International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942

Theory of Hydropower Plant Technology

Daniel H. Ngoma1, Banet Masenga2, Adam Mfangavo3
1
Lecturer, Arusha Technical College (ATC), P. O. Box 296, Arusha 23105, Tanzania
2, 3
Assistant Lecturer, Arusha Technical College (ATC), P. O. Box 296, Arusha 23105, Tanzania
1
Corresponding Author Email: todngoma[at]yahoo.com

Abstract: The Hydropower technology is the most reliable and cost - effective renewable energy generation technology to date. The
early developed hydropower technology was around 17 century and it was broadly used for activities related to milling and especially
grain and lumber, but also in other areas it was used for pumping irrigation water. The technology was based on a water wheel on
which the power of water used to rotate the wheel and in turn use the mechanical shaft power to drive mechanical systems. This
development in hydropower resulted in the introduction of hydroelectric generation stations. The early development on hydropower
began around 1870 in England when the first hydro - electric power plant was installed at Cragside. But the actual commercial use
hydropower generation station started around 1880 in the USA, with a dynamo driven by a water turbine and at that time it was only
producing 12.5 kW of power that can be equated to 250 lights. This invention made several countries in the world to adopt to the
technology and 120 years later in the 1990s almost 300 hydroelectric plants were developed around the world.

Keywords: Hydropower, Waterwheel, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, Penstock, Turbine

1. Introduction system efficiency, water wheels will not be discussed further

in this research paper.
In early days before the development of hydropower, the
idea of harnessing water energy was started by using the 2. Methods and Materials
potential energy of falling water to rotate a waterwheel. The
waterwheel is attached with a pulley and belt to create a 2.1 Methodology
rotational mechanism for different machines like grinding
mills, sledge hammers, textile machines, sawmills and in The hydro - power which is also known as water power is
some areas the rotational mechanism is used to pumping the type of technology at which the energy produced by the
water for irrigation purposes [1]. The waterwheel technology falling water is extracted by the turbine - generator system at
on the other hand uses the potential or kinetic energy of the a site to produce electrical power. In this system, the turbine
water flow to rotate the waterwheel which cause rotational is the type of machine that uses the power of falling water to
motion on the pulley and belt section. Waterwheel consists gain potential energy which is converted to kinetic energy
of a large circular rotating wheel/drum which is made of under pressure to gain rotational speed of the turbine wheel.
wooden or metallic material that consists of several This rotational energy produces mechanical power at the
blades/buckets which are installed tangentially outside the turbine output shaft which is then connected to the generator
wheel rim as shown in Figure 1 below. system to produce electrical power [5]. In the hydropower
technology, the potential energy is created by the mass (m)
of the falling water from a particular height (H) while the
converted kinetic energy that creates rotational speed is also
created by the mass (m) and velocity (U) of the flowing
water using the following formula:

𝑃𝐸 = 𝑚𝑔𝐻 (1)

1
𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑈 2 (2)
2
where; PE = potential energy, KE =kinetic energy, m =
mass, g = gravity, H = head (height) and U = water flow
velocity.

When considering the hydropower system, the maximum

Figure 1: Waterwheel layout [2] potential energy is obtained at the water entry to the
penstock pipe (point 1) with the pressure p1 and head H1.
The technology of waterwheel was substituted by the The water from the reservoir is conveyed to the turbine
development of hydropower in the early 1820’s [3] due to through a penstock pipe and the maximum kinetic energy of
their poor flexibility during variations of water flow the water is obtained at the water exit (point 2) with pressure
discharge and this made waterwheels less efficient as p2 and head H2 as shown in Figure 2 below.
compared to the current hydro turbines [4]. Due to their less
application in today’s water power technologies and poor
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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1501
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
The pressure value is acting on the entire span of the
penstock pipe so, when introducing the length factor, L on
both the numerator and denominator for the above equation
3.5 gives the following pressure relation:

𝐹𝑥𝐿 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 (𝐽)

