Subject:

Reneable Energy Power plants

(Open Elective)
Subject Code: 21ME652
Scheme: 2021
 Syllabus

Module-1 Introduction: Energy source, India’s production and reserves of commercial

energy sources, need for nonconventional energy sources, energy alternatives, India and
global energy Scenerio
Solar Radiation: Extra-Terrestrial radiation, spectral distribution of extra-terrestrial
radiation, solar constant, solar radiation at the earth’s surface, beam, diffuse and global
radiation, solar radiation data. Measurement of Solar Radiation: Pyrometer, shading ring
pyrheliometer, sunshine recorder, schematic diagrams and principle of working, actinometer
and bolometer
Module-2 Solar Radiation Geometry: Flux on a plane surface, latitude, declination angle,
surface azimuth angle, hour angle, zenith angle, solar altitude angle expression for the angle
between the incident beam and the normal to a plane surface (No derivation) local apparent
time. Apparent motion of sum, day length, numerical examples.
Solar Thermal Systems: Flat plate collector, Evacuated Tubular Collector, Solar air
collector, Solar concentrator, Solar distillation, Solar cooker, Thermal energy storage systems,
Solar Pond, Solar Chimney (Tower).

Solar Photovoltaic Systems: Introduction, Solar cell Fundamentals, Characteristics and

classification, Solar cell: Module, panel and array construction.

Module-3 Wind Energy: Properties of wind, availability of wind energy in India, wind
velocity and power from wind; major problems associated with wind power, wind machines;
Types of wind machines and their characteristics, horizontal and vertical axis wind mills,
elementary design principles; coefficient of performance of a wind mill rotor, aerodynamic
considerations of wind mill design, numerical examples.
Energy from Biomass: Energy plantation, bio gas production from organic wastes by
anaerobic fermentation, description of bio-gas plants, transportation of bio-gas, problems
involved with bio-gas production, application of bio-gas, application of bio-gas in engines,
cogeneration plant advantages & dis-advantages.
Module :4Hydroelectric plants: Advantages & disadvantages of waterpower, Hydrographs
and flow duration curves-numericals, Storage and pondage, General layout of hydel power
plants- components such as Penstock, surge tanks, spill way and draft tube and their
applications, pumped storage plants, Detailed classification of hydroelectric plants.

Tidal Power: Tides and waves as energy suppliers and their mechanics, fundamental
characteristics of tidal power, harnessing tidal energy, limitations of tidal energy.

Energy from ocean waves: Wave energy conversion, Wave energy technologies, advantages,
and disadvantages.

Module: 5 Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: Principle of working, Rankine cycle,

OTEC power stations in the world, problems associated with OTEC, case studies.
Geothermal energy: Introduction, Principle of working, types of geothermal stations with
schematic diagram Estimates of Geothermal Power, Nature of geothermal fields, Geothermal
resources, Hydrothermal, Resources Geo pressured resources, Hot dry rock resources of
petro-thermal systems, Magma Resources-Interconnection of geothermal fossil systems,
Advantages, and disadvantages of geothermal energy over other energy forms, Geothermal
stations in the world.
 Module-1 Introduction

Introduction
The word energy‘ itself is derived from the Greek word ‗en-ergon, which means in-work’ or
work content. The work output depends on the energy input. Energy is the most basic infra-
structure input required for economic growth & development of a country.Thus, with an increase
in the living standard of human beings, the energy consumption alsoaccelerated.
A systemic study of various forms of energy & energy transformations is called energy
science. While fossil fuels will be the main fuel for thermal power, there is a fear that they will
get exhausted eventually in the next century. Therefore other systems based on non-
conventional & renewable sources are being tried by many countries. These are solid, wind,
sea, geothermal & bio-mass.

