HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

INTRODUCTION

Mini hydro power plant generation depends on falling water. Streamflow is the
fuel of a mini hydro power plant and without it, generation ceases. Accordingly,
the study of any potential mini hydro scheme must first of all address the
availability of an adequate water supply. For an ungauged watercourse, where
observations of discharge over a long period are not available involves the
science of hydrology; the study of rainfall and streamflow, the measurement of
drainage basins, catchment area, evapotranspiration and surface geology.
To estimate the water potential, it is important to know the variation of the
discharge throughout the year and how large is the gross available head. In the
best circumstances, the hydrologic authorities such as Hydrology Unit of
Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) would have installed a gauging
station, in the stretch of stream under consideration, and streamflow time series
data would have been gathered regularly over several years.
The majority of the data has been sourced from hydrological data books
published by the DID. Monthly rainfall figures from the 1960s to 1990 have been
published for all DID raingauges and more recent data can be purchased for
selected stations. Climate data is also available and this has been used to assist
in previous water balance studies of the region. There are also published
streamflow records from 1975 1990 for basic estimation.
Catchment characteristics and land use information was obtained from topo
maps, and from site investigation and reconnaissance survey during preliminary
study.
Unfortunately, it is rather unusual that regular gauging have been carried out in
the stretch of river where the development of a mini hydro scheme is proposed.
If that happen to be true it will suffice to make use one of several approaches to

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

estimate the long term average annual flow and the flow duration curve for the
stretch in question.
Whatsoever, the first step to take is to look out for streamflow in the stretch of
river in question, if possible, or if not, in other stretches of the same river or in
another similar nearby river, that permit to reconstitute the time series of the
referred stretch of river.

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

STREAMFLOW CHARACTERISTIC

A) Hydrograph

20

Discharge m3/s

15

10

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

A daily discharge data in a gauged river is plotted against time, in chronological

order as shown in the figure above is called hydrograph. This hydrograph
represent the mean average daily discharge for 365 days throughout a year.
However, a hydrograph only provides a way of seeing seasonal and yearly
changes in the flow or discharge of a river for a particular year.

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

B) Flow Duration Curve (FDC)

Another way of organizing discharge data is by plotting a flow duration curve
(FDC) that shows for a particular point on a river the proportion of time during
which the discharge there equals or exceeds certain values. It can be obtained
from the hydrograph by organizing the data by magnitude instead of
chronologically. If the individual daily flows for one year are organized in
categories: e.g.
No of days

% of the year

Flows of 8.0 m3/s and greater

41

11.23

Flows of 7.0 m3/s and greater

54

14.9

Flows of 6.5 m3/s and greater

61

16.8

Flows of 5.5 m3/s and greater

80

21.8

Flows of 5.0 m3/s and greater

90

24.66

Flows of 4.5 m3/s and greater

100

27.50

Flows of 3.0 m3/s and greater

142

39.00

Flows of 2.0 m3/s and greater

183

50.00

Flows of 1.5 m3/s and greater

215

58.90

Flows of 1.0 m3/s and greater

256

70.00

Flows of 0.35 m3/s and greater

365

100.00

then a graph called Flow Duration Curve will be obtained as shown below, which
represents the ordinates of table above arranged in order of magnitude instead
of chronologically.

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

FLOW DURATION CURVE (FDC)

Q, m/s

0
0%

20%

30%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of time discharge is equalled or exceeded

By organizing data in this system, it is possible to organize data for unlimited

available year streamflow data records. In other words, we could handle easily
thousands of daily streamflow data records and present it in FDC.

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

EVALUATING STREAMFLOWS AT UNGAUGED SITES

When there is no flow record at a particular location, standardized FDC of

nearby river which shares geological and topographic conditions with mean
flow methods also can be used to identify the potential of streams power
potential and annual energy output.
A) Standardized FDC Curves
Standardizing FDCs is to express Q in term of Q/Qm, where Qm is the mean flow.
The use of such non-dimensional ordinate allows all rivers, large and small, to be
compared on the same graph. If sufficient records are available from nearby
rivers of similar topographical character in a similar climate, this method can be
very useful.
B) Mean Flow
Mean annual flow derived from the average annual runoff depth and also the
area of the catchment. Average annual runoff depth can be obtained by map
purchased from DID and area of the catchment can be calculated on locality
maps or toposheets. The parameter is then converted to mean annual flow by:

Qmean (m3/s)

= (Avg annual runoff depth in m) x (Area in km2)

31.536

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

PROCEDURES

ESTIMATION OF PLANT CAPACITY AND ENERGY OUTPUT

FLOW DURATION CURVE (FDC)

Mean flow

Design flow

Q, m/s

Minimum technical flow

Residual flow

0
0%

20%

30%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of time discharge is equalled or exceeded

Used flow

Residual flow

The FDC provides a means of selecting the right design discharge and taking into
account the reserved flow or residual flow and the minimum technical turbine
flow, estimate the plant capacity and the average annual energy output.
Figure above illustrates an example of FDC of a site intended to evaluate. The
design flow usually is assumed where in initial approach the difference between
the mean annual flow and residual flow. However, in actual practice it is strongly
recommended to evaluate the plant for other design flows in order to choose
the one that yields the best results.
Once the design flow is defined and the net head estimated, suitable turbine
type must be identified. Every selected turbine has a minimum technical flow
and its efficiency is a function of the operating discharge.

HYDROLOGY AND ENERGY STUDIES

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Energy (E in kWh) is a function

= fn (Qmedian, Hn,, turbine, generator, transformer, parasitic, h)

The procedure to calculate the energy is by divide the useble area into vertical
5% incremental strips starting from the origin. The final strip will intersect the FDC
at Qmin or Qresidual which ever is larger. For each strip Qmedian is calculated, the
corresponding turbine is defined for the corresponding efficiency curve and the
energy contribution of the strip is calculated using the equation:

= W.Hn..turbine.generator.transformer.parasitic.h

Where,
W

= strip width

Qmedian

= flow in m3/s for incremental steps on the flow duration curve

Hn

= specified net head

= specific weight of water

turbine

= turbine efficiency, a function of Qmedian

generator

= generator efficiency

transformer

= transformer efficiency

parasitic

= parasitic loss

= number of hours for which the specified flow occurs

The gross average energy is the the sum of the energy contribution for each strip.
The capacity of the plant will be given by the product of their design flow, net
head, specific weight of water, efficiency of turbine, generator, transformer, and
parasitic electricity loss.

P = HQ