New Methods of Application of Micro-Hydroelectric Power Plants at Existing Hydraulic Structures: Schemes, Parameters, Efficiency

Abstract

The structure of hydraulic structures of power and water management systems includes gates for various purposes, which allow you to regulate and distribute the flow of water in channels and waterworks. Existing gate designs do not provide for the possibility of generating electricity from the water energy of the stream passing through them. In order to convert the hydraulic energy of water passing through the gates into electrical energy a new patented design of the gate is proposed which allows using micro-hydroelectric power plants with a Banki turbine to make more rational use of the hydro resources of energy and water management systems. The proposed design solves the problem of expanding the functionality of the gate and increasing the efficiency of micro-hydroelectric power plants with a reduction in its cost. Areas of application of the new design for the combined use of micro-hydroelectric power plants and hydraulic gates at hydroelectric power systems are also proposed. The technique for determining the technical and economic parameters of micro-hydroelectric power plants installed on flat gates of hydraulic structures is given, and theoretical calculations are performed, which showed that the higher the capacity of micro-hydroelectric power plants, the shorter its payback period.