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Since the 7th of October, our micro-hydropower technology using Pump-as-Turbine has been operating 24/7. In October, 1,585 kWh was generated from a mean flow of 50 m3/h. See figures below.
Power output at Blackstairs GWS during October
Water flow rate at Blackstairs GWS during October
The design and installation of two hydropower demonstration sites showcases the leading-edge research on Pumps-as-turbines and is one of the key deliverables of the Dŵr Uisce project. A pumps-as-turbine, in short PAT, is a hydraulic pump operating in reverse mode as a turbine, producing energy rather than consuming it. Pumps are mass produced all over the world and are well suited to this creative application. The main advantages of a PAT over a conventional hydro turbine include lower cost, compact dimensions, short delivery time, reduced installation cost, ease of maintenance and unrestricted availability of spare parts. In practice, for the same power output a PAT can cost up to 1/10th of a bespoke hydro turbine.
PAT technology can be applied either to recover energy from pressurized water networks, or as generators for conventional small-scale hydropower. In order to explore these applications, the Dŵr Uisce project team decided to build one pilot installation in a water distribution network in Ireland and the second one in a small river hydropower scheme in Wales. Despite the fact that both installations feature a similar PAT with power output of around 4 kW, the operating contexts are radically different.
The Irish installation is located at the inlet of the water treatment works serving the Blackstairs Group Water scheme, a rural network in the south-eastern corner of the country. Since the raw water source is located at a higher elevation than the treatment facility, the significant overpressure was being dissipated by a water jet splashing into the raw water storage tank. Potential energy was wasted while the treatment plant drew costly energy from the national grid. In a creative initiative, which had the support of the local community and the plant operator, a PAT was designed and installed in a bypass of the valve regulating the inflow to the tank. The regulatory aspects were straightforward, since the only requirement was to request permission from the operator of the electricity network - Electricity Supply Board (ESB) - to connect the PAT in parallel to the grid. Now in operation, the PAT is offsetting the electricity consumption of the treatment works by 20-25%.
In contrast, the Welsh installation consists of a micro hydro scheme to supply the historical farmhouse of Ty Mawr Wybrnant. The PAT is fed by diverting a small flow from the Afon Wybrnant, a river near the town of Betws-y-Coed. When compared to the installation at Blackstairs, more significant civil works were needed to build the intake weir, lay 300 m of buried pipeline and to erect the shed housing the turbine. In addition, applications had to be filed to obtain planning permission and a licence for water abstraction. While the licence would have allowed for the installation of a 20kW micro hydro scheme, it was decided to limit the power output to 3.68 kW, sufficient to supply the adjacent historical farmhouse. In addition, the grid connection procedure was simplified by using a G98 type-approved inverter of the kind normally used for residential solar photovoltaic (PV).
The lessons learned during the process are significant. We learn how to make a better choice of the electrical equipment which controls the operation of the PAT. For example, the first inverter installed at Ty Mawr Wybrnant did not work and had to be swapped for another one of different kind. We now also able to identify ideal locations for a PAT installation.
To sum up, both demonstration sites prove the feasibility of PAT technology for small scale hydropower in different operating contexts. With reliable power output of around 4 kW, both sites are expected to be economically viable with a return of investment between 5 and 8 years. More importantly, they are environmentally viable.
By Jan Spriet, Isabel Schestak
Isabel and Jan presented at the 14th conference for Sustainable Development in Energy, Water and Environment Systems, which was held 1st-6th October 2019 in Dubrovnik. It brought together around 570 scientists, researchers, and experts in the field of sustainable development from 55 countries. 511 presentations were held, 100 posters presented, 17 special sessions were organised, and 4 invited lectures and 2 panels were held with some of the most distinguished experts in the field.
Jan presented our work on the demonstration site at Penrhyn castle, on Saturday October 5th, in the session titled Water-Energy nexus. His presentation showed a heat recovery potential of up to 2.1 MWH per year at the kitchen of the tea room of Penrhyn castle, reducing the related technical greenhouse gas emissions by up to 780 kg per year. In the total hospitality and food services sector in the UK, the reduction potential was estimated at 1.24 TWh per year, and around 500 kilotons of carbon emissions per year, compared to heating water with the current energy mix in the UK.
