Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (GCPUD) operates the Priest Rapids Dam (PRD), a hydroelectric facility on the Columbia River in Washington State. The dam contains 10 Kaplan-type turbine units that are now more than 50 years old. Plans are underway to refit these aging turbines with new runners. The Columbia River at PRD is a migratory pathway for several species of juvenile and adult salmonids, so passage of fish through the dam is a major consideration when upgrading the turbines. In this paper, a method for turbine biological performance assessment (BioPA) is demonstrated. Using this method, a suite of biological performance indicators is computed based on simulated data from a CFD model of a proposed turbine design. Each performance indicator is a measure of the probability of exposure to a certain dose of an injury mechanism. Using known relationships between the dose of an injury mechanism and frequency of injury (dose–response) from laboratory or field studies, the likelihood of fish injury for a turbine design can be computed from the performance indicator. By comparing the values of the indicators from proposed designs, the engineer can identify the more-promising alternatives. We present an application of the BioPA methodmore » for baseline risk assessment calculations for the existing Kaplan turbines at PRD that will be used as the minimum biological performance that a proposed new design must achieve.« less
Renewable hydropower is a tremendous resource within the Pacific Northwest that is managed with considerable cost and consideration for the safe migration of salmon. Recent research conducted in this region has provided results that could lower the impacts of hydro power production and make the technology more fish-friendly. This research is now being applied during a period when a huge emphasis is being made to develop clean, renewable energy sources.
A new system is being used to determine fish mortality issues related to hydroelectric facilities in the Pacific Northwest. Called the juvenile salmon acoustic telemetry system (JSATS), this tool allows researchers to better understand fish movement, behavior, and survival around dams and powerhouses.
The Sensor Fish is an autonomous device developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to better understand the physical conditions fish experience during passage through hydro-turbines and other dam bypass alternatives. Since its initial development in 1997, the Sensor Fish has undergone several design changes to improve its function and extend the range of its use. The most recent Sensor Fish design, the six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) device, has been deployed successfully to characterize the environment fish experience when they pass through several hydroelectric projects along main stem Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Just as information gathered from crash test dummies can affect automobile design with the installation of protective designs to lessen or prevent human injury, having sensor fish data to quantify accelerations, rotations, and pressure changes, helps identify fish injury mechanisms such as strike, turbulent shear, pressure, and inertial effects, including non-lethal ones such as stunning or signs of vestibular disruption that expose fish to a higher risk of predation by birds and piscivorous fish downstream following passage.
This article describes PNNL's efforts to develop the Sensor Fish, a waterproof sensor package that travels thru the turbines of spillways of hydroelectric dam to collect pressure and acceleration data on the conditions experienced by live salmon smolts during dam passage. Sensor Fish development is sponsored by the DOE Advanced Hydropower Turbine Survival Program. The article also gave two recent examples of Sensor Fish use: turbine passage at a McNary Kaplan turbine and spill passage in topspill at Rock Island Dam.
One of the environmental effects of hydropower operation that should be evaluated in licensing decisions is the general benefit to air quality. Hydropower's contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an increasingly important component of these air quality benefits. The Oak Ridge Competitive Electricity Dispatch (ORCED) computer model is one method that can be used to quantify these benefits. ORCED provides a relatively simple method that is applicable and cost-effective and that has been successfully applied in other GHG studies. ORCED can be used to calculate a region-specific value of the carbon intensity factor (CIF, kg carbon/MWh) that would be associated with likely replacement power (i.e., a regionally representative mix of coal, gas, and other energy sources). The project's plant factor and operational mode (e.g, baseload versus peaking) can also be incorporated in the CIF calculation. The resulting parameter can then be multiplied by the energy output of the hydropower project that is being analyzed to estimate a CO{sub 2} emission value that is avoided by the project's operation.
A description and evaluation of the results of an intentional flooding experiment at the Grand Canyon are described. The purpose of the 7-day release of flood waters from the Glen Canyon Dam was to determine if managed floods have the ability to predictably restore the riverine environment. A summary of environmental conditions leading to the experiment is provided and flood results are listed. Initial results showed significant improvement in the size and number of the river`s beaches, creation of backwater habitat for endangered species, and no adverse impact to the trout fishery, Indian cultural sites, and other resources.
Researchers have verified that concrete steps overlaid on an embankment dam can provide protection against overtopping for a wide range of dam heights and overtopping flows. US Bureau of Reclamation studies have led to development of design criteria that address the step shape and thickness, training wall heights, and toe treatment required. A 4-year research study on concrete step overlay is summarized in the article. Information provided from the study includes test setup, establishment of design criteria, and an application of the design guidelines produced by the test, including cost estimation.
Planning, design, and implementation of turbine runner replacement at Ontario Hydro is described in the article. The use of fully homologous modeling for upgrade projects, including both francis and propeller runner types, is outlined. Confirmation of physical model efficiency is obtained through numerical modeling. Inlet connections, setting cavitation-erosion guarantees, and other guarantees included in tender documents are also described in some detail.
