Reversibles Hydromaquines Aplicated to Microhydropower

It is known that hydroelectric micro-generation (MicroCHE) plays an important rol in the development of rural and non-interconnected areas to the National Energy System (ZNI). Satisfying electric power requirements find high possibilities as well as hydro-power resources are used in small scale, which are characterized to have a positive environmental impact, forcing to preserve the hydro-resources, besides they are compatible with potable water supplies and other applications. However, equipments for MicroCHE are usually imported and their rating values are not coincident with current necessities of head and water flow from the chosen place. This implementation provides an inefficient and expensive solution. For this reason, an alternative choice , in the environment of MicroCHE, is the application of a centrifuge pump as a turbine, which advantages are industrial serial production, ability to provide a wide range of equipment for heads and water flow’s specifications. This solution uses national technology, characterized by its low cost per kilowatt installed. But its implementation requires methods validated in laboratory in order to further application. A research carried out in the laboratory of Small Hydroelectric Power Plant of the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering - EIEE (University of the Valley), applied to the use of centrifuge pumps as turbines, allowed to validate methods proposed by different schools and authors experimentally. The analysis of the obtained results indicates that additionally it is important to keep in mind the relationship among the inner and outer pump’s diameters This implies that additionally to the qualitative and quantitative parameters to select a pump to operate as a turbine, it should be kept in mind other aspects, explained in this paper.