A pumped storage flow control system design
Date
2015-07-23
Authors
Kasanda, Suwilanji S
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Abstract
The concept of control is a very crucial one. In one way or another, we find ourselves in need of control of several parameters in our everyday lives. In this project, we seek to control water levels in reservoirs used for hydroelectric power generation. It is known that fluctuating water levels result in fluctuating generation capacity, giving the possibility of this natural head of water becoming insufficient at some point in time. The control engineering solution to this problem is the connection of a secondary reservoir (which is supplemented by a pump) to the primary reservoir in order to control and maintain the water levels.Knowledge of fluid mechanics is used here-in to establish mathematical relationships between volume flow rates and water levels. Taking into account the valve parameters, transfer functions are obtained to design the system through phases that include open loop system, closed loop system and finally a compensated system which is the equivalent of a full-state feedback estimator controller. Analysis and parameterization using specialized software (MATLAB) gives insight on system performance in practice as it establishes the consistency of this two-tank model for a pumped storage flow control system.
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Keywords
Power Resources , Energy Conversion , Storage flow Control systems