Isabel presented the research related to the environmental sustainability of using a heat recovery system in commercial kitchens, which is based on data from the Penrhyn castle study, too. The results of the Life Cycle Assessment of a heat recovery system which comprises heat exchanger, pipework, fittings and insulation, showed: The environmental impacts from manufacture of the equipment can be reduced by up to 80-99% through the use of recycled copper or replacing copper through polymer materials such as polyethylene for the pipework or polypropylene-graphite for the heat exchanger. As the material demand for pipework can be greater than for the heat exchanger, compact design and reduction of pipework is key for sustainable heat recovery. Even when renewable heat is replaced through recovered heat, there is a significant potential for climate change mitigation for most UK commercial kitchens.
The front view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system
The back view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system
A collaboration between the Dŵr Uisce project and ABP Food has been established which has started in early 2018. In this context the industrial process at ABP demonstration site offers a unique opportunity to investigate the potential of waste water heat recovery technology in the food processing sector. This technology can help towards improving environmental, energetic and financial performance of the facilities. The system aims to subtract the heat from wastewater and can be set up at different locations in the wastewater stream. When the recovered heat is plugged back into the hot water provision, this leads to a potential energy saving of up to 80 MWh per year, when installed on the effluent of the wastewater treatment works, its current location. This results in a reduction of carbon emissions of up to 12 tons per year
The system consists of different types of heat recovery, including preheating of the incoming feed water, but also delivering hot water at 45°C using a wastewater source heat pump. The system is capable of switching between both operating modes, and of applying bot at the same time, depending on the local conditions. Now, the heat recovery system has been installed on the premises at ABP food group in Cahir. The technology can be employed to recover energy from wastewater generated in the meat processing.
Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant demonstration site
We are delighted to announce that our small scale hydropower energy recovery demonstration site at Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant will hold an official opening on the 21st November 9 am - 1 pm. The opening event of the site will be hosted by Bangor University, in collaboration with our partners National Trust, and Trinity College Dublin.
For more information please click here.
We are celebrating wonderful news that the Dwr Uisce project is shortlisted for the Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards under sustainability category. Researchers from both Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and Bangor University (UK) have dedicated to create new technology which generates sustainable energy for our future generation.
A visit to the blackstairs Group Water Scheme intake location on 11/01/2018.
The Dŵr Uisce project is a joint interdisciplinary collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and Bangor University. The project developed and demonstrated the installation of a low-cost hydropower turbine in a water treatment works in rural Ireland in 2019, reducing the net energy consumption of the water treatment process by 25%. The project included the development of design software to enable the use of standard centrifugal pumps operating in reverse as hydropower turbines for water supply networks. Pumps-as-turbines are up to 15 times less expensive than conventional turbines, making the use of hydropower in water supply systems economically viable. The software removes a barrier to the design of pumps to operate as turbines in practice for Engineering design teams or installers.
The potential for hydropower energy production in water pipe networks in Ireland has been estimated at over 2.2 MW, but the lack of low-cost turbine technology has been a barrier to its exploitation. This project has removed this barrier and will enable numerous sites in water networks to replicate the energy savings and CO2 emission reductions achieved here.
(From left) Prof. Paul Coughlan, Daniele Novara, Dr Katrin Dreyer-Gibney, Dr Aonghus McNabola and Dr Himanshu Nagpal at the demonstration site in Blackstairs GWS, Wexford, Ireland before the technology demonstration
The Dŵr Uisce project has been awarded an additional €1.1 million in funding to extend its work on energy saving measures in the water sector. This project commenced in Sept 2016 aiming to improve the long-term sustainability of water supply in Ireland and Wales. The project has now been extended to February 2023.
Led by Trinity College Dublin in partnership with Bangor University, the 6.5 year project has a total €4.5m in EU funds through the EU’s Ireland-Wales co-operation programme. The multidisciplinary project is led by Dr. Aonghus McNabola, Dr John Gallagher and Prof. Biswajit Basu in the School of Engineering, and Prof. Paul Coughlan in the Trinity Business School.
