Question

Consider a river flowing toward a lake at an average speed of 3 m/s at a rate of 500 m3/s at a location 55 m above the lake surface. Determine the total mechanical energy of the river water per unit mass and the power generation potential of the entire river at that location. Answer: 272 MW

Answer 1

Answer:

272 MW

Explanation:

The total mechanical energy per unit mass is given by $\frac {v^{2}}{2}+ gh$ where v is the velocity, g is acceleration due to gravity and h is the height. Basically, tge formula combines kinetic and potential energy. Substituting 3 m/s for v, 9.81 for g and 55 m for h then $\frac {3^{2}}{2}+ 9.81\times 55=544.05J/kg=0.54405 J/kg$

Taking density of water as 1000 kg/m3 then with the given volume rate we can get mass flow rate as 500*1000=500000 kg/s and finally the power will be 500000*0.54405/1000=272.025 MW