Model based control of run-of-river power plant Grønvollfoss

Abstract

Water level in the pondage is an important parameter for a run-of-river hydraulic power plant. Keeping a reasonably high waterfall will help to reduce the total cost of power generation. The aim of the work for this thesis is to study the control of the run-of-river power plant Grønvollfoss based on a simulation model. The one-dimensional hydraulic model of Grønvollfoss power plant is developed based in the Saint-Venant equations. Saint-Venant equations is considered conservation of mass and momentum. Based on the staggered computational grid, the Saint-Venant equation can be discretized into N sections, which shared the same hydraulic characteristics and interconnect with each other by inlet flow and outlet flow. PI control algorithm is developed for the regulation of water Level. The water level in response to different inititial conditions has been simulated. The control system was tested under varying reference signal and disturbance. Detailed discussion about the result of these simulations has been carried out; it shows that the controller fulfilled the control objective. The model is implemented and simulated in MATLAB.