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A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills, with penstocks diverting pond waters to drive the mills.
Penstocks for hydroelectric installations are normally equipped with a gate system and a surge tank. They can be a combination of many components such as anchor block, drain valve, air bleed valve, and support piers depending on the application. [1] Flow is regulated to suit turbine operation and is cut off when turbines are not in service. Penstocks, particularly where used in polluted water systems, need to be maintained by hot water washing, manual cleaning, antifouling coatings, allowing waters to go anoxic, and desiccation used to dry fouling out so that it may slough off or become easier to remove through manual processes.
The term is also used in irrigation dams to refer to the channels leading to and from high-pressure sluice gates.[ citation needed ]
Penstocks are also used in mine tailings dam construction. The penstock is usually situated fairly close to the center of the tailings dam and built up using penstock rings, short reinforced ring-like sections of pipe which nest one within the other when stacked and thereby control the water level, letting the slimes settle out of the water. This water is then piped under the tailings dam back to the plant via a penstock pipeline.[ citation needed ]
Inlet valves on the downstream end of penstocks are often used at mill sites to control the flow of water through the mill wheel, or to pen water into a mill pool. [2]
Similar structures which are not enclosed are head races or leats (non elevated), and flumes (elevated).
Penstocks are commonly used in water management systems such as surface water drainage and foul water sewers. Penstocks provide a means of isolation of flows and regulate the flow of water while delivering it to waste management facilities or power plants. [3]
Penstocks are incorporated into the surface water management systems (drainage) of many landfill sites. Retention basins are constructed in order to store storm water, limiting the discharge from the site to its pre-development rate. Valved penstocks are installed at the outfall of the basin to isolate potentially contaminated surface waters from discharging into a main watercourse.
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
A sluice is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. It can also be an open channel which processes material, such as a river sluice used in gold prospecting or fossicking. A mill race, leet, flume, penstock or lade is a sluice channeling water toward a water mill. The terms sluice, sluice gate, knife gate, and slide gate are used interchangeably in the water and wastewater control industry.
A tap is a valve controlling the release of a fluid.
A blue roof is a roof of a building that is designed explicitly to provide initial temporary water storage and then gradual release of stored water, typically rainfall. Blue roofs are constructed on flat or low sloped roofs in urban communities where flooding is a risk due to a lack of permeable surfaces for water to infiltrate, or seep back into the ground.
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure that water does not damage parts of the structure not designed to convey water.
A balancing lake is a term used in the U.K. describing a retention basin used to control flooding by temporarily storing flood waters. The term balancing pond is also used, though typically for smaller storage facilities for streams and brooks.
Micro hydro is a type of hydroelectric power that typically produces from 5 kW to 100 kW of electricity using the natural flow of water. Installations below 5 kW are called pico hydro. These installations can provide power to an isolated home or small community, or are sometimes connected to electric power networks, particularly where net metering is offered. There are many of these installations around the world, particularly in developing nations as they can provide an economical source of energy without the purchase of fuel. Micro hydro systems complement solar PV power systems because in many areas water flow, and thus available hydro power, is highest in the winter when solar energy is at a minimum. Micro hydro is frequently accomplished with a pelton wheel for high head, low flow water supply. The installation is often just a small dammed pool, at the top of a waterfall, with several hundred feet of pipe leading to a small generator housing. In low head sites, generally water wheels and Archimedes' screws are used.
Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and canals, or they may be designed to stop water flow entirely as part of a levee or storm surge system. Since most of these devices operate by controlling the water surface elevation being stored or routed, they are also known as crest gates. In the case of flood bypass systems, floodgates sometimes are also used to lower the water levels in a main river or canal channels by allowing more water to flow into a flood bypass or detention basin when the main river or canal is approaching a flood stage.
A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mill pond, the narrow current is swift and powerful. The race leading to the water wheel on a wide stream or mill pond is called the head race, and the race leading away from the wheel is called the tail race.
The Nadela or Nadel is a system of canals and rivers in northern Serbia, an 84 km (52 mi) long left tributary to the Danube in the Banat region of the Vojvodina province.
The Trevallyn Power Station is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station located in the northern Midlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The power station is situated on the Great Lake and South Esk catchment and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
Ujjani Dam, also known as Bhima Dam or Bhima Irrigation Project, on the Bhima River, a tributary of the Krishna River, is an earthfill cum Masonry gravity dam located near Ujjani village of Madha Taluk in Solapur district of the state of Maharashtra in India.
Malibu Hydro System was designed to provide electricity to the Malibu Club in Canada. This hydro system starts from a high alpine lake where water is diverted from the lake through a steel penstock to a power house nearly 1,250 feet (380 m) below near the shore of Jervis Inlet. The flow of water turns a pelton wheel which is attached to a generator to create electricity. The electricity is then transmitted to camp by a submarine cable running under Jervis Inlet at a high voltage to reduce losses. Power is then distributed throughout camp on the existing and upgraded electrical system.
The Ponmudi Dam is a concrete gravity dam built across the Panniyar river which is a tributary of Periyar river at Konnathady panchayath of Konnathadi village in Idukki district of Kerala, India. The dam was constructed in 1963 as a part of a hydroelectric project. Construction was led by E.U.Philipose, Superintending Engineer, Kerala State Electricity Board. It has a length of 288.80 metres (947.5 ft). The hydropower component of the dam has an installed capacity of 30 MW with firm power of 17 MW, generating 158 GWh annually. Taluks through which the river flow are Udumbanchola, Devikulam, Kothamangalam, Muvattupuzha, Kunnathunadu, Aluva, Kodungalloor and Paravur.
A gatehouse, gate house, outlet works or valve house for a dam is a structure housing sluice gates, valves, or pumps. Many gatehouses are strictly utilitarian, but especially in the nineteenth century, some were very elaborate.
A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces.
The St. Margaret's Bay Hydroelectric System consists of three hydroelectric power plants and the related lake, dam, and river systems driving them. The system is situated within both Lunenburg County and the Halifax Regional Municipality, beginning approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) east of the Head of Saint Margarets Bay and approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Hammonds Plains. The system is part of the East Indian River watershed and drains 271 square kilometres (105 sq mi), with water storage provided in Lunenburg County by Mill Lake, Coon Pond, Sandy Lake, Wrights Lake, Big Indian Lake, Five Mile Lake and, at times, an overflow from Pockwock Lake in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The system is owned and operated by Nova Scotia Power Inc.
Moore Dam is a major hydroelectric dam on the Upper Connecticut River between Grafton County, New Hampshire and Caledonia County, Vermont in the northeastern United States. The dam is located near Littleton, New Hampshire, and forms the 3,490-acre (1,410 ha) Moore Reservoir. The Moore Station is the largest conventional hydroelectric plant in New England, in terms of installed capacity and average power generation. The dam and reservoir also provide flood control, recreational boating and fishing.
Snow Lakes are a system of freshwater reservoir lakes made by Upper Snow Lake and Lower Snow Lake, approximately a mile long. They are located on the eastern slope of The Enchantments, in Chelan County, Washington. The Snow Lakes are one of the most heavily used destination in the Forest Service wildernesses in Oregon and Washington. Self-issued Alpine Lakes Wilderness permits are required for transit within the Snow Lakes area.
Heʻeia Fishpond is an ancient Hawaiian fishpond located at Heʻeia on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. A walled coastal pond, it is the only Hawaiian fishpond fully encircled by a wall. Constructed sometime between the early 1200s and early 1400s, it was badly damaged by a 1965 flood and fell into disrepair. A protected area, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973. An effort begun in 1988 is underway to restore the fishpond as a fishery, cultural, scientific, and educational resource.