Good Literature Review About Micro Hydroelectric Energy In Suriname

Yousef Alanzi

EGR 386W-6
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project is to design a micro hydro system that would be installed at Lake Brokopondo in Suriname. The micro hydro system that we are designing must provide energy to the people of a village next to the lake. Also, another purpose of this project is to improve the international experience for NAU students and the local students. And one last purpose for this project is to build facilities that can help out the people of Suriname. The content of this paper is the research done to help us understand more on how micro hydro systems work, how we can make it as efficient as possible, also we should be able to use all this research to design the best micro hydro system we can.

INTRODUCTION

Hydroelectric energy is a type of renewable energy because it uses the Earth’s water cycle to produce the energy, which involves the evaporation of water, formation of clouds and the precipitation of water back. Suriname has a lake near Brownsberg and Brokopondo that is called Brokopondo Reservoir, this lake can provide a good location for a hydroelectric energy system because there is vast amounts of water that can be used. Also the areas near the lake can use a hydroelectric energy system if it was installed there to get energy without polluting. Micro hydro systems are the best type of hydroelectric energy to be used in Suriname. Also micro hydro systems can save an area money.

DISCUSSION

Micro hydro systems are much cheaper than large hydro systems [5]. To begin with, the start-up costs for large hydro systems are much more than those of the micro hydro systems [2], because the bigger systems need more equipment and material to be built. In addition, maintaining large hydro systems costs more than micro hydro systems due to large hydro systems being bigger in size than micro hydro systems, and therefore they would need more effort and time for maintenance, optimal function and overall safety.
Micro hydro systems can have many great social benefits on a community. The relatively small size of a micro hydro system enables it to be installed in remote rural areas [3], which allow such areas to get access to electricity. As a result, the people in remote areas would be more socially connected with other people around them and can also get help from government services such as an ambulance, the police or the fire department. They also would be more up-to-date with the latest technologies that can help them with their everyday activities.
A community’s economy can be greatly improved by using micro hydro systems. Micro hydro systems reduce the costs of electricity since it uses water which is a renewable energy source that can be found almost anywhere. In addition, using a hydro system means that no money needs to be spent to buy any of the nonrenewable sources of energy. The location of a micro hydro system can greatly improve the economy [1] because if it is located near multiple communities, it can provide all the communities around it with power and save them money because they can have fewer systems providing energy to more areas.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, building a micro hydro system would be better and cost less than a large hydro system. Also, the location of the micro hydro system that would be designed should be thought out carefully because placing it anywhere might hurt the area instead of aiding it.

References

[1] N. P. Patrike and S. Patro, "Micro-hydro power generation design and fabrication of micro-hydro turbine for water treatement plant," Vols. 110-116, pp. 5265-5275, 2012.
[2] A. Harvey, A. Brown, P. Hettiarachi and A. R. Inversin, "Micro-hydro design manual," vol. iII, p. 374, 1993.
[3] S. Selvakumaran, "Making low-cost micro-hydro schemes a sustainable reality," vol. 165, no. 1, pp. 35-41, 2012.
[4] P. J. Pritchard, R. W. Fox and A. T. McDonald, Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Wiley, 2011.
[5] Paish, O. (2002). Small hydro power: technology and current status. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 6(6), 537-556.