Classification of Energy Sources

Energy can be classified into several types based on the following criteria
Based on usability of Energy – Primary and Secondary sources
 Primary resources - are those that are embodied in nature, common primary energy sources
are coal, oil, natural gas, sunlight, wind and biomass (such as wood). Other primary energy
includes nuclear energy from radioactive substances like uranium etc. these resources
generally available in raw form. These resources are extracted, processed and converted to
a form required by the consumer.
 Secondary resources – are supplied directly to consumer for utilization after one or more
steps of transformation e.g., electrical energy and thermal energy
Based on Long-term Availability – Renewable and Non-renewable

 Renewable sources – which are obtained from sources that are essentially
inexhaustible. Examples wind, solar, tidal and geo-thermal etc.,

 Non-renewable sources – which are finite, do not get replenished after their
consumption or these sources are exhaustible do not quickly replenished. Examples
fossil fuels, nuclear etc.,

Based on traditional use – Conventional and Non-conventional

 Conventional – energy resources which are being traditionally used for many decades and
were common in use around oil crisis of 1973. E.g., fossil fuels, nuclear and hydro-
resources.
 Non- conventional – energy resources which are considered for large scale use after the oil crisis
of 1973. E.g., solar, wind, biomass etc
Based on commercial Application
 Commercial Energy resource - energy sources that are available in the market for a
definite price. In the industrialized countries, commercialized fuels are predominant
source not only for economic production, but also for many household tasks of general
population. Examples electricity, coal and refined petroleum products.
 Non-Commercial Energy - energy sources that are not available in the commercial
market for a price. which are traditionally gathered, and not bought at a price used
especially in rural households.
 Examples Firewood, agricultural waste in rural areas; solar energy for water heating, electricity
generation, for drying grain, animal power for transport, wind energy for lifting water and
electricity generation.
India’s production & reserves of commercial sources
 Fossil fuels – i.e., solid fuel coal including anthracite, bituminous, peat and
lignite, liquid fuels including petroleum and its derivatives and natural gas.
 Hydro-power
 Energy of nuclear fission
 Minor sources of energy include sun, wind, tides, geo-thermal etc.,
 Coal and Lignite

Coal is highly carbonaceous material formed when dead plant submerged in swamp
environments is subjected to the geological forces of heat and pressure over hundreds of
millions of years.
 Coal - has been considered as the major source of energy in India. It can be easily
converted into other forms of energy such as electricity, gas and oil.
 The total estimate resources of coal are now placed at 1, 48, 79 million tonnes, but themineable
reserves are estimated to be 80,000 million tonnes i.e., on 55% of the totalcoal reserves.
 Lignite is brown coal with lesser amount of energy. In 1950-51, production of coal and
lignite in India was 32.3 million tonnes which increased to 413 million tonnes in2004-05.

Oil and Natural Gas

Demand for fossil fuels grew rapidly with the growth of the industrial sector and transport
services. After Independence, the Government of India felt the need for oil exploration on an
extensive scale, and therefore, (ONGC) was set up in 1956, and (OIL) was established in the
year 1959.
 Total recoverable reserves of oil are estimated at 550 million tonnes and those of gas are
estimated at 500 billion cubic tonnes.
 Production of crude oil is estimated in 2004- 05 at about 54 million tonnes and only10 % of
the total potential has been utilized.
Hydroelectric power
It plays an important role in the field of power development in India, our country has made
considerable progress in the field of hydroelectricity power generation.
 It is the most economical source of power
 There no environmental pollution problem
 There is no waste disposal problem
 The annual hydroelectric potential is estimated to be around 90,000 MW (Mega-watt). Out of
this, so far about 18,000 MW has been developed. This mean that only 20% of the total
potential has been utilized.
Atomic or Nuclear Power
India has also developed nuclear power. Uranium and thorium are both sources of nuclear
power generation. India’s uranium reserves have been estimated to be of the order of about
70,000 tonnes, which is equal to 120 billion tonnes of coal.
Similarly, our thorium reserves of 3, 60,000 tonnes would be equivalent to 600 billion tonnes of
coal.

 Considering the availability of uranium and thorium, the government of India tooksteps in
setting up nuclear power plants at Tarapur (Maharashtra) , Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) during 1984-
86, Narora (Uttar Pradesh) during 1989-91 and only 3% of thetotal potential has been utilized.

