Hydroelectric power plant. History of invention and production

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Hydroelectric power plant. History of invention and production

The history of technology, technology, objects around us

Directory / The history of technology, technology, objects around us

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A hydroelectric power plant (HPP) is a power plant that uses the energy of a water stream as an energy source. Hydroelectric power plants are usually built on rivers by constructing dams and reservoirs. Two main factors are necessary for the efficient production of electricity at hydroelectric power plants: a guaranteed supply of water all year round and the possible large slopes of the river, canyon-like terrain favors hydro construction.

Hydroelectric power plant

People learned a long time ago to use the energy of water in order to rotate the impellers of mills, machine tools, and sawmills. But gradually the share of hydropower in the total amount of energy used by man has decreased. This is due to the limited ability to transfer water energy over long distances.

With the advent of the electric turbine driven by water, hydropower has a new perspective.

The first three-phase power plant was the Lautena Hydroelectric Power Plant. Two identical three-phase synchronous generators were installed on it. Phase voltage with the help of transformers increased from 50 to 5000 volts. Its electricity was used to power the lighting network of the city of Heilbronn, as well as a number of small factories and workshops. Step-down transformers were installed directly at consumers. This first industrial three-phase current plant in the world was put into operation in early 1892.

The use of water energy in this installation showed the possibility of using hydro resources remote from industrial centers. Since then, the number of hydroelectric installations has been increasing all the time. For example, in 1892, N. N. Benardos proposed organizing the power supply of St. Petersburg by utilizing the energy of the Neva at specially built power stations (with a capacity of up to 20 hp). In 000, N. S. Lelyavsky developed a scheme for using the hydropower of the Dnieper rapids. V. N. Chikolev, who promoted in the early 1893s of the XIX century. the use of water turbines as prime movers of power plants, in 80, together with R. E. Klasson, built in St. Petersburg on the river. Okhta hydroelectric power station and three-phase power line.

During the 90s of the XIX century. hydropower plays an increasingly prominent role in electricity supply. The number of large hydroelectric power plants has increased every year.

At the end of the XIX century. were built: the Reinfeld hydroelectric power station (Germany, 1898) with a capacity of 16 kW at a water pressure of 800 m, Niagara (USA) with a capacity of 3,2 thousand liters. With. with a head of 50 m, Zhonazhskaya (France, 41,2) with a capacity of 1901 liters. With. At the beginning of the second decade of the XX century. hydroelectric power plants AugstVillen (Germany, 11) with a capacity of 200 thousand liters were put into operation. s., Keokuk (USA, 1911) with a capacity of 44 thousand liters. With. The quality of the turbine equipment was still not high enough, the efficiency fluctuated between 1912-180. The forms and designs of hydraulic structures were imperfect, which is explained by insufficient knowledge of the issues of engineering hydraulics and hydraulic engineering. Therefore, some HPPs built during these years subsequently underwent more or less serious reconstruction.

There were few hydroelectric power plants in pre-revolutionary Russia. The first was the installation at the Okhta plant in St. Petersburg with a capacity of 350 liters. With. (1896). In addition, the White Coal hydroelectric power station operated on the river. Podkumok (1903) with a capacity of 990 liters. s., with a voltage of 8000 V, the Hindu Kush hydroelectric power station (1909) on the river. Murgab, with a capacity of 1 liters. With. In addition, several smaller ones operated (Sashninskaya, Allaverdinskaya, Turgusunskaya, Sestroretskaya, etc.). The total capacity of hydroelectric power plants in pre-revolutionary Russia was 590 kW.

Consider the main types of hydroelectric power plants.

Derivative HPPs. In them, a significant (and sometimes large) part of the pressure is created by means of diversion conduits, which are artificial structures in the form of open channels, flumes, tunnels or pipelines. Water turbines are installed on a diversion conduit. Such hydroelectric power plants are suitable for mountain rivers.

Dam HPPs. They are designed in such a way that the pressure in them is created by means of a specially constructed dam, which, supporting the water level, forms an upper pool. The power plant building is usually located near the dam: water from the reservoir is supplied to the turbines through pressurized water pipes passing through the body of the dam, either under the dam or directly from the upstream. After use, the water from the turbines is discharged into the channel. To pass excess water, special spillway dams are arranged. This type of hydroelectric power station includes DneproGES and Volzhskaya named after V.I. Lenin.

At some HPPs, holes were made in the turbine blocks for idle discharges of flood waters and for supplying water to the turbines. These HPPs are called combined. In built-in hydroelectric plants, the units are located in the body of a concrete dam, so that the need for a special machine building is eliminated.

At modern medium and large hydroelectric power plants, as well as at many small hydroelectric power plants, automation and telemechanics methods are widely used, and at some hydroelectric power plants, the start-up, regulation, control and shutdown of units, as well as control of the gates of hydraulic structures and pressure watercourses, are fully automated. These operations can be carried out telemechanically, i.e., by the dispatching personnel of control points. Many hydroelectric power plants operate without personnel, are controlled from a distance (for example, from another station in the cascade or from a control room).

At individual automated hydroelectric power plants, control and maintenance of the desired mode of operation are carried out with the help of auto-operators who perform their functions according to plans and schedules predetermined for them. At fully automated HPPs, controlled remotely or by auto operators, equipment supervision is carried out through periodic inspections of the HPP. In case of any accident, a signal is given to the duty officer to restore the normal operation of the HPP.

Hydroelectric dam (click to enlarge)

The advantages and advantages of hydroelectric power plants in comparison with thermal power plants are very significant and consist primarily in the fact that hydroelectric power plants save fuel, rationalize the fuel balance, and promote the economic development of areas that are not provided with sufficient fuel resources. The design of units of hydroelectric stations is simpler than units of thermal power plants, and the process of generating electrical energy at hydroelectric stations is much less complicated than at thermal stations.

The operation of a hydroelectric power plant is not associated with as much waste as the operation of a thermal power plant. The construction of hydroelectric power plants leads to a rational solution not only to the energy problem, but also to a number of other problems of great importance. Among them are the problems of navigation, irrigation and land reclamation, water supply, fisheries and the very important problem of transforming nature.

The experience of operating the first hydroelectric power plants has shown that they have great maneuverability, good reliability of operation and low operating costs, do not require numerous maintenance personnel and allow full automation of the power generation process with very broad telecontrol capabilities. Modern hydraulic turbines have an efficiency of up to 0,93. Energy produced by hydroelectric power plants is cheaper than electricity delivered by thermal power plants.

In technical and operational terms, it is very important that hydroelectric installations have great maneuverability. This feature of hydraulic units is essential for large power systems, since a sharp increase in load, including in case of emergency failures in the system, can be quickly compensated by turning on standby hydraulic units. Thus, hydroelectric units have proved to be very suitable for covering load peaks in systems in which both thermal and hydraulic stations operate.

The disadvantage of hydraulic stations is their "locality", that is, the possibility of efficient construction of hydroelectric stations only in relatively few areas. This locality is overcome by transferring energy over a distance by electric current, however, in some cases, energy transport by transporting fuel is more cost-effective, especially when oil and gas pipelines are used. The initial costs for the construction of hydroelectric power plants are higher than for thermal power plants.

A big disadvantage of lowland HPPs is the alienation of lands flooded by the reservoir. Gradually, the banks of artificial reservoirs are being washed out, they are silted up, and the ecological balance is disturbed in the zone of reservoirs.

Author: Pristinsky V.L.

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