To date the project has delivered the installation of two demonstrations of micro-hydropower energy recovery in Ireland and Wales, reducing the energy needs of local water treatment facilities by up to 20%
Micro-hydropower installations at Blackstair Group Water Scheme (Ireland)
Micro-hydropower installations at Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant (Wales)
The project has also delivered two demonstrations of heat recovery from wastewater in Ireland and Wales, reducing, for example, the kitchen hot water consumption at Penrhyn Castle by 25%.
Penrhyn Castle, National Trust Wales
kitchen wastewater heat recovery system in Penrhyn Castle, National Trust Wales
Phase II of the Dŵr Uisce project aims to build on achievements to date in the development of low-cost micro-hydropower technology and heat recovery systems for wastewater networks. The project will specifically develop:
· Early detection systems for turbine failures and maintenance
· Applications of micro-hydropower in mines
· Heat recovery systems for commercial kitchens with combined grease traps
· Life cycle assessment of energy efficient wastewater treatment works and alternative sources of water heating
· Adaption of hydropower turbine designs to cater for the impacts of climate change on their operation
· Citizen science events focused on gathering data on the linkages between energy use and water use
Dr Aonghus McNabola, from Trinity College Dublin, said: “This extension in funding for the Dŵr Uisce project allows us to maintain the expertise built up in our team of 10 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, and enables us to build on the work completed to date by pursuing the new research opportunities that have arisen in the first 3 years of the project. The additional funding and time will help us to create new opportunities to save energy in different markets of the water industry.”
Dr Prysor Williams, from Bangor University, said: “The work within the Dŵr Uisce project will help achieve those environmental and economic ‘win–wins’ that are so important for Wales to meet its ambitious targets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Securing this EU funding extension is excellent news, and we are looking forward to bringing our expertise to a project that will have significant benefits for Welsh industries, consumers, and the wider environment.”
Aisha presented her research on water-energy demand management at the 1st International Conference on Water, Energy, Environment Nexus (WEEN-2019) where she also chaired a technical session on water and wastewater.
The conference was organised by the Global Network for Researchers (GNR) in Istanbul, Turkey from the 5th – 8th September 2019. The objective of the conference was to provide a platform for interdisciplinary researchers, scientists, engineers, academics as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research in Water, Energy, and Environment.
Aisha’s presentation was on the role of water-energy demand management in the built environment can play towards efficient and sustainable urban water systems of the future, particularly given expected challenges of population projections, declining water resources, and the UK water sector and the government’s (at both national and local levels) ambitions in achieving net zero emissions targets in the very near future.
Aisha being awarded a certificate for chairing a technical session on water and wastewater
Aisha was very pleased to see many different applications to nexus thinking, including with circular economy and process integration.
It was Aisha’s first time in Istanbul, and she made sure to have a ‘water’ tour, including visits to the famous Valens Aqueduct and Basilica Cistern.
The first Welsh micro-hydropower demonstration site was constructed next to a historical farmhouse of Ty Mawr Wybrnant in North Wales with supports from National Trust. On the 9th of September, 2019, the demonstration site has been successfully connected to the grid and is currently fully operational.
In comparison to conventional hydropower installations, the novelty of this installation lies in its simplicity, low capital cost and replicability. Pump-as-Turbine, which consists of a standard water pump working in reverse as a turbine, is used in this demonstration site. Now, the demonstration site is generating in parallel to the grid through a type-approved G98 solar inverter. The measured power output from the inverter was in line with the expectations, reaching up to 4 kW with respect to a design output of 3.6 kW.
The outside view of the powerhouse
The interior view of the powerhouse (electric equipment connected to Pump-as-Turbine)
17th Computing and Control for the water industry conference took place from the 1st to 4th of September in the University of Exeter, UK. The conference was brought together the practitioners and researchers in the water industry to discuss the emerging ‘WATER 4.0’ agenda – water systems modelling, data and control. Nilki Aluthge Dona presented her work on a methodology to control a water network in real time using model predictive control at the poster session. Her poster, entitled as “Real-time optimization on water distribution networks using linear model predictive control” was a part of the two-day poster session held in the conference hall.
The conference featured variety of technical sessions in which “Hydraulic systems modelling” was an interesting topic for Nilki’s work. There were two keynote speakers who spoke about the water sector being “Digitalized” and particularly how 5G wireless networks can be used for the management of water systems. Her work was related to the water systems modelling and control in which she used linear model predictive control to real-time control a water network based in Ireland.
