MICRO-TURBINE INSTALLATION FEASIBILITY IN BULK WATER

RETICULATION PIPELINES
Clifford Hakimi-Khiabani and Ilyas Omar
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an economic and theoretical
feasibility study of the application of Micro Hydro
Turbines at a case study Pressure Regulating Valve
(PRV) site in a South African municipalitys bulk
water supply system.
By examining data collected from the case study site it
is possible to determine the flow rate available and
pressure of the supply water flowing through the PRV
system. Using this data it is possible to determine the
theoretical power production capabilities of this case
study site.
The overall results of the study show a promising
theoretical production capacity of about 39000 kWh
per annum from the installation of Micro Hydro
Turbines at the case study PRV site, equating to a
electricity cost saving of around R48 000 .
1.

INTRODUCTION

South Africa has over the previous four years experienced

high annual electrical tariff increases of over 20% as the
main utility provider Eskom further struggles to maintain
capacity to supply the countrys growing electrical
demands. As a result there is a renewed drive for the
generation of power from alternative smaller sources to
supplement the reliance on Eskom.
One such source thus has been identified is the possible
use of excess pressure at existing Pressure Regulating
Valve (PRV) sites. As a new alternative in the production
of electricity in South Africa there is a possibility of
optimizing the current PRVs layout to incorporate Micro
Hydro Turbine (MHT) technology in order for them to
produce electrical power.
This power could be directly utilized by community
projects such as community centres, religious institutions
and local sports facilities and complexes to supplement
their power consumption. Alternatively, with the use of
battery banks the energy could be used for added
community street lighting, which would be beneficial to
the safety and security of the community. Further it could
be utilized to power water pumping stations and water
treatment plants, essentially creating self sufficient
services with reduced dependency on Eskom for supply.
A local municipality utilizes PRVs to regulate the water
pressure from the high pressure main water pipes to a
lower constant pressure for delivery to the end user.

Due to the high elevation of the water sources and

treatment plants for the water with respect to that of the
users, there is often a greater delivery pressure than
required. This excess pressure, if not regulated, would
cause large losses through pressure leakages and pipe
breakages. This pressure reduction by the PRVs is a
wasted source of energy waiting to be utilized.
In all developed high population or high industry areas
there is a domestic supply of water. This supply is a
complex system of catchment, treatment and supply,
which is all connected by a vast pipe network. This
supply caters for the requirements of the users including
domestic, commerce or large industry. This supply has to
be kept under a certain amount of pressure at all times to
allow for constant flow rates of water for peak and
minimum demand to all users.
However, this is not a constant pressure and when there is
high usage or during peak periods an increased pressure is
necessary to provide all users with usable flow rate. So
during low usage periods this pressure becomes excessive
and causes leakages and pipe breakages. As a method of
regulating the pressure in the pipe networks a local
municipality began a programme in 1999/2000 to install
PRVs. These valves were situated at sites identified as
having high leakage losses due to pressure.(Engelbrecht
et al. n.d). The PRVs work by reducing the pressure from
the initial high pressure supply line from the source or
treatment plant to a lower pressure which can be utilized
by the consumer. The layout of the currently installed
PRVs can be seen below in figure 1.

Figure 1: System Layout and Suggested Turbine Positioning

(Adapted from City of Cape Town, 2010)

As an alternative a local municipality approached the

Cape Peninsula University of Technology to research and
recommend suitable turbine technology to harness the

hydraulic energy in the bulk water supply at the PRV sites

and/or replace the standard PRVs.

required to determine the project suitability and

determine the electrical cost savings per year.

More specifically, the purpose of the project was to obtain

the theoretical power production capabilities of the
selected case site.

3.

CASE STUDY

3.1

BACKGROUND

2.

METHODOLOGY

The first stage of this study is to assess the requirements

for the installation of the Micro Hydro Turbines (MHTs).
This is to include a full research review into all aspects of
the existing systems infrastructure and their functionality.
Further investigation into existing similar projects to gain
insight into the workings of the system in order to
identify suitable sites and select a case study site was
then conducted.

