Publicação
Design of a small-scale pico-hydro system using pumps as turbines
| Resumo: | New approaches to renewable energy sources and the growing interest in clean energy technologies nowadays are related to the context of the war in Europe, rising electricity prices, depletion of fossil fuel reserves, and environmental issues. Still, many European countries can develop and exploit the untapped potential of hydropower generation and take advantage of new solutions for emerging small-scale distributed generation. Regarding small-scale pico-hydro systems, many researchers have been studying to apply reversed-flow centrifugal pumps instead of conventional turbines, as they are easy to install, low cost, less complex to operate, mass-produced, and available for a wide range of head and flow rates. Notwithstanding, selecting a pump as a turbine (PAT) is not that simple since pump manufacturers do not provide performance curves for reverse operation. Therefore, based on several authors, this work designed a small-scale pico-hydro system to be implemented at the Bragança Ciência Viva Centre using two PATs, whose selection and performance prediction were carried out through an easy and reliable procedure. A solution is proposed considering three power generation levels in order to obtain high self-consumption quotas, forecasting an energy generation of 57% of the total yearly consumption. Additionally, preliminary tests were carried out in the lab, although not sufficiently conclusive, for an innovative grid connection solution using a PAT emulation system, a VFD in regenerative braking mode, protection circuits, and a PV inverter. |
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| Autores principais: | Nenevê, Gabriel Henrique |
| Assunto: | Small-scale pico-hydro systems Renewable distributed generation PATs |
| Ano: | 2022 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Instituto Politécnico de Bragança |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| Resumo: | New approaches to renewable energy sources and the growing interest in clean energy technologies nowadays are related to the context of the war in Europe, rising electricity prices, depletion of fossil fuel reserves, and environmental issues. Still, many European countries can develop and exploit the untapped potential of hydropower generation and take advantage of new solutions for emerging small-scale distributed generation. Regarding small-scale pico-hydro systems, many researchers have been studying to apply reversed-flow centrifugal pumps instead of conventional turbines, as they are easy to install, low cost, less complex to operate, mass-produced, and available for a wide range of head and flow rates. Notwithstanding, selecting a pump as a turbine (PAT) is not that simple since pump manufacturers do not provide performance curves for reverse operation. Therefore, based on several authors, this work designed a small-scale pico-hydro system to be implemented at the Bragança Ciência Viva Centre using two PATs, whose selection and performance prediction were carried out through an easy and reliable procedure. A solution is proposed considering three power generation levels in order to obtain high self-consumption quotas, forecasting an energy generation of 57% of the total yearly consumption. Additionally, preliminary tests were carried out in the lab, although not sufficiently conclusive, for an innovative grid connection solution using a PAT emulation system, a VFD in regenerative braking mode, protection circuits, and a PV inverter. |
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