skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The PROPEL Hydro System (Final Report)

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1562498· OSTI ID:1562498
 [1]
  1. Rickly Hydrological Company, Inc., Columbus, OH (United States)

This paper summarizes research, development and outcome of a modular system for powering non-powered dams. There are approximately 77,000 non-powered dams in the US, a non-trivial fraction of which could be used to generate power. Development in this area has been slow because building projects costs too much and takes too long. The PROPEL-Hydro system combines modular components for the intake and foundation, an ai driven project design and evaluation tool, and a turbine optimized for performance on small and low head sites. Work included a combination of site evaluation, refinement of power electronics, value analysis supported by computational fluid mechanics and software development to support a project evaluation tool. The result is a reduction in installed cost/kW and resulting LCOE.

Research Organization:
Rickly Hydrological Company, Inc., Columbus, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
DOE Contract Number:
EE0008012
OSTI ID:
1562498
Report Number(s):
DOE-RICKHYD-0008012
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English