∆𝑝 = = =
𝐴𝑥𝐿 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑚3 )
𝐸
∆𝑝 = (6)
𝑣
∆H = H and 𝜐 = volume (m3)
Note: 1 Joule = 1 N.m.
Figure 2: Water energy conversion to produce hydro power
Substituting the pressure value, ∆p from the above equation
6 to the equation 4 gives the following energy equation:
By considering the water flowing from point 1 (penstock
entry) with the following values, pressure p1, head H1 and
𝐸 = 𝜌𝑔𝑣𝐻 (7)
velocity U1 to point 2 (penstock exit) with the following
values, pressure p2, head H2 and velocity U2. The energy
But all hydro turbines produce power and not energy, so
equation for hydropower system is determined using the
using the power and energy relation:
Bernoulli equation as follows:

1 1 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑥 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (8)

𝑝1 + ρ𝑈12 + ρ𝑔𝐻1 = 𝜌2 + 𝜌𝑈22 + 𝜌𝑔𝐻2 (3)
2 2
This gives the following power equation for the hydropower
In hydropower system the water flow velocity, U in the systems:
penstock pipe with the same cross - section area is 𝑣
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝜌𝑔 𝐻
maintained at a constant value from the entry (point 1) to the 𝑡
exit (point 2) so, in this case U1 = U2 = constant as shown in
Figure 3 below. 𝑃𝐻𝑃 = 𝜌𝑔𝑄𝐻 (9)

Where; PHP = power output for the hydropower system in

kW, Q = water flow discharge in m3/s and H = site head in
m.

The above equation 9 represent the theoretical output power

for the hydropower system, but in obtaining actual power
output for the hydropower plant, the theoretical output
power from equation 9 needs to be multiplied by the total
efficiency (𝜂𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ) due to losses during the power conversion
in order to obtain the electrical power output from the
generator system as follows:

𝑃𝐻𝑃 = 𝜌𝑔𝑄𝐻𝜂𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 [kW] (10)

where; 𝜂𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = system efficiency which is given as turbine
efficiency (𝜂𝑡 ) x generator efficiency (𝜂𝑔 )

Figure 3: Penstock pipe layout Thus, from the above equation 10 it is noted that the power
capacity generated by the hydropower system depends upon
Simplifying and re - arranging the equation 3 gives the the density of water (𝜌), gravitational force (g), water flow
following relation: discharge (Q), elevation head (H) and total efficiency of the
hydropower system (𝜂𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ). Among the above parameters
∆p = ρg∆H (4) for hydro power output determination, only two parameters
of water flow discharge and elevation head are usually
where; ∆p = changes in pressure (p1 – p2), ρ = density of obtained from site measurement of river volumetric flow (Q)
water, g = gravity and ∆H = changes in head (H1 – H2). and site elevation head (H) respectively.

But in the penstock pipe with uniform diameter, the 2.2 Parts of a hydropower system
pressure, p is given by the following equation:
The main parts of a hydropower system from the intake to
Force F the power house may be classified into two main groups as
Pressure, ∆p = (5)
Area A follows:
where; F = force in N and A = area in m2 a) The hydraulic system components
b) The power and control system components

Volume 12 Issue 9, September 2023

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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1502
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
2.2.1 Hydraulic system components The size of the intake in a hydropower plant is usually
The hydraulic system components in a hydropower system determined by the amount of water flow discharge that is
consists of all the main water handling sections from the required to be conveyed to the turbine unit. In this case the
water intake to the penstock area. The main components in main determining parameters are the water flow velocity
this section include diversion weir and intake, canal or which is maintained at a constant value and the cross -
conduit, settling basin, forebay and penstock pipe sectional area of the intake using the following equation:

