SHUNT LOAD GOVERNOR ASSEMBLY, TESTING OF SENSITIVITY AND INTERFACING WITH PC

Abstract

At present time when urban communities are riping the benefits of computerization and automation, communities at remote hilly areas are still deprived of electricity. Large grids may still take many years to cater these remote places. Therefore, the success of rural electrification lies in fast development of micro hydro potential scattered at these areas. Unfortunately, as rating of a hydro power plant decreases, cost per kW increases. These plants require a governor to maintain frequency at an accepted level. The cost of conventional governor may sometimes be dearer to the generator. To make these plants economically viable, the cost of the plant must be as low as possible and the plant must be as simple to install and maintain. The shunt load governor fits to these expectations. The shunt load governor, controlling electrical load rather than water flow, can replace the conventional flow control governor. Because of less rigorous and rigid frequency and voltage variation limits for these areas, the shunt load governor performs governing satisfactorily. In the present study, attempts have therefore been made to discuss the general concept of load governing with emphasis on hardware and software. Some modifications have been proposed in hardware and software. It is found that due to present switching technique the d:c. and second harmonic component may be as high as 1.4% and 0.8% respectively. The other higher order harmonics are present but their content are less than 0. 1%. It has been computed that sensitivity of shunt load may vary from 0.01 Hz to 3.08 Hz depending upon the operating frequency. Interfacing of shunt load governor was not found viable in terms of usability and economy. Therefore, some alternative means for data acquisition has been discussed.