AbstractsMathematics

Kenarangui, Rasool Most of the hydro generation facilities are operating under derated capacity due to various factors. The availability of generation facilities is decreasing, the cost for maintenance is going up and plants are crippled with severe faults leading to outages. The feasibility study for aging hydro-power plant is carried out with an objective to find out the best possible alternative both with respect to reliability of operation and benefit to cost ratio. The multi-criterion weighted average condition evaluation of hydro-electric generator is carried out. A Visual Basic and Microsoft Excel based condition evaluation program is implemented for possible condition decision making of the generator. The result of evaluation is depicted as range. The reliability analysis of generator is carried out. The Weibull distribution approximation of engineering reliability for base line data is estimated by finding the Weibull parameters using straight line method. Using Baye's theorem of conditional probability, reliability and failure rate for generator is calculated using condition index. The condition index (CI) is score from 0 to 100, which are used to represent the present condition of the generator. The Francis turbine's main components are discussed with sole aim of identifying the existing problems and availability of newer technology. The critical issues in each component are briefly described to evaluate the condition of the turbine. The turbine reliability analysis is carried out with very similar approach as for the generator. Economic analysis is carried out for all the alternatives. The incrementing net operating benefits are calculated for all the alternatives. The benefit to cost ratio (BCR) and breakeven analysis is done to choose the most economically viable alternative for the aging hydro-power facility.