Abstract
Run-of-river hydropower plants usually lack significant storage capacity; therefore, the more adequate control strategy would consist of keeping a constant water level at the intake pond in order to harness the maximum amount of energy from the river flow or to reduce the surface flooded in the head pond. In this paper, a standard PI control system of a run-of-river diversion hydropower plant with surge tank and a spillway in the head pond that evacuates part of the river flow plant is studied. A stability analysis based on the Routh-Hurwitz criterion is carried out and a practical criterion for tuning the gains of the PI controller is proposed. Conclusions about the head pond and surge tank areas are drawn from the stability analysis. Finally, this criterion is applied to a real hydropower plant in design state; the importance of considering the spillway dimensions and turbine characteristic curves for adequate tuning of the controller gains is highlighted.
Highlights
Nowadays, the interest in run-of-river hydropower plants is increasing
The isolated operation of small hydro plants in remote areas is considered in [5]; the power-frequency regulation would be provided by changing the turbine speed, when the discharged flow through the turbine is lower than the available river flow; variable-speed generation equipment is required
The stability of a run-of-river diversion hydropower plant with a spillway in the head pond that evacuates a portion of the river flow is analyzed
Summary
The interest in run-of-river hydropower plants is increasing. Climate change, shortage of appropriate places to build conventional hydropower plants, or generating electricity as near as possible to the consumption site (distributed generation) are some reasons for considering this type of plants. The isolated operation of small hydro plants in remote areas is considered in [5]; the power-frequency regulation would be provided by changing the turbine speed, when the discharged flow through the turbine is lower than the available river flow; variable-speed generation equipment is required. The aim of this paper is the study of the stability of the water level control system of a run-of-river hydropower plant under normal operating conditions. The excess flow is discharged through a spillway; in this case, the water level reference is changed in order to allow controlling the spilled flow as in [14] The dynamics of this operation mode has substantial differences with respect to the normal operation mode [8] and requires a specific analysis.
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