Scholarly record

FLUID POWER SYSTEMS FOR WATER INTAKES OF SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS

Assoc. Prof. Vlad Florin Piraianu, Assoc. Prof. Constantin Dragoi, Prof. Daniela Vasiliu, Assoc.Prof. Claudia Vasiliu

Abstract

Renewable energy is a key factor in the sustainable development of any modern society. The development of renewable energy project must continue to be part of a competitive economy and the research and innovation of this domain should be a priority. One of the renewable energy sources (RES) that are reliable, provides predictable energy, assures the energy supply in remote areas and at the end of the power transmission lines, are small hydro power plants (SHPP). In Romania SHPP are not new, being part of the development strategy of the grid system, and besides large hydroelectric power plant (HPP) areas suitable for SHPP were considered by the state owned energy companies. Once the promotion scheme of RES granted by the state entered into force in 2008, the number of SHPP increased continuously. Most of the layouts used for the SHPP development was a derivation scheme, due to the morphological and geographical conditions. The range of heads used is between 10 пїЅ 20 m in the lower sectors of rivers, and up to 480 m in the upper sectors. Depending on the head and installed discharge, different types of turbines have been used: Francis, Pelton, Banki, and Kaplan. An important parameter of the water quality needed for hydraulic turbines is the total suspended solids (TSS) measured in mg/l. For Pelton turbines the accepted value is between 0 and 20 mg/l, and for Francis and Kaplan turbine must be between 0 and 80 mg/l. This criteria is very important when the design of the settling basin is done. Besides the length, width and depth of water in this structure, it is very important to provide with reliable solutions to clean the basin in order to assure a good maintenance of the project. The cleaning of the settling basin must be done thoroughly, automatically, efficiently especially when needed and in an optimum way. The time to clean the basin should be high enough to clean the sediments and short enough to reduce energy losses for the SHPP, as water used to clean the settling basin can no longer be used for power generation. Another aspect is the cleaning of the bar screen as it is done properly the generated energy is considerable higher and the low quality of maintenance works will generate significant energy losses for the SHPP. A new approach is formulated for the equipment of the water intakes used to maintain the required clean water. This paper aims to present the results of a case study considering the sluice gates operated by manual, electric or fluid power systems. The fluid power systems were designed and their behavior was modeled and simulated with a dedicated software. Also, a simulation regarding the operation of the settling basin washing sluice gate, taking into account the influence on the sediment transport is presented. The main results provide knowledge and information about the design and operation of the fluid power systems used, as well as the energy generation aspect which is improved.

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