Non-commercial energy sources

 Fuelwood – used for cooking purpose its estimated about 223 million tonnes in 2020-21.
 Agricultural waste -It is also used how for cooing purpose its estimated about 65 million
tonnes in 2001.
 Animal dung commonly used as fuel in our rural India, out of the total estimated
production of 324 million tonnes of animal dung, nearly 73 million tonnes and only 10% of the
total potential is burnt as fuel every year.

Importance of Non-commercial energy resources:

The concern for environmental due to the ever increasing use of fossil fuels & rapid depletion of
these resources has led to the development of alternative sources of energy, which are
renewable & environmental friendly. Following points may be mentioned in thisconnection.
1) The demand of energy is increasing by leaps & bounds due to rapid industrialization &
population growth, the conventional sources of energy will not be sufficient to meet the
growing demand.
2) Conventional sources (fossil fuels, nuclear) also cause pollution;there by their use degrade
the environment.
3) Conventional sources (except hydro) are non-renewable & bound to finish oneday.
4) Large hydro-resources affect wild-life, cause deforestation & pose various social problems,
due to construction of big dams.
5) Fossil fuels are also used as raw materials in the chemical industry (for chemicals,
medicines, etc ) & need to be conserved for future generations.
Due to these reasons it has become important to explore & develop non-
conventional energy resources to reduce too much
dependence on conventional resources. However, the present trend development of nces
indicates that these will serve as supplements rather than substitute for conventional sources
forsome more time to time.
SALIENT FEATURES OF NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES

Advantages

 NCES are available in nature, free of cost.

 They cause no or very little pollution. Thus, by and large,they are
environmental friendly.
 They are inexhaustible.
 They have low gestation period.

Disadvantages
 Though available freely in nature, the cost of harnessing energy from NCES is high, as in
general, these are available in dilute forms of energy.
 Uncertainty of availability: the energy flow depends on various natural
phenomena beyond human control.
 Difficulty in transporting this form of energy.
Indian and Global energy scenario:

World energy scenario

 India’s energy scenario

India has a good resource of both commercial and non-commercial energy sources. The
commercial sources include fossil fuels, water power and nuclear power. The non-commercial
sources are fire wood and agricultural wastes.

Coal: The coal production in india in 1950 was about 35MT per year, which has increased to
about 220 MT/year in 1990, and 414 MT/year in 2006. Thus the production has increased by
about 12 times in a span of 50 years. India has a good reserve of coal. It is estimated that the
coking and non-coking coal reserves together is about 84000 MT.

Oil: the production of crude oil in india in 1950 was about 0.25 MT, which increased to about
33 MT in 2003. The low production in fifties was due to non-discovery of proper crude
resources. However, it increased in late sixties due to crude oil discoveries in Assam and
Gujarath. In seventies it was further increased with better resources in the western coast of
india. The present day reserves of crude oil are estimated around 760 MT. It is believed that, an
estimated reserves of about 1000MT of crude is available both on the eastern and western
coasts of india. 3.

Natural Gas: It is estimated that the useful natural gas reserves in indiaareabout 920 billion
cubic metres (2003 estimates), which are derived along withcrude oil. India is producing about
32 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. At this production rates, the Indian gas reserves
may last about 30 years. Water Power: In India, a major contribution of the power generation
comes from water power.Initially, it was about 40 percent of the total power generation (1980).
Now it has steadily reduced, and is about 2.5% of the total power generated (by 2006). It is
estimated that the total

water power reserve in our country are about 150000 Mw (2006), out of which only about
32000 MW water power is being utilised. That means only about one-fifth the potential of
hydro power is utilized, and a large amount of hydro power is yet to be developed. Hence,
about 80% of the water power reserves are still available for use in India.

