Energy sources and their availability Introduction Today every country draws its energy needs from a variety

of sources. We can broadly categorize these sources as commercial and noncommercial. The commercial sources include the fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), hydro-electric power and nuclear power, while the noncommercial sources include wood, animal waste and agricultural wastes. In an Industrialized country like U.S.A. most of the energy requirements are met from commercial sources, while in an Industrially less developed country like India, the use of commercial and non-commercial sources are about equal. 1.4. Conventional and non-conventional sources energy 1.4.1. Conventional energy sources Conventional energy sources are: (a) Fossil fuel energy (b) Hydraulic energy (c) Nuclear energy (a) Fossil fuel energy Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are called Fossil fuel as these are formed by the decomposition of the remains of dead plants and animals buried under the earth for a long time. These are nonrenewable sources of energy, which, if exhausted, can not be replenished in a short time. Their reserves are limited and are considered very precious. These should be used with care and caution to let them last long. These are also contributing to the global environmental pollution. (i) Coal

Since the advent of industrialization coal has been most common source of energy. In the last three decades, the world switched over

from coal to oil as a Major source of energy because it is simpler and cleaner to obtain useful energy from oil. Coal is a complex mixture of compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Small amounts of nitrogen and Sulphur compounds are also present in coal. It is mainly available in Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. The big coal mines in our country are at Jharia and Bokaro in Bihar and at Raniganj in West Bengal. It is considered as the backbone of the energy sector for its use in industry, transportation and electric power generation. Depending upon the carbon contents of coal, it is classified as follows: Type of coal Carbon content (%) 1. Peat 60 2. Lignite (soft coal) 70 3. Bituminous (house hold coal) 80 4. Anthracite (hard coal) 90 It is clear that peat is the most inferior quality of coal. Whereas anthracite is the most superior quality of coal. Bituminous is most commonly used in households and industry. On strong heating, coal breaks up to produce coal gas, ammonia, coaltar and coke. Coke is 98% carbon, obtained after lossing all its volatile constituents during destructive distillation of coal. It can be used as smoke free fuel. (ii). Petroleum It is a dark coloured, viscous and foul smelling crude oil. The petroleum means rock oil. It is normally found under the crust of earth trapped in rocks. The crude oil is a complex mixture of several solid liquid gaseous hydrocarbons mixed with water, salt and earth particles. It is a natural product obtained from oil wells. Some of the crude oil producing locations in our country are: (i) Ankleshwar and Kalol in Gujarat (ii) Rudrasagar and Lakwa in Assam; and (iii) Bombay high (off-shore area) The oil wells of Bombay high are producing about 22 million tons of crude petroleum oil per year, which is little less than half of the total

requirement of the country. The efforts are also being made to search oil well in off-shore deltas to Godavari, Kaveri, and Rajasthan. The crude petroleum is refined by the process of fractional distillation to obtain more useful petroleum products. The crude petroleum is heated to a temperature of about 400oC in a furnace and vapors thus formed are passed into a tall fractioning column from near its bottom. As the mixture of hot vapours rises in the column, it starts getting cooled gradually. The products obtained from crude petroleum as follows: (i) Petroleum gas (below 40oC) used as LPG. (ii) Petrol (40oC to 170oC) for light vehicles. (iii) Kerosene (170 to 250oC) for household and industrial use. (iv) Diesel oil (250 to 350oC) for heavy vehicles. (v) Residual oil ; (a) Lubrication oils (b) paraffin wax and (c) asphalt (vi) Fuel oil (350 to 400oC) for boilers and furnaces. (ii) Natural gas

