IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v11y2018i11p3212-d184003.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A New Optimal Selection Method with Seasonal Flow and Irrigation Variability for Hydro Turbine Type and Size

Author

Listed:
  • Kiattisak Sakulphan

    (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, School of Engineering of Technology, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand)

  • Erik L. J. Bohez

    (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, School of Engineering of Technology, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand)

Abstract

A micro hydropower plant of the run-of-river type is considered to be the most cost-effective investment in developing counties. This paper presents a novel methodology to improve flow estimation, without using the flow direction curve (FDC) method, to determine the turbine type and size to operate consistently. A higher precision is obtained through the use of seasonal flow occurrence data, irrigation variability, and fitting the best probability distribution function (PDF) using flow data. Flow data are grouped in classes based on the flow rate range. This method will need a larger dataset but it is reduced to a tractable amount by using the PDF. In the first part of the algorithm, the average flow of each range is used to select the turbine type. The second part of the algorithm determines the optimal size of the turbine type in a more accurate way, based on minimum and maximum flow rates in each class range instead of the average flow rate. A newly developed micro hydropower plant was installed and used for validation at Baan Khun Pae, Chiang Mai Province. It was found, over four years of observation from 2014–2018, that the plant capacity factor was 82%.

Suggested Citation

  • Kiattisak Sakulphan & Erik L. J. Bohez, 2018. "A New Optimal Selection Method with Seasonal Flow and Irrigation Variability for Hydro Turbine Type and Size," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3212-:d:184003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3212/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3212/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bortoni, Edson C. & Bastos, Guilherme S. & Abreu, Thiago M. & Kawkabani, Basile, 2015. "Online optimal power distribution between units of a hydro power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 30-36.
    2. Spänhoff, Bernd, 2014. "Current status and future prospects of hydropower in Saxony (Germany) compared to trends in Germany, the European Union and the World," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 518-525.
    3. Rojanamon, Pannathat & Chaisomphob, Taweep & Bureekul, Thawilwadee, 2009. "Application of geographical information system to site selection of small run-of-river hydropower project by considering engineering/economic/environmental criteria and social impact," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2336-2348, December.
    4. Voros, N.G. & Kiranoudis, C.T. & Maroulis, Z.B., 2000. "Short-cut design of small hydroelectric plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 545-563.
    5. Hosseini, S. M. H. & Forouzbakhsh, F. & Rahimpoor, M., 2005. "Determination of the optimal installation capacity of small hydro-power plants through the use of technical, economic and reliability indices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(15), pages 1948-1956, October.
    6. Montanari, R., 2003. "Criteria for the economic planning of a low power hydroelectric plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(13), pages 2129-2145.
    7. Bakis, Recep, 2007. "Electricity production opportunities from multipurpose dams (case study)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1723-1738.
    8. Kosa, Preeyaphorn & Kulworawanichpong, Thanatchai & Srivoramas, Rerkchai & Chinkulkijniwat, Avirut & Horpibulsuk, Suksun & Teaumroong, Neung, 2011. "The potential micro-hydropower projects in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1133-1137.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mishra, Sachin & Singal, S.K. & Khatod, D.K., 2011. "Optimal installation of small hydropower plant—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3862-3869.
    2. Kelly-Richards, Sarah & Silber-Coats, Noah & Crootof, Arica & Tecklin, David & Bauer, Carl, 2017. "Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 251-264.
    3. Balkhair, Khaled S. & Rahman, Khalil Ur, 2017. "Sustainable and economical small-scale and low-head hydropower generation: A promising alternative potential solution for energy generation at local and regional scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 378-391.
    4. Zema, Demetrio Antonio & Nicotra, Angelo & Tamburino, Vincenzo & Zimbone, Santo Marcello, 2016. "A simple method to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of micro hydro power plants in existing irrigation systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 498-506.
    5. Sasthav, Colin & Oladosu, Gbadebo, 2022. "Environmental design of low-head run-of-river hydropower in the United States: A review of facility design models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. Aroonrat, Kanit & Wongwises, Somchai, 2015. "Current status and potential of hydro energy in Thailand: a review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 70-78.
    7. Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco & Taher, Myriam & Zapata-Sierra, Antonio & Juaidi, Adel & Montoya, Francisco G., 2017. "An overview of research and energy evolution for small hydropower in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 476-489.
    8. Gerardo Alcalá & Luis Fernando Grisales-Noreña & Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo & Jose Javier Muñoz-Criollo & J. D. Revuelta-Acosta, 2021. "SHP Assessment for a Run-of-River (RoR) Scheme Using a Rectangular Mesh Sweeping Approach (MSA) Based on GIS," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.
    9. Teegala Srinivasa Kishore & Epari Ritesh Patro & V. S. K. V. Harish & Ali Torabi Haghighi, 2021. "A Comprehensive Study on the Recent Progress and Trends in Development of Small Hydropower Projects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-31, May.
    10. Barragán-Escandón, Edgar A. & Zalamea-León, Esteban F. & Terrados-Cepeda, Julio & Vanegas-Peralta, P.F., 2020. "Energy self-supply estimation in intermediate cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Tamm, Ottar & Tamm, Toomas, 2020. "Verification of a robust method for sizing and siting the small hydropower run-of-river plant potential by using GIS," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 153-159.
    12. Ibrahim, Mohamed & Imam, Yehya & Ghanem, Ashraf, 2019. "Optimal planning and design of run-of-river hydroelectric power projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 858-873.
    13. Ogayar, B. & Vidal, P.G., 2009. "Cost determination of the electro-mechanical equipment of a small hydro-power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 6-13.
    14. Sharma, Ameesh Kumar & Thakur, N.S., 2015. "Resource potential and development of small hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir in the western Himalayan region: India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1354-1368.
    15. Abdelhady, Hazem U. & Imam, Yehya E. & Shawwash, Ziad & Ghanem, Ashraf, 2021. "Parallelized Bi-level optimization model with continuous search domain for selection of run-of-river hydropower projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 116-131.
    16. Bragalli, Cristiana & Micocci, Domenico & Naldi, Giovanni, 2023. "On the influence of net head and efficiency fluctuations over the performance of existing run-of-river hydropower plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1170-1179.
    17. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2015. "Sustainability suspense of small hydropower projects: A study from western Himalayan region of India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 220-233.
    18. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2014. "Harnessing ‘water tower’ into ‘power tower’: A small hydropower development study from an Indian prefecture in western Himalayas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 87-101.
    19. Efthymios Moutsiakis & Athena Yiannakou, 2023. "Small Hydroelectric Energy and Spatial Planning: A Methodology Introducing the Concept of Territorial Carrying Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Xu, Jiuping & Song, Xiaoling & Wu, Yimin & Zeng, Ziqiang, 2015. "GIS-modelling based coal-fired power plant site identification and selection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 520-539.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3212-:d:184003. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.