Small Scale Hydropower-Appropriate Technology for Rural Development in Lesser Developed ...

93 Pages·2016·22.22 MB·English

by  Stephen R. Harper

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Retrospective Theses and Dissertations
Summer 1980
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Stephen R. Harper
University of Central Florida
Part of the Engineering Commons
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SMALL SCALE HYDROPOWER -
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN LESSER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
BY
STEPHEN R. HARPER
B.S.E., University of Central Florida, 1979
RESEARCH REPORT
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering
in the Graduate Studies Program of the College of Engineering
at the University of Central Florida;·Orlando, Florida
Summer Quarter
1980
SMALL SCALE HYDROPOWER -
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN LESSER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
by
Stephen R. Harper
A B S T R A C T
Less Developed Countries (LDc•s) ·now have a total of about
2.8 billion people, or approximately 70 percent of the total world
population.
World populations and current energy consumption are such
( ,. l
that if all the world's countries came up to the U.S. per capita
ene_rgy use, the world's consumption would multiply by a factor
pe
of seven. F6r the energy development will an increasingly
LDc·~
important issue.
Hydropower technology is -on the shelf, and avail able now, of
proven feasibility both technically and economically, and presents
a
sound and r~.tional energy solution from the envi-ronmental view-
point. It is a technology which could be useful to the Less De
veloped Countries for the long term, _irrespective of the shift
from abundant low-cost fossfl fuel options or the development of
more exotic alternate energy technologies. With its continuing
replenishment and nondepleting characteristics, it remains one of
the most attractive sources of ene_rgy.
2
The nature of water resources includes a distributive element
which makes it ideal for rural development. The apparent shift in
deve 1o pmen t po 1 i from the tradition a1 "top-down" industria 1i za
~Y,
tion approach to the "bottoms-upll reach the village approach, re
quires decentralized applications of energy resources attainable
through development of hydropower in many regions of the world.
Distributed Small Scale Hydropower (SSH) systems offer excel-
lent opportunities to augment energy supplies to many rural areas.
Also, in a modest way the development of a community infrastructure,
training of operating and maintenance personnel, and initiation of
small scale agribusiness enterprises may be undertaken. Each of
these activities could result in relatively major contributions to
the improvement of quality of life.
SSH sites are found in abundancy in most mountainous r.egions
and offer sensible possibilities for decentralized applications
in LDC • s.
Dr. Robert D. Kersten
Director of Research Report
ACKNOWLEDGEl1E NTS
I wish to· express my deepest. gratitude to Dr. R. D. Kersten for
his patience and guidance duri.ng the course of my research. I also
wish to thank Dr. Wanielista, Dr, Yousef, and Dr. Mclellan for their
and support during course of both my graduate and
in~ight t~e under~
graduate pr.ograms.
Mostly, I would like to thank Dr. Michael Muiga, for providing
me with a feel for, and the encour.agement to commit myself to dev
elopmental work.
Last but not least, l would like to thank Susy Smith for her
never endi.ng patience in typing this manuscript, and everything else
she has done for me.
My time at the University has been as enjoyable as rewarding,
I can only hope my future endeavors turn out as well.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS. . i v
LIST OF TABLES ..
LIST OF FIGURES. . vii
Chapter
I INTRODUCTION. 1
Policy Shift ..... 2
Appropriate Technolpgy . 4
II HISTORY OF SMALL SCALE HYDROPOWER . 6
III THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF SSH SYSTEMS IN LDC1S . 19
Quality of Life ... . 19
Economic Development .... . 22--
Project Scale ..... . 23
IV ENERGY DEMANDS IN THE RURAL LDC . 26
Community Cooperatives .. 35
Loca 1 Indus try . . . . . . . 35
v SMALL SCALE HYDROPOWER - SYSTEM NEEDS • • • • • 39
Indigenous Production of Packaged Units. 39
Indigenous Support . . . . . . . . 41
El ectri ca 1 Transmission Service. . . • . . 42
Seasonal Storage . . . . . . 43
Selection of Feasible Sites. 44
Available Power. . . . . . 46
VI 11APPROPRIATEu SSH TECHNOLOGY.. . . . • . . 49
Hydraulic Turbines . . . . . . . . . . • 49
Water Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Co mrne r ci a1 1 y Ava i 1 ab 1e Pack_ag e Un i t s . . . . . 53
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
Chapter Page
VII SSH ECONOMICS. 61
VIII CASE STUDIES . 67
Republic of China ... . 67
T~e~ Peeple•s
Pan am a. . . . . . . . . . . . . • . 70
New Guinea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Morocco . . . . . . 72
. . . . . . . .
IX SUr1r1ARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . • 77
Recommendations for Future Research . 79
. • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
RE FE REN CES • •
v
-
' LIST OF TABLES
Number · ·T itle
1 Compendium of the Sixth Census--Watermills in
1840. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 Hydro-electric Power Development in Selected
Countries, l927-1950. . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Presently Available Energy Technologies Vs.
Scale .•.... ·. •....· . . . . . 25
· 4 Rura 1 Energy Demands (KWH/Day/Capita) For Se 1e cted
LDC's .. •...... . . (. . . . . . 29
5 World Water-power Capacity . . • . . . . . . . . . 31
6 Residential Developmental Classification System
by Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7 Industrial Development Classification System by
Tools •.•........... 36
8 Turbine and Water Wheel Efficiencies . 47
9 Estimated Costs of SSH Units 63
Typical Unit Cost of Various Energy Schemes. 66
10
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Number · ·ri tle Page
.l A water mill of the Norse type used in Shetland
until recently. The blades clear
were~ lifted
of the stream by the rope. . . • . . . . . . . 7
2 Model of an undershot Roman water wheel from
Venafro, near Cassino, Italy. It is recon
structed from impressions left in lava that ·._.::
had flowed over the mill. Scale 1/30. . . . . 8
3 Typical overshot water wheel with side-shroudings
removed. C 1600 . . . . • . . . · 9
4 The progress of waterpower techno 1o gy . . 12
5 Fifty horsepower Fourneyron turbine, 1832 . 14
6 Francis turbine runner ... 16
7 Selected LDC's energy consumption and production
in millions of metric tons of coal equivalent. 30
8 World hydropower installed capacity with time 32
9 Dams for use with small heads .. 45
10 Pelton and Turgo impulse turbines 50
ll Crossflow turbine unit ...... . 51
12 Section through Mini -Hyde 1 power generati.ng sta-
tion under des.i gn deve 1 opment. . . . . . . . . 54
1 3 Ossberger Asynchronous sets .. 56
Generati~g
14 Independent Power•s high head package 57
15 Independent Power's low ~ead package. 58
. . . . . .
16 Hoppes hydro-electric unit. 59
vii
LIST OF FIGURES (Continued)
Number Title
Typical Jyott Horizontal Hydel set compr1s1ng
1 7
horizontal Francis Turbine or Turgo- ·
Impulse or Pelton Wheel as the
~rime­
mover, besides other major constituents
like alternator,_ governor and panel, etc .. 60
18 Small hydro-electric stations (averaging 40. K\~)
in South China ....... . 68
19 Papua and New Guinea electricity . 73
20 Morocco e 1e ctri city. . . . • . . . 75
viii