It consists about 95% Methane and rest ethane and propane. It occurs deep under the crust of the earth either alone or a long with oil above the petroleum deposits. It is a product of petroleum mining. The gas is available in Tripura, Jaisalmer, off-shore areas of Bombay High and in the Krishna Godavari delta. It is used as a domestic and industrial fuel. The natural gas is now also available as CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) a substitution of petrol in automobiles. (b) Hydraulic energy (or) Water power Water power is developed by allowing water to fall under the force of gravity. It is used almost exclusively for electric power generation, in fact, the generation of water power on a large scale became possible around the beginning of the twentieth century only with the development of electrical power plants or Hydro electric plants were usually of small capacities usually less than 100 KW. Potential energy of water is converted into Mechanical energy by using prime moves known as hydraulic turbines. Water power is quite

cheap where water is available in abundance. Although capital cost of hydro electric power plants is higher as compared to other types of power plants but their operating Costs are quite low, as no fuel is required in this case. The development rate of hydropower is still low, due to the following problems: 1. In developing a project, it will take about 6-10 years time for planning, investigation and construction. 2. High capital investment is needed, and some parts of the investment have to be designed from foreign sources. 3. There are growing problems on relocation of villages, involved, compensation for damage, selecting the suitable resettlement area and environmental impact. Because of long transmission line to the villages with low load factor, the electric power will be available to the people in rural areas may not be economical. This leads to the development of Mini or Micro hydroelectric projects to supply the electric power to remote areas. The Importance of Micro hydroelectric projects have been observed in some parts of the country with availability of river flow through out the year. In order to reduce the cost of development several Measures have been considered as follows: (a) Development of low cost turbines and generators. (b) Participation of villages in the development and operation of the project. (c) Using the appropriate technology and tolerable substandard requirement and project civil work component at the beginning stage. (c) Nuclear energy According to modern theories of atomic structure, matter consists of minute particles known as atoms. Heavier unstable atoms such as U235, Th239, liberate large amount of heat energy. The energy

released by the complete fission of one Kg of Uranium (U235), is equal to the heat energy obtained by burning 4500 tonnes of coal (or) 220 tons of oil. The heat produced by nuclear fission of the atoms of fissionable material is utilized in special heat exchangers for the production of steam which is then used to drive turbogenerators as in the conventional power plants. However there are some limitations in the use of nuclear energy namely high capital cost of nuclear power plants, limited availability of raw materials, difficulties associated with disposal of radio active waste and shortage of well trained personnel to handle the nuclear power plants. The Uranium reserves in the world at present are small. These reserves are recoverable but are expensive. The presently working power plants are: 1. Tarapur atomic power station in Maharashtra 2. Ranapratap sagar atomic power station near Tota, Rajasthan 3. Kalpakkam atomic power station near Madras, Tamilnadu. 4. Narora atomic power station in U.P. About 3% of the energy produced in India is obtained from nuclear power plants. 1.4.2. Non-Conventional Energy Sources The sources of energy which are being produced continuously in nature and are in exhaustible are called renewable sources of energy (or) non-conventional energy. Some of these sources are: (a) Wind energy (b) Tidal energy (c) Solar energy

(a) Wind energy Winds are caused because of two factors. 1. The absorption of solar energy on the earths surface and in the atmosphere. 2. The rotation of the earth about its axis and its motion around the Sun. A wind mill converts the kinetic energy of moving air into Mechanical energy that can be either used directly to run the Machine or to run the generator to produce electricity. (b) Tidal energy Tides are generated primarily by the gravitational attraction between the earth and the Moon. They arise twice a day in Mid-Ocean. The tidal range is only a Meter. Basically in a tidal power station water at high tide is first trapped in a artificial basin and then allowed to escape at low tide. The escaping water is used to drive water turbines, which in turn drive electrical generators. (c) Solar energy Brief history of solar energy (or) Importance of solar energy: Energy from the sun is called solar energy. The Suns energy comes from nuclear fusion reaction that take place deep in the Sun. Hydrogen nucleus fuse into helium nucleus. The energy from these reactions flow out from the sun and escape into space.

