Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Measurements in the Tailrace at John Day Dam
Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were used to measure water velocities in the tailrace at John Day Dam over a two-week period in February 2005. Data were collected by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the Hydraulic Design Section, Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The objective of this project was therefore to collect field measurements of water velocities in the near-field draft tube exit zone as well as the far-field tailrace to be used for improving these models. Field data were collected during the project using five separate ADCPs. Mobile ADCP data were collected using two ADCPs mounted on two separate boats. Data were collected by either holding the boat on-station at pre-defined locations for approximately 10 minutes or in moving transect mode when the boat would move over large distances during the data collection. Results from the mobile ADCP survey indicated a complex hydrodynamic flow field in the tailrace downstream of John Day Dam. A large gyre was noted between the skeleton section of the powerhouse and non-spilling portion of the spillway. Downstream of the spillway, the spillway flow is constrained against the navigation lock guide wall, and large velocities were noted in this region. Downstream of the guide wall, velocities decreased as the spillway jet dispersed. Near the tailrace island, the flow split was measured to be approximately equal on Day 2 (25.4 kcfs spillway/123 kcfs total). However, approximately 60% of the flow passed along the south shore of the island on Day 1 (15.0 kcfs spillway/150 kcfs total). At a distance of 9000 ft downstream of the dam, flows had equalized laterally and were generally uniform over the cross section. The collection of water velocities near the draft tube exit of an operating turbine unit is not routine, and equipment capable of measuring 3D water velocities in these zones are at the forefront of hydraulic measurement technology. Although the feasibility of measuring 1D water velocity magnitudes has been previously demonstrated by the authors, the feasibility of resolving 3D water velocity vectors given the heterogeneity of the flow field was unknown before this study’s data were collected. Both the 1D and 3D data were collected by deploying three ADCPs on dual-axis rotators directly above the draft tube exit of Turbine Unit 16. These instruments collected 1D data during both the mobile reconnaissance campaign and a later one-week period with zero spillway discharge. During the zero spillway discharge period, Turbine Unit 16 was operated over a range of discharges. Approximately 12 hours of 1D velocity data were collected at low (12 kcfs), middle (16.2 kcfs), and high (19.2 kcfs) turbine discharges. The 1D dataset indicates large differences in flow patterns and RMS velocity fluctuations among the various discharge levels. Results from this project show that it is technically feasible to measure 3D water velocities directly downstream of an operating turbine unit using a narrow beam swath (i.e., 6-degree) ADCP. Data products from these 3D velocity data include a measurement of the draft tube barrel flow distribution (a.k.a., the flow split), directional changes and the general decay of velocity as flow exits the draft tube and enters the tailrace, and a relative measure of the homogeneity of the flow field.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 890724
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-15627; 400403209; TRN: US200721%%664
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The Dalles Dam, Columbia River: Spillway Improvement CFD Study
Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of the John Day Dam Tailrace