The necessity to develop an automated process for the design of micro-hydro power systems was based on the increasing demand for hydropower as a renewable energy source and to develop cost effective power supplies to rural areas. The application of the formula for the design of these systems is then to simplify the selection of the turbine sizing and is made possible by the similarity laws that exist within turbine and pump families. in addition the sizing of the supply and exhaust piping is also a matter of scaling. No selection process of turbine type is included due to the limitations of cost effectiveness and the category of size into which the turbine was specified. Furthermore. a new approach to turbine design was separately undertaken to satisfy low head and low flow-rate conditions. However, it was only designed up to a cost analysis with no manufacturing having been undertaken. The axial flow turbine. which was most suited for micro-hydro was designed and built as a prototype with a standardized mounting frame. The initial conditions used to generare the velocity vectors and angles were specific to the installation site and used to computationally generate the rotor and stator blades. This required an analysis of the different profiles available as well as research into their design. Once the blade profile stacking had been determined, this was translated into a software program that developed the blades from site-specific initial conditions. However, the design of the blades was interdependent on the dimensioning of the rest of the turbine components and designing these in parallel proved to be an intricate task. With the design complete, the turbine was then installed and testing proceeded with the use of pressure gauges and the results of torque and rpm obtained from a dynamometer. Analysis of the results was undertaken and presented in graphical format with comments on both the design and results. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.) -University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

A Criação da CESP em 1966 e de suas antecessoras (USELPA, CHERP, e CELUSA), foi um fator decisivo para o desenvolvimento do ramo da construção hidrelétrica na engenharia brasileira: o planejamento e implantação das usinas, sistemas de transmissão e redes de distribuição demandou um intenso esforço da estatal, das empresas projetistas e das construtoras das usinas. Esse esforço traduziu-se, além da implantação do parque gerador, constituído por grandes centrais hidrelétricas, integrado, entre si e o mercado consumidor, por um conjunto de extensas linhas de transmissão; produziu experiências e conhecimentos que ainda hoje destacam a engenharia hidrelétrica brasileira no contexto internacional. Possibilitou a implantação da indústria de equipamento elétrico pesado, ainda que sob domínio de empresas de capital internacional; e o forte crescimento da indústria de material elétrico leve: e capitalizou e capacitou empresas privadas de construção civil pesada, muitas delas hoje constituídas como fortes grupos empresarias nacionais em processo de internacionalização. O conhecimento produzido não se resumiu às questões de engenharia e construção. Ao herdar as obras e projetos em execução por suas antecessoras, o corpo técnico da CESP precisou desenvolver a percepção de que construir uma grande usina pressupõe uma série de necessidades que, podem parecer apenas de como desenvolver a maior capacidade possível de produzir quilowatts/hora a partir da construção de uma barragem e de uma casa de máquinas. Desenvolveu-se métodos de trabalho que também deram conta das dimensões sociais, culturais, econômicas e ambientais de modo abrangente e complexo. O projeto das usinas de Urubupungá (Jupiá e Ilha Solteira), construídas distantes dos centros de consumo para os quais deveriam fornecer energia, previu a criação de um polo de desenvolvimento na região em que se instalava, o estabelecimento de novas vias de comunicação entre o então estado de Mato Grosso e o oeste paulista, e o desenvolvimento de estudos dos impactos sobre a natureza das áreas alagadas e na vida das populações ribeirinhas afetadas. / The founding of CESP, in 1966, and of its predecessors (USELPA, CHERP, and CELUSA), was a decisive factor for the development of the area of hydroelectric plant construction in Brazilian engineering. The planning and implementation of the plants, transmission systems, and distribution networks demanded intense efforts on the part of the State-owned company, of the design firms, and of the builders of the plants. Those efforts resulted in, not only the implementation of the widespread energy generating system, consisting of large hydroelectric plants that are integrated among themselves and the consumer market by an extensive complex of transmission lines, but they produced experiences and knowledge that continue to highlight Brazilian electrical engineering on the international scene. It established the heavy electrical equipment industry, although under the aegis of companies backed by international capital, resulting in strong growth for the light electrical materials industry. It also brought capital and capacity to private heavy construction companies, many of which are strong national corporate groups that are in the process of becoming international. The knowledge that was produced is not limited to engineering and construction issues. Upon inheriting the works and projects of its predecessors, which were already underway, CESPs technical staff was forced to perceive that building a large plant presupposes a whole series of needs that might seem, at first, to be related only to how to develop the largest capacity possible for producing kilowatts/hour by building a dam and a machine hall. Working methods were developed that also handled the social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions in a broad a complex manner. The project of Urubupungás Jupiá and Ilha Solteira plants, which were built far from the consumer markets they were to supply with energy, provided for the creation of a development hub in the region where they were installed, the establishment of new means of communication between the then-State of Mato Grosso and western State of São Paulo, and the performance of studies regarding impacts on Nature in the flooded areas and on the lives of the river dwellers, who were affected.

