Christopher Melson Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering University of Wyoming

 Jesse Creel  Penstock Design  Rebecca Miller  Powerhouse Layout  Justin Stark  Intake Structure Design  Fred Ogden, Ph.D., P.E., P.H.  Project Mentor  Murray Schroeder, P.E., WWC Engineering

 Problem Description  Select an appropriate location in Wyoming for a small-scale hydropower plant  Site Selection  Site Considerations ⟡ Water Rights ⟡ Environmental Impacts ⟡ Historical and Cultural Issues ⟡ Construction Considerations

 Design Elements ⟡ Intake Structure ⟡ Penstock ⟡ Turbine/Generator ⟡ Powerhouse ⟡ Tailrace  Economic Analysis

 Selection Criteria ⟡ Net available head ⟡ Flow rate ⟡ Length of penstock ⟡ Land use and accessibility ⟡ Distance to substation

 Old Lingle Power Plant ⟡ Pros:  Existing infrastructure  Near substation  Located on D.O.E. land  Short penstock  Predictable flow ⟡ Cons:  Water rights issues  Demolition costs

 Old Lingle Power Plant ⟡ Constructed in the early 1920’s ⟡ Decommissioned in April 1956  Ft. Laramie Canal ⟡ Currently used for irrigation ⟡ Trapezoidal earth channel ⟡ 1470 cfs maximum capacity ⟡ Water diverted from North Platte River via Whalen Diversion Dam

(Source: Bureau of Reclamation)

(Source: Google Earth)

 Original permit allocated 150 cfs  After decommissioning, associated water rights converted from power to irrigation purposes  Proposal ⟡ Present design to Goshen Irrigation District ⟡ Use original permitted flow rate ⟡ 10 month operating period

 Water Rights ⟡ 150 cfs flow rate  Topography ⟡ 105 ft of head ⟡ 832 ft penstock

Front View

Plan View

 Icing concerns ⟡ Plastic coating on steel surfaces Side View

 4.25 ft inner diameter ⟡ Bureau of Reclamation chart  0.5 in wall thickness ⟡ 3 equations solved simultaneously ⟡ Originally inches, changed for water hammer protection  Water Hammer ⟡ More economical to increase wall thickness than to build surge tank  4.33 ft of head loss ⟡ Darcy-Weisbach

 Saddle Support System ⟡ Soil bearing analysis  Saddle spacing ⟡ Visual Analysis ⟡ Spacing determined by deflection < 0.2 in

 Turbine Selection ⟡ Small Francis spiral turbine ⟡ Specific speed: rpm ⟡ Runner diameter: 4.5 ft  Plant Configuration ⟡ Horizontal turbine arrangement ⟡ Directly coupled three-phase synchronous generator (Source: Tridentes Energy)

Floor Plan

South Perspective

Southeast Elevation

 Feasibility dependent on: ⟡ D.O.E. Grant ⟡ 10 month operating cycle  Profitability increases if: ⟡ Price of green energy increases ⟡ Operating period increases to 12 months

Questions?