Energy and Power Generation Overview
R-THYM goes beyond traditional hydraulic modeling by offering a fully integrated, parallel electrical and energy network simulation. This allows you to model complex microgrids, renewable energy generation, energy storage, and the associated utility costs required to power your water infrastructure.
This chapter provides a high-level overview of the energy and power components available in the Component Toolbar. The subsequent chapters will detail the specific properties, control logic, and physics of each element.
1. Utility Grid
The Utility Grid represents your primary connection to municipal or regional electrical power. It can supply theoretically infinite power to run your pumps and charge your batteries, and acts as a sink if you are generating excess renewable power and wish to export it back to the grid for revenue.
2. Power Generator
A Power Generator is a generic component used to model local power production. It can be configured as a renewable source (like a Solar Array, which relies on weather and latitude) or a combustion source (like a Diesel or Natural Gas generator, which consumes fuel).
3. Fuel Tank
The Fuel Tank stores physical fuel (e.g., Diesel, Natural Gas, Propane, Biogas) required to run combustion-based Power Generators. It tracks fuel consumption over time and calculates ongoing operational fuel costs.
4. Energy Storage (Battery)
The Energy Storage node represents a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). It can store excess power generated by your renewable sources or pull power from the Utility Grid during off-peak hours to offset demand when energy prices are high.
5. Power Switch
A Power Switch acts as an electrical relay. It can be used to manually or automatically sever downstream power flow. It is critical for configuring multi-source topologies where you want to prioritize solar generation over drawing from the utility grid.
6. Power Link
The Power Link (purple connector) is the electrical "pipe" of the power network. It is used to explicitly map the flow of electricity from power sources (Utility Grids, Generators, Batteries) to power loads (Pumps, Switches, Batteries).
7. Fuel Link
The Fuel Link (yellow connector) explicitly connects a Fuel Tank to a Power Generator, allowing the engine to track consumption from specific tanks to specific generation assets.
[!NOTE] While Turbines are physically found in the Hydraulic toolbar, they act as a bridge between the two networks. Turbines extract energy from water pressure and inject it directly into the electrical network, acting as an additional power source.