Design, development and reliability evaluation of micro hydro power generation system based on municipal waste water

Abstract

This paper presents a new alternative technique for electric power generation based on municipal waste water. A methodology for evaluation of the reliability of the micro-hydro power generation system using Gaussian distribution approach and Simpson's l/3rd rule have been described in this paper. Annual /daily flow duration curve (FDC) of the sewage power generation has been produced for design and development of the system. The hydro potential of waste water from community flowing through sewage system has been determined to produce an Annual Flow Duration Curve /Daily Flow Duration Curve by ordering the recorded water flows from maximum to minimum flow. Several factors such as design pressure, the roughness of the pipe's interior surface, method of joining, weight, ease of installation, accessibility to the sewage system, design life, maintenance, weather conditions, availability of material, related cost and likelihood of structural damage have been considered for design of a particular penstock for reliable operation of the sewage system. Output power has been estimated at available different heads of sewage plant and waste water flow rate. Various types of the turbine-generator sets for different head have been proposed for reliable operation of the micro hydro power system using municipal waste water. A micro hydro power generation system based on sewage system has been designed, developed, and practically implemented to provide reliable electric energy to suitable load in the campus of the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, (Uttar Pradesh), India. © 2008 IEEE.