

under development also for SHP in order to improve the

grid integration, to increase reliability and to reducethe operation & maintenance cost.

Civil engineering:for the best compromisebetween technology,

economy and environment

A t present, most efforts concerning civil engineering aim atstandardizing design and technology, so as to reach anoptimal integration of an SHP plant with the local environment

while minimizing costs.

Such objectives are reached bysetting guidelines based on the latest

design technology, new materials and best practice examples.

The development in civil engineering is continuously expanding and

it is essential to integrate this development into the basic design

technology through the whole chain of the power plant design and

construction. Indeed the global objective is to reach an optimal solutionand a good environmental integration for every specific hydropower

plant, both for new projects and restoration of old plants.

Generator

Control & monitoring

Dam, intake and

settling basin

Overflow dam


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Fish bypass

system

Fish bypass

system equipped

with brushes

EUROPEAN SMALL

HYDROPOWER ASSOCIATION

Renewable Energy House

63-65 Rue dArlon

B-1040 Brussels Belgium

T: +32 2 546 1945

F: +32 2 546 1947

E: [email protected] I: www.esha.be

MHyLab - MINI HYDRAULICS

LABORATORY

CH-1354 Montcherand

Switzerland

T: + 41 24 442 87 87

F: + 41 24 441 36 54

E: [email protected]

I: www.mhylab.com

Environmental engineering:for protecting aquatic ecology

The significant increase in knowledge concerning the biological mechanismin rivers has consequently initiated the development ofenvironmentalengineering, focussing on minimizing and mitigation of negative environmental

impact. Well-known examples arefish-bypass systems, environmental

flow or river restructuring. The close cooperation with ecologists has led

to excellent compromises between environmental targets and economic and

technical restrictions.

Such engineering is in continuous evolution. For example, nowadays, it has

been found that contrary to a constant amount of environmental flow, thevariability according to natural discharge conditions brings about ecolo-

gical benefits at lower costs. Moreover, regarding fish-bypass systems, new technically optimised installations

such as the vertical slot pass or the Denil-pass guarantee the highest fish acceptance while reducing the amount of

bypass operation flow.

SHP-projects have often other functions besides the production of electricity. The removal of the trash picked up at the

screen at an SHP plant guarantees the cleaning of the river. The increase of flood protection or the adaptation as

recreation area are items of public interest and can be achieved by interdisciplinary and sustainable planning.

Finally, environmental engineering can include the management within the entire implementation process and the

participation of involved people is a typical topic.

This leaflet has been prepared within the Thematic Network on Small Hydropower(TNSHP) Project. The Thematic Network on Small Hydropower (TNSHP) is a Euro-pean Commission - DG TREN (Transport & Energy) and Swiss Government - fundedproject in the framework of the EUs FP5 (Fifth Framework Programme for Research,Technological Development and Demonstration - RD &D).

ESHA, the European Small Hydropower Association, is the European co-ordinatorof this project which includes ten additional partners: ADEME (France), EPFL-LCH

(Switzerland), ISET (Germany), IT Power (United Kingdom), K (Austria), LithuanianHydropower Association (Lithuania), MHyLab (Switzerland), SCPTH (France), SERO(Sweden) and Studio Frosio (Italy).

This leaflet is built on the RD&D Strategy document prepared by the engineering group of the

TNSHP, coordinated by MHyLab, which presents the priorities for SHP short-term research.

If you would like to know more about this SHP RD&D Strategy document, pleasecontact ESHA or MHyLab.

Basin created by a weir

Illustrationsources:MHyLab,VATECH,Elmotech,IngegneriMaggiaSA,Commu

nedeSavise(CH),ISET,StudioFrosio,SERO,EPFL-LCH,Walcher,Sassos.r.l.

Design:ACGBrussels

Fish bypass system

innovation is our business

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