A Computer Program to Support the Selection of Turbines to Recover Unused Energy at Hydraulic Networks

Abstract

For this paper, a computer program was designed and developed to calculate which turbines could be placed in a water distribution system considering the hydraulic constraints. The aforementioned turbines are placed in locations where we have unused hydraulic energy, i.e., when this energy is dissipated by a regulating valve. In our case, what we do is place a turbine to make use of that excess energy. Once the data has been entered into the program, it provides the type or types of turbines that can be placed in each location, what power these turbines would be, and how much they would generate annually. The program offers us two calculation options. In the first, and simpler, one, it would be done using the net head at the location where the turbine is to be placed. For this option, it would only be necessary to introduce the flow rate, the net head, and the hours that the turbine will be in operation to perform the calculation. The second option would be in the case where we did not have the net head, and, instead, we had the gross head. In this case, we have to calculate the head losses. Normally, this would be the most used option because there are usually no pressure drops. To perform the calculation, in this case, it is necessary to know, apart from what is mentioned in the first option, the characteristics of the pipe (diameter, length, and material).