Introduction to Alternative

Energies
Unit 3 – Water

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After completing this unit you will be
able to…
• Explain how a hydroelectric system generates
electricity
• Determine the amount of energy produced
from a hydroelectric system
• Describe other methods of energy from water
in motion

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• How does a
hydroelectric power
plant generate
electricity

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Water
• There is the obvious energy available from
harnessing the power from a river as we have
done for years
• Ocean energy can also be achieved from the
thermal gradient or temperature difference
• There are other forms of energy available such
as mechanical from waves, tides, and currents
• There is also chemical energy from salinity

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Hydroelectric Power
• As shown in the first unit, hydroelectric
power is one of the largest renewable
energy resourses at almost 3%
• 1880, In the United States the first
hydroelectric generator was built at Niagara
Falls
• In 1882 the world's first hydroelectric power
plant was built on the Fox River in Appleton,
Wisconsin, producing enough electricity to
light a house and nearby building
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• Today there are nearly 3000 hydroelectric
dams in the United States
• Worldwide, hydroelectric power plants
generate 675,000 megawatts, that's 2.3
trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year

Equivalent to burning 3.6 billion

barrels of oil
• The basic design of these hydroelectric power
plants is relatively simple…

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• Stored water from
a river or reservoir
enters the intake
and goes through
a control gate to
regulate the flow
• The water
continues down
the penstock to
the turbines

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• Water flows down
through the turbine,
over the blades of
the turbine, rotating
the generator shaft
• Attached to the
generator shaft is a
rotor which spins
inside the stator
causing the
generation of
electricity
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• The generated
electricity then is
stepped down in
transformers and
delivered via
power lines
• From the turbines
water goes
through the
outflow on the
other side of the
dam
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• How do you
determine the
amount of energy
produced from a
hydroelectric
system

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Hydroelectric…
Locally?
• Although we may not
have the Colorado
river in our backyard
for hydroelectric
power, we have the
energy potential of
local rivers, streams,
and ponds
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• Today there are several companies that
produce turbine/generator combinations for
residential use
• These were initially designed for “back-up”
power systems in case of power outages
• With the increase in utility costs and
environmental concerns for using fossil fuels
to produce electricity, these units are
becoming more popular as part of the primary
residential energy source

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The amount of power available from a steam,
pond, or other water source is dependent on
three main variables
1. The dynamic head, the height (in feet) difference
between the water intake and where the water
enters the turbine
2. The water flow, the amount of water that flows
through the turbine in a given time period
(typically gallons per minute)
3. The efficiency of the turbine and generator (a
percentage usually between 40% and 80%)

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Determining the Dynamic Head
• Best done with a surveyor’s transit
The average person may not have
access to these items and could use
an alternative method…
• Using a garden hose
– Route a hose from the intake location
of the water source to the lower,
turbine location
– As water flows through the tubing,
lift the lower end to stop the flow
– The distance the end is raised is the
height of the dynamic head
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Determining Flow
• Flow can be measured by channeling the
water into a container of a given volume
such as 50 gallons
• Measure the number of minutes to fill
the container
• Take the ratio of the number of gallons
over the minutes to fill to get
gallons/minute or gpm
If the 50 gallon container was filled in one
minute, the flow rate would be 50 gpm
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Determining Flow
• Another method
would be to use a weir
• Set a sheet of rigid
material with a 1 inch
wide (W) rectangular
slot cut into it in the
stream as a temporary
dam http://www.nooutage.com/hydroele.htm
• With the water flowing
through the 1 inch
wide slot
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Determining Flow
• Measure the depth
of the water
flowing through
the 1 inch wide
slot
• Measure this depth
several (1-4) feet
behind, up stream
of the weir
http://www.nooutage.com/hydroele.htm

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Determining Flow
• Knowing the depth, you can find the
corresponding flow (gpm) on the chart below

http://www.nooutage.com/hydroele.htm
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 To roughly determine the available power
(kWh) of a hydroelectric system, use the
following equation…

Output (kWh)= 0.000189 x h x Q x t x e

Where :
h is the dynamic head (feet)
Q is the flow rate (gallons per minute, gpm)
t is the time (hours)
e is the efficiency in decimal form, 75% = 0.75
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For example…
With a 65% efficient turbine/generator,
dynamic head of 12 feet, and flow rate of 80
gallons per minute (gpm), the output (kWh)
for one day (24 hours) would be

Output (kWh) = 0.000189 x h x Q x t x e

= 0.000189 x 12 x 8 x 24 x 0.65
= 2.8 kWh

Or annually 2.8 x 365 days = 1022 kWh

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• What are other
methods of
obtaining energy
from water

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Wave Energy
• Previously discussed was the large potential
energy in wind, and it was discussed
harvesting this energy over land
• Over water wind energy can be in the form of
waves
• The concept of wave energy, although not as
attractive as wind, is being studied as a
potential energy source for up to 2 TW
according to the World Energy Council