Nuclear Power: India has established its capability to design, build and operate nuclear power
plants on its own. It has come out its dependence for nuclear technology on the Russian and
Western countries. The present installed capacity of nuclear power plants is about 3300 MW,
and consists of two Boiling Water Reactors and twelve Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors.
These reactors contribute to about 3% of total power generated in the country. Eight more
reactors, with a total capacity of 3420 MW, are under construction at different parts of the
country. The main nuclear fuel is uranium and the estimated reserves of this fuel are about
60000 tonnes in India

Solar Radiation & Measurement:

Energy from the sun is called solar energy. The Sun’s energy comes from nuclear fusion reaction
that takes place deep in the sun. Hydrogen nucleus fuses into helium nucleus. The energy from
these reactions flow out from the sun and escape into space. Solar energy is sometimes called
radiant energy. These are different kinds of radiant energy emitted by sun. The most important
are light infrared rays. Ultra violet rays, and X- Rays.
All life on the earth depends on solar energy. Green plants make food by means of
photosynthesis. Light is essential for this process to take place. This light usually comes from
sun. Animal get their food from plants or by eating other animals that feed on plants. Plants and
animals also need some heat to stay alive. Thus plants are store houses of solar energy. The solar
energy that falls on India in one minute is enough to supply the energy needs of our country for
one day. Man has made very little use of this enormous amount of solar energy that reaches the
earth.

Solar Constant:
The rate at which solar energy arrives at the top of the atmosphere is called solar constant Isc.
This is the amount of energy received in unit time on a unit area perpendicular to the sun’s
direction at the mean distance of the earth from the sun. The value of Solar constant is taken as
1367 W/m2.
The distance between the earth and the sun varies a little through the year. Because of this
variation, the extra – terrestrial flux also varies. The earth is closest to the sun in the summer and
farthest away in the winter.

Where n is the day of the year.

Extraterrestrial radiation: Solar radiation incident outside the earth's atmosphere
is called extraterrestrial radiation. On average the extraterrestrial irradiance is 1367
Watts/meter2 (W/m2).
This value varies by ±3% as the earth orbits the sun. The earth's closest approach
to the sun occurs around January 4th and it is furthest from the sun around July 5th.
Spectral distribution of Extra-terrestrial radiation:

The sun radiates energy in all the wave lengths (0 to ∞). Solar radiation spectrum is close to that
of a black body with a temperature of around 5800 K.
 About half of that lies in the visible short wave part and other half mostly near the
infrared part; some also lies in the UV part of the spectrum.
 Spectrum of electromagnetic radiation striking Earth’s atmosphere (100 to 106 nm) is
divided in to five regions.
 Ultraviolet C : 100 to 280 nm:- Invisible to human eye, mostly absorbed by lithosphere.
 Ultraviolet B : 280 to 315 nm:- Mostly absorbed by atmosphere, responsible for
photochemical reaction leading to ozone layer.
 Ultraviolet A : 315 to 400 nm:- Considered less damaging to DNA.
 Visible range:- 400 to 700 nm
 Visible range:- 700 to 106 nm:- An important part of the electromagnetic radiation
reaching earth. It is divided in to three parts
 Infrared A : 700 to 1400 nm
 Infrared B : 1400 to 3000 nm
 Infrared C : 3000 to 1 Mm
 Maximum value of Solar radiation Intensity = 2074 W/m2 occurs at 0.48 μm wavelength.
 99% of solar radiation is obtained up to a wavelength of 4 μm.
Solar Radiation at the Earth’s Surface: The solar radiation that penetrates the earth’s
atmosphere and reaches the surface differs in both amount and character from the radiation at the
top of the atmosphere. Solar radiation received at the earth’s surface is in the attenuated form
because it is subjected to the mechanisms of absorption and scattering as it passes through the
earth’s atmosphere. Absorption occurs primarily because of the presence of ozone and water
vapour in the atmosphere and lesser extent due to other gases( like CO2, NO2, CO,O2 and CH4)
and particulate matter. It results in an increase in the internal energy of the atmosphere. On the
other hand, scattering occurs due to all gaseous molecules as well as particulate matter in the
atmosphere. The scattered radiation is redistributed in all directions, some going back to the
space and some reaching the earth’s surface.
Solar radiation received at the earth’s surface without change of direction i.e, in line with the
sun is called direct radiation or beam radiation.
The radiation received at the earth’s surface from all parts of sky’s hemisphere (after being
subjected to scattering in the atmosphere) is called diffuse radiation.

The sum of beam radiation and diffuse radiation is called as total or global radiation.