2.2.1.1 Weir and intake 𝑄 =𝐴𝑥𝑈 (13)

The weir is the concrete wall structure that is used to create
enough upstream water depth for a water intake. It is usually where; Q = flow discharge (m3/s), A = intake cross -
installed across the river section at the intake area and in sectional area (m2) and U = water flow velocity (m/s).
large or small hydropower system it creates a dam or
reservoir wall structure while in mini and micro hydropower Since the value of flow velocity for the intake structures is
system which are mostly run - of - river system it creates a kept at a constant rate, then the determining factor for the
small water pondage in order to get enough water flow intake sizing is the area of the intake opening called orifice
discharge to the canal. which is used to allow water to pass through it in order to
convey water to the canal. Most of the orifice structures are
On the other hand, literature have shown that there are many constructed in a rectangular or square shape with the width
types of weir structures but the main types that are (w) and height (h) as shown in Figure 6 below on which the
commonly used include concrete weir, masonry block weir, corresponding cross - sectional area is given as follows:
rock fill weir, gabion weir etc as shown in Figure 4 below.
𝑄
𝐴=𝑤𝑥ℎ= (14)
𝑈

Figure 4: Concrete weir

To determine the size of the weir structure, the minimum

water flow discharge and environmental flow, needs to be
determined using the following equation [6]:
1
𝑄𝐷 = 𝐶𝑑 𝑥 𝑔(𝑛𝑤 − 0.2∆ℎ𝑛 )∆ℎ1.5 𝑛 (11)
2
𝑄𝐸 = 2.5(𝑛𝑤 − 0.2∆ℎ𝑛 )∆ℎ1.5
𝑛 (12)
Figure 3.6: Side intake with rectangular orifice
Where; QD= water flow discharge, QE = environmental flow,
Cd = coefficient of discharge, g = gravity, nw = weir notch 2.2.1.2 Headrace canal/conduit
width, ∆ℎ = notch head difference When water flow discharge is collected at the intake it must
be conveyed to the turbine unit. The structure that is used to
When the amount of water flow volume is accumulated at transport this flow discharge is called canal or conduit and it
the weir structure, the required water flow discharge is link the intake to the subsequent water conveying structures.
directed to the intake structure. There are two types of intake The size of the canal structure is determined by the amount
structures that conveyed water flow discharge to the canal of water flow discharge that need to be transported. In this
from the weir which include side intake or bottom intake structure the water flow velocity is maintained at a constant
types as shown in Figure 5 below. value, hence using the equation 13 the size determining
factor is the area of the canal given by equation 14. Most
canal structures are made up of either concrete, cement
mortal blocks or stone masonry materials. There are three
main types of canal structures based on shapes that are
commonly used in small hydropower plants. This include
rectangular/square shape, round shape or trapezoidal shape
as shown in Figure 7 below.

Figure 5: Side intake

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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1503
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
The longitudinal and cross - section structure of the spillway
with design parameters is shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9
below [9]:

Figure 7: Trapezoidal shape canal

For the trapezoidal shape which is the mostly applicable

type of canal structure, the cross - sectional area of the canal Figure 8: Longitudinal section of a spillway
system is given by the following formula:
1 𝑄
𝐴= 𝑥 𝑤1 + 𝑤2 𝑥 𝑕 = (15)
2 𝑈

2.2.1.3 Settling basin and forebay

(a) Settling basin

The amount of water flow discharge conveyed by the canal
is transported across the settling basin to the forebay tank.
Most of the water flowing from the canal are not clean and
they contain some debris and sand particles which must be
removed before the water enters to the forebay. The function
of the settling basin is to settle and remove the sand and Figure 9: Cross - section of a spillway
debris that have entered to the canal from the intake. It has a
gentle slope that allow sand and debris to be trapped and (b) Fore - bay (Head tank)
removed. In additional to that, settling basin structures also The forebay is the civil structure that is used as a head tank
contain other features such as spillway that removes excess to retain the required amount of water flow before allow it to
water flow that enters the intake during floods and exceed enter the penstock pipe. It is usually located at the end of the
the required flow discharge needs to be spilled away in order headrace canal just after the settling basin. The structure has
to minimize structure collapse. The other feature that is an air vent that is used to release trapped air by the water
incorporated in the spillway structure is the flushing gate entering the penstock pipe. The operation head of the
which is used to flush/remove bottom settled sand at the hydropower scheme is usually determined by the water level
basin. To determine the dimensions of the spillway structure, at the head tank. In the fore - bay structure there is also a
the following formula is used [7]: small overflow that maintain the required volumetric water
flow by spilling excess water during floods. The water flow
(𝑄𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 − 𝑄𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 ) velocity at the fore - bay is much slower than in the headrace
𝐿𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦 = (16) canal which allow the sediments to get settled down. For the
𝐶𝑤 (𝐻𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 − 𝐻𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦 )1.5 safe removal of the sediments the flushing gate or pipe is
also required at the fore - bay structure. The penstock pipe is
where; Lspillway = spillway length (m), Cw = crested weir usually connected at the end point of the fore - bay as shown
coefficient for a round edges profile which is 1.6 [8], Qflood= in Figure 10 below.
flood flow discharge (m3/s), Qdesign = design flow discharge
(m3/s), Hflood = flood level height (m), Hspillway = spillway
crest height (m), Hflood – Hspillway = Hovertop

