Introduction - Tutorial

This page contains introductory examples of HydroGenerate python usage. It is assumed that users are familiar with using Python.

Basic hydropower computations

All the functionality of HydroGenerate is encapsulated in a sigle function, calculate_hp_potential. In basic mode HydroGenerate can estimate power, head, or flow, given the other two values. This sections includes examples using the basic functionality.

Let’s use calculate_hp_potential to calculate the power, flow, and head in an example.

from HydroGenerate.hydropower_potential import calculate_hp_potential

Calculate power from a given head and flow

flow = 8000 # given flow, in cfs
head = 20 # head, in ft
power = None

hp = calculate_hp_potential(flow= flow, head= head, rated_power= power)

print("The hydropower potential is {} kW".format(round(hp.rated_power, 0)))

The hydropower potential is 11515.0 kW

For a full list of the inputs and output parameters, go to Inputs / Outputs - General Workflow

Calculate head from a given head and flow

flow = 8000 # given flow, in cfs
power = 11515 # Power, in Kw

hp = calculate_hp_potential(flow= flow, rated_power= power)

print("The head required to produce {} kW with a flow of {} cfs is {} ft".format(hp.rated_power, hp.flow, round(hp.head,1)))

The head required to produce 11515 kW with a flow of 8000.0 cfs is 20.0 ft

Calculate flow from a given head and power

head = 20 # head, in ft
power = 11515

hp = calculate_hp_potential(head= head, rated_power= power)
print("The flow required to produce {} kW with a head of {} ft is {} cfs".format(hp.rated_power, hp.head, round(hp.flow, 0)))

The flow required to produce 11515 kW with a head of 20.0 ft is 8000.0 cfs