Beam, Diffuse beam and global radiation:

 Solar Radiation Data:
Solar radiation data are available in several forms and should include the following
information’s:-
Whether they are instantaneous measurement or values integrated over some period of time
(Usually hour or day).
 The time or time period of measurements.
 Whether the measurements are of direct, diffuse and total radiation, and the instrument
used.
 Receiving surface orientation.
 If averaged, the period over which they are averaged (e.g., monthly average of daily
radiation).
Most of the data on solar radiation received on the surface of the earth rare measured by
solarimeter which give readings for instantaneous measurements at rate throughout the day for
total radiation on a horizontal surface. Integrating the plot of rate of energy received per unit
area per unit time over a whole day gives the langleys of radiation received on a horizontal
surface. (Solar radiation flux is reported in langleys per hour per day, 1 langley = 1cal/cm2).
Measurement of Solar Radiation:
Solar radiation data are measured mainly by the following instruments:
(1) Pyranometer: A pyranometer is designed to measure global radiation, usually on a
horizontal surface, but can also be used on an inclined surface. When shaded from beam
radiation by using a shading ring, a pyranometer measures diffused radiation.
(2) Pyrheliometer: An instrument that measures beam radiation by using a long narrow tube
to collect only beam radiation from the sun at normal incidence.
(3) Sunshine Recorder: It measures the sunshine hours in a day.
i) Pyranometer:
A pyranometer is an instrument which measure’s either global or diffuse radiation falling on a
horizontal surface over a hemispherical field of view. A sketch of one type of pyranometer as
installed for measuring global radiation is shown in the following figure.
Pyranometer consists of a black surface which heats up when exposed to solar radiation. Its
temperature increases until the rate of heat gain by solar radiation equals the rate of heat loss by
convection, conduction and radiation. The hot junctions of thermopile are attached to the black
surface, while the cold junctions are located under a guard plate so that they do not receive the
radiation directly. As a result an emf is generated. This emf which is usually in the range of 0 t0
10mv can be read, recorded Pyranometer can also be used for measurement of diffuse radiation.
This is done by mounting it at the center of a semicircular shading ring. The shading ring is fixed
in such a way that its plane is parallel to the plane of path of sun’s daily movement across the sky
and it shades the thermopile element and two glass domes of pyranometer at all the times from
direct sun shine. Consequently the pyranometer measures only the diffuse radiation received
from the sky.
ii) Pyrheliometer
This is an instrument which measures beam radiation falling on a surface normal to the sun’s
rays. In contrast to a pyranometer, the black absorber plate (with hot junctions of a thermopile
attached to it) is located at the base of a collimating tube. The tube is aligned with the direction
of the sun’s rays with the help of a two-axis tracking mechanism and alignment indicator. Thus
the black plate receives only beam radiation and a small amount of diffuse radiation falling
within the acceptance angle of the instrument

1. Tube blackened on inside surface

2. Baffle,
3. Alignment indicator
4. Black absorber plate
5. Thermopile junctions
6. Two-axis tracking mechanism

Pyrheliometer
Sun Shine Recorder:

The duration of bright sun shine in a day is measured by means of a sunshine recorder. The sun’s
Rays are focused by a glass sphere to a point on a card strip held in a groove in a spherical bowl
mounted concentrically with the sphere. Whenever there is bright sunshine, the image formed is
intense enough to burn a spot on the cord strip. Thoughout the day as the sun moves across the
sky, the image moves along the strip. Thus, a burnt trace whose length is proportional to the
duration of sunshine is obtained on the strip.
Actinometer:

An actinometer is an instrument that can measure the heating power of radiation. Actinometers
are used in meteorology to measure solar radiation as pyranometers, pyrheliometers and net
radiometers.
An actinometer is a chemical system or physical device which determines the number of photons
in a beam integrally or per unit time. This name is commonly applied to devices used in
the ultraviolet and visible wavelength ranges. For example, solutions of iron(III) oxalate can be
used as a chemical actinometer, while bolometers, thermopiles, and photodiodes are physical
devices giving a reading that can be correlated to the number of photons detected.