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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1504
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ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942

Figure 10: Fore - bay layout [9]

(c) Penstock pipe better suited due to their resistance to higher water pressure
The penstock is the pipe material that conveyed the required values while at lower heads or small - scale hydropower
water flow discharge from the fore - bay/dam structure to the plants HDPE pipes are commonly used due their relatively
turbine unit. It is usually made up from different materials low cost and easy to join and repair. Other materials for the
and the commonly used materials are mild steel and HDPE penstock pipes include uPVC, concrete and ductile Iron as
pipes. At higher heads or large water volume, steel pipes are shown in the following Table 1.

Table 1: Commonly used penstock materials [10]

Material Pressure resistance Corrosion resistance Weight Easy of joining Friction loss Cost
Mild Steel Excellent Average Average Good Average Good
HDPE Good Excellent Excellent Poor Excellent Average
uPVC Good Good Excellent Good Excellent Good
Concrete Poor Excellent Poor Average Poor Average
Ductile Iron Good Good Poor Excellent Good Poor
Asbestos cement Poor Good Good Average Average Average

When water flow in the penstock pipe, the conversion of To determine the amount of water flow discharge through
potential energy of water at the penstock entry into kinetic the penstock pipe, its diameter need to be determined using
energy at the penstock exit is usually taking place as the following equation [12]:
explained in section 2.1and shown in Figure 11 below. The
recommended water flow velocity in the penstock pipe is 𝑚 𝑐2 𝑥 𝑄𝑝2 𝑥 𝐿𝑝
usually kept at a constant value between 2 – 3 m/s in order 𝑑𝑝 = (17)
𝐻
to reduce the energy loss when water velocity is much lower
or higher which will make the hydropower scheme un - where; d = diameter of the penstock pipe (m), mc = manning
economical in the power production [11]. coefficient (0.012 for mild steel pipes), Qp = water flow
discharge in the penstock pipe (m3/s) and Lp= length of the
penstock pipe (m) and H = head (m) as shown in Figure 11
below

Figure 11: Penstock pipe layout

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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1505
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
2.2.2 The power and control system components is determined by the conversion efficiency as shown in
The power and control system in the hydropower system equation 10. To maintain smooth power output, the turbine
consists of the turbine unit, generator unit and control and generators system need to be controlled. For the turbine
system. The turbine system is the prime mover that utilize system, the control action is done by the governor that
the energy of the water flow conveyed by the penstock pipe regulate the amount of water flow discharge (Q) to the
to rotate the turbine runner and produce mechanical power at turbine unit. The common types of control governors that are
the turbine shaft. The amount of mechanical power produced widely used in hydropower plants are the hydraulic -
by the hydro turbine depends on the main three parameters mechanical governor and electro - hydraulic (PID) governor
of water flow discharge (Q), head value (H) and efficiency (digital governor). During the control action, the amount
of the turbine as explained in detail in section 2.1. On the power produced by the turbine unit (Pm) is direct
other hand, this mechanical power from the turbine unit is proportional to the water flow discharge conveyed by the
used to drive the generator system to produce the electrical penstock pipe (Q) and the pressure head (H) as shown in
power. The power conversion from mechanical to electrical Figure 12 below.