A Criação da CESP em 1966 e de suas antecessoras (USELPA, CHERP, e CELUSA), foi um fator decisivo para o desenvolvimento do ramo da construção hidrelétrica na engenharia brasileira: o planejamento e implantação das usinas, sistemas de transmissão e redes de distribuição demandou um intenso esforço da estatal, das empresas projetistas e das construtoras das usinas. Esse esforço traduziu-se, além da implantação do parque gerador, constituído por grandes centrais hidrelétricas, integrado, entre si e o mercado consumidor, por um conjunto de extensas linhas de transmissão; produziu experiências e conhecimentos que ainda hoje destacam a engenharia hidrelétrica brasileira no contexto internacional. Possibilitou a implantação da indústria de equipamento elétrico pesado, ainda que sob domínio de empresas de capital internacional; e o forte crescimento da indústria de material elétrico leve: e capitalizou e capacitou empresas privadas de construção civil pesada, muitas delas hoje constituídas como fortes grupos empresarias nacionais em processo de internacionalização. O conhecimento produzido não se resumiu às questões de engenharia e construção. Ao herdar as obras e projetos em execução por suas antecessoras, o corpo técnico da CESP precisou desenvolver a percepção de que construir uma grande usina pressupõe uma série de necessidades que, podem parecer apenas de como desenvolver a maior capacidade possível de produzir quilowatts/hora a partir da construção de uma barragem e de uma casa de máquinas. Desenvolveu-se métodos de trabalho que também deram conta das dimensões sociais, culturais, econômicas e ambientais de modo abrangente e complexo. O projeto das usinas de Urubupungá (Jupiá e Ilha Solteira), construídas distantes dos centros de consumo para os quais deveriam fornecer energia, previu a criação de um polo de desenvolvimento na região em que se instalava, o estabelecimento de novas vias de comunicação entre o então estado de Mato Grosso e o oeste paulista, e o desenvolvimento de estudos dos impactos sobre a natureza das áreas alagadas e na vida das populações ribeirinhas afetadas. / The founding of CESP, in 1966, and of its predecessors (USELPA, CHERP, and CELUSA), was a decisive factor for the development of the area of hydroelectric plant construction in Brazilian engineering. The planning and implementation of the plants, transmission systems, and distribution networks demanded intense efforts on the part of the State-owned company, of the design firms, and of the builders of the plants. Those efforts resulted in, not only the implementation of the widespread energy generating system, consisting of large hydroelectric plants that are integrated among themselves and the consumer market by an extensive complex of transmission lines, but they produced experiences and knowledge that continue to highlight Brazilian electrical engineering on the international scene. It established the heavy electrical equipment industry, although under the aegis of companies backed by international capital, resulting in strong growth for the light electrical materials industry. It also brought capital and capacity to private heavy construction companies, many of which are strong national corporate groups that are in the process of becoming international. The knowledge that was produced is not limited to engineering and construction issues. Upon inheriting the works and projects of its predecessors, which were already underway, CESPs technical staff was forced to perceive that building a large plant presupposes a whole series of needs that might seem, at first, to be related only to how to develop the largest capacity possible for producing kilowatts/hour by building a dam and a machine hall. Working methods were developed that also handled the social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions in a broad a complex manner. The project of Urubupungás Jupiá and Ilha Solteira plants, which were built far from the consumer markets they were to supply with energy, provided for the creation of a development hub in the region where they were installed, the establishment of new means of communication between the then-State of Mato Grosso and western State of São Paulo, and the performance of studies regarding impacts on Nature in the flooded areas and on the lives of the river dwellers, who were affected.