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• In the study of wave energy, there are
two main areas of concentration, the
velocity of ocean waves and wave
height
– In deep waters the wave does not
interact with the sea bottom and its
behavior is independent of depth
– In shallow waters the wave velocity
diminishes as the depth is reduced
– The height of the wave depends on the
distance the wind blows and duration of
wind blowing
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• An advantage of wave power
is it can easily be
incorporated into coastal
structures such as sea walls
and jetties
• Wave energy systems could
also be developed off-shore
using several different
systems

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Heaving buoys
• A relatively simple concept but do not appear
to be very practical at this time
• One variation is a vertical pipe fixed through
the center of a float
• As the float rides up and down the waves,
water is taken in through a one-way valve and
then forced (via the wave motion) out the top
of the pipe through a turbine generating
power

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Heaving buoys
• Another method uses an electric coil inside a
buoy with anchored magnetic shaft
• As the buoy
floats up
and down,
the coil
moves
across the
magnet
generating
electricity
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/wave-energy
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Hinged Contour Converters
• The Pelamis (shown below) is a type of hinged
contour converter
• These systems incorporate four floating buoys
attached to each other via hinges
• Hydraulic rams interconnect each of the floats
pumping hydraulic fluid into accumulators
generating electricity

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Overtopping Converters
• Relatively new design that consists of a
floating basin with arms to each side funneling
the waves toward the center of the basin
• Waves enter the center of the basin, spill over,
down through generators, and back out to sea
• The advantage of this
system is its simplicity
with no moving parts
other than the
generators themselves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_Dragon
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Shoreline Wave Energy Converters
• Shoreline wave energy converters bring the
advantage of fewer difficulties in transporting
the power inland
• There are two main types of shoreline
converters being looked at today, tapered
channel systems and the oscillating water
column

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Tapered Channel
• Just as it sounds, constructed with a tapered
channel connecting the ocean to an inland
reservoir or lake
• The channel, made from concrete walls,
tapers from the ocean side to a much smaller
width near the center of the reservoir
• As the channel walls taper, they also increase
in height
• The pumping action of the waves then forces
the water to increase in height flowing over
the high point of the channel
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• Tapered Channel
• This raises the
reservoir level to a
height above sea
level
• Water then flows
“down” to the sea
level through
generators

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Oscillating Water Column
• Although no commercial units, have built to
date, shows much promise and the concept
for these is quite simple also
• These are basically a tubular structure built on
the shoreline with one end submerged under
water and the other end above sea level
• As water flows in and out of the duct, air
pressure and suction is produced

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Oscillating Water Column
• The forward and
backward air flow drives a
special generator (Wells
turbine) that rotates in
one direction regardless
of the airflow
• The turbines rotate using
rectifiers and inverters to
get the correct AC
frequency to supply the
power grid
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Oscillating Water Column - concept

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Tidal Energy
• In the areas where there is a high and low tide,
the tides can be used with turbines as an energy
source
• The water will then flow in and out of the
turbines to generate electricity similar to using
generators in the dam of a river
• The major drawback for this method is the fact
that the tides are not as prevalent in some areas
as others, therefore, it is a viable option only for
certain areas
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Energy from Currents
• Currents are a tremendous source
of energy
• As with wind currents, water
currents vary but are much more
predictable
• According to studies, it is estimated
that ocean turbines are capable of
load factors twice that of wind

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• There are many factors that
contribute to ocean currents:
– Winds
– Salinity
– Thermal gradients
– and the rotation of the Earth
• In order to harness this
energy source, marine
turbines, similar to the wind
turbines, are used, placed in
the ocean currents
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There are several things to take into
consideration, though, with marine
turbines…

• The forces against the turbine are much

greater requiring heavier structures
• Because of the great horizontal forces,
anchoring is an issue
• Because of the saline, corrosion, biological
fouling, and cavitation or pitting can occur on
the rotors
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• Ocean turbines can operate at low rpm and
large torques
• Because of this, the power density is much
higher compared to wind turbines and,
therefore, they have a smaller footprint
• Some drawbacks though are…
– Maintenance required due to
corrosive nature of sea water and
power transmission
– Must be located some distance
from shore making maintenance
and power delivery difficult 39
Salination Energy
• Of all the potential ocean energy sources, the
salination energy of fresh water mixing with
salt water has the highest power density
• Most proposed salination engines use semi
permeable membranes which are both
expensive and short lived
• Because of this another type of salination
engine has been proposed

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• This concept uses a split chamber with salt
water on one side and fresh water on the
other
• A tube connects the top of the two chambers
with a turbine in the center
• There is a pressure differential between the
two fluids causing air to flow from one
chamber to the other turning the turbine
generating electricity

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Works Cited
Da Rosa, A. V. (2005). Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes. Burlington, MA,
USA: Elsevier Inc.
Department of Energy:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/electricity/index.cfm/mytopic=
10502

http://www.windpower.org

Research Institute for Sustainable Energy:

http://www.rise.org.au/info/Tech/wave/index.html

http://www.nooutage.com/hydroele.htm#Mesuring%20Head%20&%20Flow

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