Figure 12: Turbine - generator power and control system layout

From the diagram above it is noted that the turbine shaft saves the environment by reducing the greenhouse gas
power (Pm) is directly connected to the generator unit and emissions and other forms of pollution.
this causes the generator to spin and hence produce electrical (e) Reliability: - Hydropower is a very reliable technology
power (Pe) that is supplied to consumer load. In the turbine - because it is a source of electricity that stay for many
generator system the speed (RPM) and frequency (Hz) needs years in their service life. A typical hydropower plant
to be maintained at the rated value, so in this case the speed can last for a very long time if well maintained and have
signal from the turbine and frequency signal from the high load factor.
generator is fed back to the control governor to regulate the (f) Small size development is possible: - Hydropower
amount of water flow discharge (Q) in order to maintain the plants can be scaled down to small sizes that are mostly
required turbine speed and also synchronized generator applicable to small rivers and streams. The small sizes
frequency. ranges from mini, micro or pico hydropower scale and
these kinds of small - scale hydropower plants are more
2.3 Advantages of hydropower plants economical and thus can be applicable to rural and off -
grid areas for village - based electrification.
Most hydropower plants are used to generate electricity and
supply it to the consumer load demand. In large hydropower 3. Conclusion
plants, the produced electrical power is usually connected to
the national grid and distributed to the entire nation. The hydropower system uses the energy of the water flow to
Hydropower plants have a lot of advantages and some of rotate the turbine wheel to produce mechanical power at the
them include: turbine shaft which is attached to the generator system to
(a) Low operating and maintenance costs: - The cost of produce the electrical power. From the river flow, the water
running a hydropower plant is relatively low due to the is collected at the intake canal after being accumulated at the
low in labour cost because of few operators during the dam/reservoir by the intake weir structure. The water is then
normal operation. Also, most parts of the hydropower transported by the canal/conduit structure from the intake
plants have higher life time which have resulted to the through the settling basin to the head tank (forebay). At the
reduction in the maintenance cost. end of the forebay structure the penstock pipe that conveyed
(b) Energy storage: - Large hydropower plants with water flow discharge to the turbine unit is connected. At the
pumped hydro storage are used to store water energy penstock entry, the maximum potential energy (PEmax) is
during off - peak hours by pumping it to the upper obtained due to the presence of maximum water pressure
reservoir and used to produce additional power during column (H1) in the forebay. This potential energy is then
high peak demand hours. converted to maximum kinetic energy (KEmax) at the turbine
(c) No fuel cost involved: - Hydropower plants does not nozzle/jets due to the presence of maximum water flow
require any fuel to produce electrical power like most of velocity (Umax). This causes the turbine wheel to spin and
other conversional power plants. This has resulted into produce mechanical power (Pm) that drives the generator
low electricity cost as compared to other power plants system to generate electrical power (Pe) that is supplied to
which makes hydropower as one of the cheapest source the load demand (consumers) or connected to the national
of energy. grid.
(d) No air pollution: - Hydropower is the energy source
with no pollution and hence when used in a big scale it
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Paper ID: SR23919185816 DOI: 10.21275/SR23919185816 1506
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ISSN: 2319-7064
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Acknowledgement Energy and Power Engineering. Vol.4, No.4, 2015,
First and foremost, I would like to thank my Lord JESUS for pp.216 - 226. doi: 10.11648/j. ijepe.20150404.14
giving me life and good health throughout my study time
without any major problem.

Secondly, I would like to thank my wife Gladyce A. Banzi,

and my children, Miriam D. Ngoma, Nuru D. Ngoma and
Elisha D. Ngoma for their encouragement, support and
comfort throughout my research study time which gave me a
peace of mind to focus more on the studies and research
work.

Also, I would like to thank my employer, Arusha Technical

College - Tanzania for giving me the chance to come to do
research which will be beneficial to the college as well as
the country in large.

Lastly but not least, I would like to thank all the people who
have helped me in one way or another from my fellow
research students and staffs at SWAN Centre for Energy
Research and also to my colleagues and friends.

May almighty GOD bless you all.

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