Evaluation of Fish-Injury Mechanisms During Exposure to a High-Velocity Jet

Technical Report · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1218140· OSTI ID:1218140

Guensch, Gregory R. ^[1]; Mueller, Robert P. ^[1]; McKinstry, Craig A. ^[1]; Dauble, Dennis D. ^[1]

---

1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

As part of the research supported by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Hydropower Turbine System (AHTS) Program, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted a study where age-0 and age-1 Chinook salmon, as well as several other types of fish, were released into a submerged water jet to quantify injuries caused by shear stresses and turbulence (Neitzel et al. 2000). The fish releases were videotaped. These videotape records were digitized and analyzed using new methods to identify the injury mechanisms and the stresses involved. Visible external injuries sustained by fish in this study generally occurred during the initial contact with the jet and not during the tumbling that occurred after the fish fully entered the turbulent flow. The inertial stresses of tumbling, however, may cause temporary or even permanent vestibular and neurological injuries. Such injuries can result in disorientation and loss of equilibrium, which are life threatening in the “natural” environment. Operculum injuries predominated at moderate water jet speeds (12 and 15 m/s^-1). At the highest speed, eye, operculum, isthmus, and gill injuries were equally common, and disorientation was most common. Bruising and descaling were relatively rare, especially for age-0 fish. Age-0 fish were less susceptible than the larger age-1 fish to all visible injury types, especially at lower speeds.

• Research Organization: US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington, DC (United States). Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1218140
• Report Number(s): DOE/ID--11072; PNNL--14173; 3753
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Chinook
PNNL
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
age-0
age-1
bruising
descaling
disorientation
equilibrium
eye
filmed
fish
flow
gill
inertial
injuries
injury
isthmus
jet
neurological
operculum
permanent
salmon
shear
stress
stresses
stressors
temporary
tumbling
turbulence
vestibular
video
videotaped