3.2

This data contained flow rates, total water usage and

pressures upstream and downstream of the PRV supplied
by readings taken every 15 minutes. Shown in figure 3 are
the Upstream and Downstream pressure with the area
between the graph lines being the usable pressure
difference for a sample week in January 2010.

To conduct the study site data was required. This data

was supplied by the local municipality over the duration
of a year. Based on the need for certain conditions for the
system, the approach was taken to consider only high
flow rate areas and those with high pressure difference
over the PRV. For example, since the fire hydrant and
potable water supply lines are fed with the same main
high pressure line, the selection and location of the case
study needs to take this into account. From the supplied
data it was possible to determine the theoretical power
production figures. These figures provided the results

650
600
550
500
450
400

Pressure UP (kPa)
Pressure DN (kPa)
2010/01/01 00:00
2010/01/01 10:30
2010/01/01 21:00
2010/01/02 07:30
2010/01/02 18:00
2010/01/03 04:30
2010/01/03 15:00
2010/01/04 01:30
2010/01/04 12:00
2010/01/04 22:30
2010/01/05 09:00
2010/01/05 19:30
2010/01/06 06:00
2010/01/06 16:30
2010/01/07 03:00
2010/01/07 13:30

Figure 2: Possible Turbine Installation (Adapted from HRC,

2013)

FINDINGS AND RESULTS

Long-term data was used in the analysis. This data was

downloaded from online recordings from an online based
automated data logger. The period of data used extended
from the 1 January 2010 to the 31 December 2010 as this
is the most recent data available. The months of August
and September are excluded as this data was corrupted
and incomplete.

kPa

As part of the background research it was required to

investigate possible turbine designs which could be
utilized for the application. The turbine designs suitable
for use in each case depend highly on the conditions
experienced at each PRV site in terms of the flow rates
and available pressure head. It was found that the uses of
both axial and centrifugal turbines could be easily
utilized. As downstream pressure for water delivery is
required the Pelton wheel type turbine was ruled out due
the total use of all pressure available. A possible type of
installation making use of an axial Micro Hydro Turbine
can be seen below in figure 2.

The case study site is a medium sized lower income

residential suburb situated in an out lying area of one of
South Africas largest Cities, with a population of around
47 000 residents and a total annual water usage of 1 517
381 kl. Since it is a residential area, it experiences night
time and mid day low demand periods with peaks being in
the morning and early evening.

Days
Figure 3: Upstream and Downstream Pressure 1-7 January 2010

Therefore using the pressure data in conjunction with the

flow rate data as shown in figure 4 the theoretical power
production of the MHT system can be calculated. The
assumptions of a constant Micro Hydro Turbine
efficiency of 85% and an ability to produce power
throughout the pressure and flow rate ranges were made,
since variations in these can only be determined based on
a turbines individual specifications.

2010/01/01 00:00
2010/01/01 08:00
2010/01/01 16:00
2010/01/02 00:00
2010/01/02 08:00
2010/01/02 16:00
2010/01/03 00:00
2010/01/03 08:00
2010/01/03 16:00
2010/01/04 00:00
2010/01/04 08:00
2010/01/04 16:00
2010/01/05 00:00
2010/01/05 08:00
2010/01/05 16:00
2010/01/06 00:00
2010/01/06 08:00
2010/01/06 16:00
2010/01/07 00:00
2010/01/07 08:00
2010/01/07 16:00

Flowrate (l/s)

200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

Figure 4: Flow rate figures for 1-7 January 2010

8
6

2
0

2010/01/01
2010/01/01
2010/01/01
2010/01/01
2010/01/02
2010/01/02
2010/01/02
2010/01/02
2010/01/03
2010/01/03
2010/01/03
2010/01/03
2010/01/04
2010/01/04
2010/01/04
2010/01/04
2010/01/05
2010/01/05
2010/01/05
2010/01/05
2010/01/06
2010/01/06
2010/01/06
2010/01/06
2010/01/07
2010/01/07
2010/01/07

kW

kWh

Figure 5: Theoretical Power Production 1-7 January

6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Figure 6: Theoretical kWh production per month for 2010

Using the equation

Where:
H = Available head (m)
Q = Flow rate
g =
= Density =
k = Efficiency factor = 0.85
It becomes possible to calculate the power being produced
at the time of each data reading. The resulting values for
the power production for the January sample week are
shown in figure 5.

