Project Report
by Anmol Sharma (17bme007)
Hydropower in India
Chenani Hydro Project
(stage-2)
Anmol Sharma | Project report | Summer holiday 2019
What is hydropower?
Like other forms of electricity generation, hydropower uses a turbine
to help generate electricity; using the energy of falling or flowing water
to turn the blades.
The rotating blades spin a generator that converts the mechanical
energy of the spinning turbine into electrical energy. The amount of
electricity generated from each power plant depends on the quantity of
the flowing water and the height from which it falls.
History of hydropower
Hydropower is one of the oldest sources of energy for producing
mechanical and electrical energy. Hydropower was used thousands of
years ago to turn paddle wheels to help grind grain. Before steam
power and electricity were available in the United States, grain and
lumber mills were powered directly with hydropower. The first
industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity in the United
States occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using
a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids,
Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox
River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Most U.S.
hydroelectricity is now produced at large dams on major rivers, and
most of these hydroelectric dams were built before the mid-1970s.
Hydropower in India
India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world.
The hydroelectric plants at Darjeeling and Shivanasamudram were
established in 1898 and 1902, respectively. They were among the first in
Asia and India has been a dominant player in global hydroelectric
power development.
India's hydroelectric power potential is estimated at 148,700 MW at
60% load factor.
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TYPES OF HYDROPOWER PLANTS
There are three types of hydropower facilities: impoundment,
diversion, and pumped storage. Some hydropower plants use
dams and some do not. The images below show both types of
hydropower plants. Many dams were built for other purposes and
hydropower was added later. In the United States, there are about
80,000 dams of which only 2,400produce power. The other dams are
for recreation, stock/farm ponds, flood control, water supply, and
irrigation. Hydropower plants range in size from small systems for a
home or village to large projects producing electricity for utilities.
IMPOUNDMENT
The most common type of hydroelectric power plant is an
impoundment facility. An impoundment facility, typically a large
hydropower system, uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir.
Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it,
which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. The water
may be released either to meet changing electricity needs or to
maintain a constant reservoir level.
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DIVERSION
A diversion, sometimes called run-of-river, facility channels a portion
of a river through a canal or penstock. It may not require the use of a
dam.
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PUMPED STORAGE
When the demand for electricity is low, a pumped storage facility stores energy by
pumping water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. During periods of
high electrical demand, the water is released back to the lower reservoir to
generate electricity. Pumped storage hydro-electricity works on a very simple
principle. Two reservoirs at different altitudes are required.
When the water is released, from the upper reservoir, energy is created by the
downflow which is directed through high-pressure shafts, linked to turbines. In
turn, the turbines power the generators to create electricity. Water is pumped back
to the upper reservoir by linking a pump shaft to the turbine shaft, using a motor
to drive the pump
The pump motors are powered by electricity from the National Grid – the process
usually takes place overnight when national electricity demand is at its lowest.
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Chenani Hydropower Project
Chenani hydroelectric project was commissioned in 1975. The project
currently completed and operational. The entire capacity is between
the range of 2MW to 25MW the project is classified as small. The water
source of power plant is river tawi which is tributary of chenab river.
The hydroelectric region of power plant is North Hydroelectric Region.
The purpose of plant is the generation of Hydro-electric power.
The power plant is under the ownership of Jammu & Kashmir State
Power Development Corporation Limited. Also, JKSPDC Limited is
working under State Government. The beneficiary states or union
territories of the power plant were Jammu and Kashmir and its nearby
states. The type of power house is Surface. The power project was
completed in 1975 and after that the power station started its
operations.
It is an impoundment type facility.
The power plant consists of 3 stages with stage 1 being located at the
highest altitude and subsequently stage 2 and stage 3.
1. Stage 1
The type of turbine used is Pelton wheel turbine. The total number of
Turbines used in the power plant is five and capacity per Turbine is
4.66 Megawatt. So, the total installed capacity is 23.3 Megawatt. The
Rated speed of turbine is 600 rotations per minute (rpm). The water
conductor system has a length of 7 kilometer. The height of Rated
Head of Power Plant is 366 m. The total number of penstocks in the
dam is two. The Unit sizes of the power plant is 23.3 Megawatt (4.66
MW x 5 units). There are five units in operation and all the five units
were commissioned with an installed capacity of 4.66 Megawatt for
each unit.
PAGE 5
It is largest of all the stages in the chenani hydro project.
2. Stage 2
The stage was made operational in 1995
The type of turbine used is modern Francis turbine. The number of
turbines used in the power plant is two with capacity per turbine of 1
megawatt. The rated speed of turbine is 600(rpm). There is a single
penstock. The unit sizes of the power plant are 2 megawatts (1MW x 2
unit). It is the smallest of all the stages.
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3. Stage 3
The stage was commissioned in 2001.
The type of turbine used is modern Francis turbine. The number of
turbines used in powerplant are three with capacity per turbine of 2.5
megawatts. The gross head of the facility being 80 meter and the total
installed capacity being 7.5 megawatts (2.5 MW x 3 units)
The stage is situated at the least altitude of the three.
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stage 2 :
Analysis of the specific speed of the turbine for stage 2
Above pictures can be used to find the values that are later used to find
specific speed and efficiency.
𝜂.√𝑝
Specific speed (ηS) =
𝐻45
PAGE 8
Calculation for specific speed of turbine in stage 2
η = 600 (rpm)
P = 516 (KW)
H = 50 (m)
𝜂.√𝑝
ηS =
𝐻45
ηS = 102.5
According to theory of selection of turbines on the basis of specific
speed the range for Francis turbine is 50-250. Thus, the selection of
Francis turbine lines up with selection on basis of specific speed.
As well as the fact that Francis is a medium head turbine and the value
of head under which Francis is used is between 40m to 250m.
Thus, it can be understood that the selection on basis of specific speed
lines up with the selection done on a practical level with real world
applications.
Analysis for efficiency of the turbine
(ηr) = Real working efficiency
(ηe) = general efficiency for Francis turbine
(ηh) = hydraulic efficiency
(ηv) = volumetric efficiency
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(ηm) = mechanical efficiency
(ηr) = 54.8%
(ηe) = 65%- 90%
It is clearly seen that the real working efficiency of the turbine is much
lower than that of Francis turbine in general cases as it can be seen
that the Francis turbine can achieve efficiency as high as 90 % in
certain cases.
Causes of low efficiency in the turbine:
− Leakages in certain regions of the inlet resulting in decrease in
volumetric efficiency(ηV).
− Irregularity in discharge as the river level tends to fall during
summer time which in turns affects the discharge at the inlet
thus reducing the efficiency.
− Heavy vibrations in the shaft which causes a sharp decrease in
the mechanical efficiency of the turbine(ηm).
− Temperature rise during working also results in heat losses
which causes loss of energy in form of heat thus affecting
efficiency.
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