Technical Specifications of Micro-Hydropower System Design and Implementation : Feasibility Analysis and Design of Lamaya Khola Micro-Hydro Power Plant

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to first conduct a literature review regarding the technical specifications and design parametres required to design a working Micro Hydro Power System MHS (Micro Hydropower System). After review of the theory and principles of Micro Hydro System design; these principles are applied to the real case of Lamaya Khola Micro Hydro Project in Pangrang Village Development Committee (VDC) of Nepal. The field data required to design the civil components of the micro hydro project were derived from secondary data sources such as the study conducted by the village development committe as well as other independent project surveys. The micro hydro designed in this thesis was of "run-of-the river" type. Similarly, system components designed in this thesis are intake structure, headrace canal to divert the water from the source, forebay tank, sedimentation basin and the penstock assembly. Owing to the complexity and lengthy process of designing all of the system components; only these specific civil structures are designed in this study. Design of other powerhouse and distribution components is beyond the scope of this study and so are merely selected based on the design criteria from the literature. Despite these shortcomings, the system designed is plausible, applicable and principally sound in the real life case of Lamaya Khola Micro Hydro Project in Nepal. Wherever possible, the system components that are designed are also illustrated with AutoCad. The contribution of this thesis is its practical implementation of the principle of micro hydro system design in a real life situation and specific considerations in the case of Nepal, which is topographically very different from majority of the other countries.