A Study of Hydroelectric Power Supply in the West of Algeria

Abstract

There is a growing awareness that climate change is causing major disruptions to the environment with rising sea levels, disruptions to wildlife and plants, and impacting agriculture, health and countries’ economies. Huge amounts of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil and gas) are being burnt causing the release of record levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Presently, Algeria has enough hydrocarbon reserves that cover its present energy needs. Alternative energy resources, namely renewable energies have to be developed in order to both provide for its future energy needs and as alternative sources of income as well. One of the renewable energy resources that can be developed is hydroelectric energy from water supply networks. In this thesis, a study is presented of the performance of a micro-hydropower plant by using supply water system. A water supply network in the west of Algeria with high enough piezometric head is considered to be an important source of hydroelectric power generation. The Belgaid-Kristel water supply system is taken as the present case study. Both design and cost analyses have been carried out of a micro hydro power station mounted on this supply system. If 100% efficiency is considered, the generated power reaches 136KW. However, if total head loss is deducted and considering an overall efficiency of 95%, the generated power reaches 135 KW. The Pelton turbine was selected according to the head an flow rate available The major design parameters are the number of buckets Nozzle diameter, and rotational speed. An experimental study was performed in order to compare the performances of both impulse and reaction turbines have shown the following: Both efficiency and power output for both types of turbines show an increase with increasing flow rate. They also increase with increasing turbine speed reaching a maximum value before decreasing. It was noted that for a given pump speed, maximum efficiency and brake power for the impulse turbine always occur at the same turbine speed at all flow rates.