As shown the maximum power available for the sample

week in January is found to be 7.7197 kW with a
minimum of 0.615 kW. The average power output was
determined to be 2.227 kW over the sample week.
As power is only instantaneous it is advantageous to
display the turbine output in kWh as this is also the
standard unit of energy purchase.The total theoretical
production for 2010 can be seen in figure 6.
With the exclusion of August and September it is possible
to determine the total theoretical power output for 2010 to
be 32415.716 kWh with an average production of 3241.57
kWh and April being the most productive month with a
production of 5290.67 kWh. Based on the monthly

average it is possible to expect an annual production of

38898.86 kWh.
3.3
POTENTIAL
SAVINGS

ENERGY

AND

COST

As seen in the preceding section, with a theoretical power

production of 32415.716 kWh over the study period, it is
possible to extrapolate this to calculate the total power
production per annum of 38898.86 kWh.
With Eskom utility tariffs averaging 122.21 c/kWh for a
medium user household or facility, it is theoretically
possible to save a total of R47 538.30 per annum should
this power be supplemented in favour of Eskom supplied
power. For example, with the production calculated it is
possible to fully power a small community library which
provides internet access with six computers and small
conference facilities which operates from 9am to 5pm
during week days which will utilize 37128 kWh per
annum. The power supplied to the library would save
them R45 374.24 annually. This library would benefit the
community at large by providing much needed
educational resources and facilities. After powering the
community library the remaining surplus of 1770.856
kWh of power may be utilized to supply further
community projects or street lighting for the area directly
around the library allowing for a more visible and safer
area.
4.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that it is theoretically possibly to

implement Micro Hydro Turbines at the case study PRV
site with a significant power production capability of
38898.86 kWh over the study period. Extending this to
other PRV sites would have the cumulative effect of
providing large sources of renewable energy in the form
of MHTs from the municipal bulk water supply system.
The cost savings would thus be multiplied by the extent
of the implementation, and could become appreciable
depending on the scale of expansion .
5.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are based on the
conclusions emanating from the study.
Further work should be conducted as the possibilities this
project presents are significant in energy and cost saving
terms. It is suggested that further work in the field of
turbine control be conducted as the mechanisms that
could control the load on the turbine and thus determine
the pressure usage, have been omitted from the current
study. It would be necessary to do costing for such project
implementation in order to determine the financial
feasibility of the project based on its total cost versus
annual cost savings of electricity.

6.

REFERENCES

City of Cape Town. February 2010. Belhar Advanced

Pressure Management Project.
Engelbrecht, M., Meyer, N. & Wright, D. No Date. Large
Scale Pressure Management Implementation in The City
of Cape Town. Cape Town
Eskom. 2013. Average Price Increases
http://www.eskom.co.za/c/article/143/average-priceincreases/ [19 May 2013]
HRC. 2013. 20kW Micro Hydraulic Generator Turbine
Units. Hangzhou, China
7.

AUTHORS

Principal Author: Clifford Hakimi-Khiabani completed

the National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering at Cape
Peninsula University of Technology in 2012. He is
currently completing Bachelors degree in Mechanical
Engineering.
Co-Author: Ilyas Omar holds a B. Sc (Mech. Eng) and
HDE (Tech) from the University of Cape Town. He
currently lectures in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(Bellville). He also supervises student projects in the field
of Energy Engineering and co-ordinates the
Environmental Engineering course.
Presenter: The paper is presented by Clifford HakimiKhiabani