Hydroelectric plant

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.19 × C.24 · Gravitational potential difference × Turbomachineryfamily: TurbomachineryD.19 × C.14 · Gravitational potential difference × Electromagnetic inductionfamily: Electromagnetic induction

Measured or reported performance

1. water-to-wire plant efficiency60%plant2017
   Natel SLH100 hydroEngine (linearly moving foils rather than a rotor) at the Monroe Drop on the North Unit Irrigation District main canal, Madras, Oregon; 250 kW nameplate; gross head 4.1–5.1 m; maximum flow 331 cfs; maximum observed plant power 267 kW; commissioned September 2015
   refs [5]
2. hydraulic efficiency of the hydroEngine73%plant2017
   the same installation at its 267 kW maximum
   refs [5]

best recorded efficiency (derived)

60.0% — water-to-wire plant efficiency, plant, 2017; derived from the structured data above, not a stored number

notes

No thermodynamic ceiling below unity applies to a head → shaft → electrical conversion, so no bound is recorded; the losses are hydraulic and electrical.

Typed bounds on this route

Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).

• Betz limit · upper-bound · hard, filtered out by its applicability
  C_p ≤ 16/27 ≈ 59.3% of the kinetic power through the rotor disc

Steps

1. 01
   Gravitational potential difference —drives→ Gravitational descent of fluidestablishedclaim record

   gravitational → mechanical

   liquid

   refs [1]
2. 02
   Gravitational descent of fluid —produces→ Hydraulic pressureestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → mechanical

   refs [1]
3. 03
   Hydraulic pressure —drives→ Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic liftestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → mechanical · loss to thermal

   • pressurised water expanded through a reaction or impulse turbine

   liquid · bulk flow required

   refs [1]
4. 04
   Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic lift —produces→ Mechanical motionestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → mechanical

   refs [1]
5. 05
   Mechanical motion —drives→ Rotating-machine generator actionestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → electrical · loss to thermal

   • a shaft turning a rotor inside a stator, or a magnet moved past a coil

   conductor required · magnetic field required

   refs [2] [1]
6. 06
   Rotating-machine generator action —produces→ Charge carriersestablishedclaim record

   electrical → electrical · loss to thermal

   refs [2] [3]
7. 07
   Charge carriers —converts into→ Electrical workestablishedclaim record

   electrical → electrical · loss to thermal

   • carriers driven through an external load at the potential difference the source maintains

   refs [4]

Evidence for the complete composition · 2

1. [1]
   S. L. Dixon, C. A. Hall. Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery (7th ed.) (2014)

   Butterworth-Heinemann · doi:10.1016/C2011-0-05059-7 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
2. [5]
   Abraham Schneider et al.. Development of a project on North Unit Irrigation District's Main Canal at the Monroe Drop, using a novel low-head hydropower technology called the SLH100 (2017)

   Natel Energy final report to the U.S. Department of Energy, award DE-EE0005420 (FOA DE-FOA-0000486, Advanced Hydropower Development); OSTI 1346739 · doi:10.2172/1346739 · record

Evidence for the constituent relations · 4

1. [1]
   S. L. Dixon, C. A. Hall. Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery (7th ed.) (2014)

   Butterworth-Heinemann · doi:10.1016/C2011-0-05059-7 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
2. [2]
   M. Faraday. Experimental researches in electricity (1832)

   Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 122, 125–162 · doi:10.1098/rstl.1832.0006 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
3. [3]
   L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz, L. P. Pitaevskii. Electrodynamics of Continuous Media (Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. 8, 2nd ed.) (1984)

   Pergamon · book, no DOI · record
4. [4]
   N. W. Ashcroft, N. D. Mermin. Solid State Physics (1976)

   Holt, Rinehart and Winston · book, no DOI · record