Unit 3 Variability and Reliability of the Wind: Perhaps the most significant problem with small wind is that the wind does not blow 100 percent of the time in most locations. Wind is a variable resource, to be sure. Its not available 24 hours a day like coal or oil. In fact, a wind turbine may operate for four days in a row, producing a significant amount of electricity, then sit idle for two days or a week. Wind resources vary seasonally, too. In most locations, winds are typically strongest in the fall, winter and early spring, but decline during the summer. Wind even varies during the course of a day. Winds may blow in the morning, die down for a few hours, then pick up later in the afternoon and blow throughout the night. Even though wind is a variable resource, it is not unreliable. Just like solar energy, you can count on a certain amount of wind at a given location during the year. With smart planning and careful design, you can design a wind system to meet your electrical needs. Winds variable nature can be managed to our benefit by installing batteries to store surplus electricity in off-grid systems. The stored electricity can power a home or office when the winds fail to blow. Surplus electricity can also be stored on the electrical grid in many systems. Thus, when a wind-electric system is producing more power than a home or business is using, the excess is fed onto the grid. In times of shortfall, electricity is drawn from the grid. Winds variable nature can also be offset by coupling small wind systems with other renewable energy sources, for example, solar electric systems. Such systems are referred to as hybrid systems. Solar-electric systems (or photovoltaic [PV] systems) generate electricity when sunlight strikes solar cells in solar modules. Hybrid systems can be sized to provide a steady year-round supply of electricity. Residential wind-generated electricity can also be supplemented by small gas or diesel generators.

The Mathematics of Wind Power To understand how important it is to mount a wind turbine on a tall tower, consider a simple mathematical equation. Its called the power equation and is used to calculate the power available from the wind. This equation shows us that three factors influence the output of a wind energy system: (1) air density, (2) swept area, and (3) wind speed all explained shortly. The power equation is: P = d x A x V3. P stands for the power available in the wind (not the power a wind generator will extract thats influenced by efficiency and other factors). Density of the air is d. Swept area is A. Wind speed is V. Air Density: Air density is the weight of air per unit volume, which varies with elevation. As a general rule, anticipate a decrease in the air density of about 3 percent per 1,000 feet (300 meters) increase in elevation. As a result, air density doesnt affect the power available from the wind until elevation reaches 2,500 feet (760 meters) above sea level. At 3,000 feet (about 910 meters) above sea level, the air density is 9 percent lower than at sea level. At 5,000 feet (about 1,525 meters) air density declines by about 15 percent. Air density is also a function of relative humidity, although the difference between a dry and humid area is usually negligible. Temperature also affects the density of air. Warmer air is less dense than colder air. Consequently, a wind turbine operating in cold (denser) winter winds would produce slightly more electricity than the same wind turbine in warmer winds blowing at the same speed. Although temperature and humidity affect air density, they are not factors we can change. Installers must be aware of the reduced energy available at higher altitudes, however, so they dont create unrealistic expectations for a wind system.

Although density is not a factor we can control, wind installers do have control over a couple of other key factors, notably, swept area (A) and wind speed both of which have a much greater impact on the amount of power available to a wind turbine and the electrical output of the machine than air density. Swept Area: Swept area is the area of the circle that the blades of a wind machine create when spinning. It is a wind machines collector surface. The larger the swept area, the more energy a wind turbine can capture from the wind. Swept area is determined by blade length. The longer the blades, the greater the swept area. The greater the swept area, the greater the electrical output of a turbine. As the equation suggests, the relationship between swept area and power output is linear. Theoretically, a ten percent increase in swept area will result in a ten percent increase in electrical production. Doubling the swept area doubles the output. When shopping for a wind turbine, always convert blade length to swept area, if the manufacturer has not done so for you (they usually do). Swept area can be calculated using the equation A = .r2 In this equation, A is the area of the circle, the swept area of the wind turbine. The Greek symbol is pi, which is a constant: = 3.14. The letter r stands for the radius of a circle, the distance from the center of the circle to its outer edge. For a wind turbine, radius is usually about the same as the length of the blade. Because swept area is a function of the radius squared, a small increase in radius, or blade length, results in a large increase in swept area. As an example, a wind generator with an 8-foot blade has a swept area of 200 square feet. A wind generator with a 25 percent longer blade, that is, a 10-foot blade, has a 314 square-foot swept area. Thus, a 25 percent increase in blade length results in a 57 percent

increase in swept area and, theoretically, a 57 percent increase in electrical production. Wind Speed Although swept area is more important than density, wind speed is even more important in determining the output of a wind turbine. Thats because the power available from the wind increases with the cube of wind speed. This relationship is expressed in the power equation as V3 or V x V x V wind speed multiplied by itself three times.