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

Title: Manufacture, Installation, and Testing of New Environmentally Friendly Hydropower Turbine

Abstract

Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Hydro Turbine Program, the Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (Grant PUD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shared in the Advanced Hydro Turbine (AHT) design, production support, field testing, and maintenance evaluation. Based on concerns about the ongoing reliability of the Wanapum turbines, Grant PUD explored replacing the Wanapum turbines with AHTs to increase hydraulic efficiency, improve power output, increase hydraulic capacity, achieve equal or better survival of juvenile salmon passage, and improve water quality by reducing spill during periods of high river flows. In February 2005, under DE-FC36-02ID14410, Grant PUD upgraded Unit No. 8 at the Wanapum development of the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 2114) with the installation of an AHT, the first of ten scheduled turbine upgrades at the Wanapum development. In accordance with the July 23, 2004 FERC Order Modifying and Approving Amendment of License Application and consistent with the December 16, 2004 FERC Order Amending License to incorporate the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Biological Opinion issued May 3, 2004, Grant PUD was required to conduct biological testing on the first installed AHT, proving that the AHT met the specified performance criteria for juvenilemore » salmon passage survival. This report summarizes the results of that biological testing, along with the AHT commissioning testing; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations used to gain further insight into the results of biological testing; Sensor Fish Device data acquisition of pressure, acceleration, and rotations changes experienced by migrating fish in severe hydraulic environments; and additional biological (C-start behavior) testing.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
901068
Report Number(s):
DOE/ID/14410
DOE Contract Number:
FC36-02ID14410
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
13 HYDRO ENERGY; Priest Rapids Project; Advanced Hydro Turbine; Hydroelectric; Fish Passage

Citation Formats

Dotson, C. L., T. J. Dresser, Jr., and DOE Project Officer - Keith Bennett. Manufacture, Installation, and Testing of New Environmentally Friendly Hydropower Turbine. United States: N. p., 2007. Web.
Copy to clipboard
Dotson, C. L., T. J. Dresser, Jr., & DOE Project Officer - Keith Bennett. Manufacture, Installation, and Testing of New Environmentally Friendly Hydropower Turbine. United States.
Copy to clipboard
Dotson, C. L., T. J. Dresser, Jr., and DOE Project Officer - Keith Bennett. Tue . "Manufacture, Installation, and Testing of New Environmentally Friendly Hydropower Turbine". United States. doi:.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_901068,
title = {Manufacture, Installation, and Testing of New Environmentally Friendly Hydropower Turbine},
author = {Dotson, C. L. and T. J. Dresser, Jr. and DOE Project Officer - Keith Bennett},
abstractNote = {Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Hydro Turbine Program, the Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (Grant PUD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shared in the Advanced Hydro Turbine (AHT) design, production support, field testing, and maintenance evaluation. Based on concerns about the ongoing reliability of the Wanapum turbines, Grant PUD explored replacing the Wanapum turbines with AHTs to increase hydraulic efficiency, improve power output, increase hydraulic capacity, achieve equal or better survival of juvenile salmon passage, and improve water quality by reducing spill during periods of high river flows. In February 2005, under DE-FC36-02ID14410, Grant PUD upgraded Unit No. 8 at the Wanapum development of the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 2114) with the installation of an AHT, the first of ten scheduled turbine upgrades at the Wanapum development. In accordance with the July 23, 2004 FERC Order Modifying and Approving Amendment of License Application and consistent with the December 16, 2004 FERC Order Amending License to incorporate the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Biological Opinion issued May 3, 2004, Grant PUD was required to conduct biological testing on the first installed AHT, proving that the AHT met the specified performance criteria for juvenile salmon passage survival. This report summarizes the results of that biological testing, along with the AHT commissioning testing; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations used to gain further insight into the results of biological testing; Sensor Fish Device data acquisition of pressure, acceleration, and rotations changes experienced by migrating fish in severe hydraulic environments; and additional biological (C-start behavior) testing.},
doi = {},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 02 00:00:00 EST 2007},
month = {Tue Jan 02 00:00:00 EST 2007}
}
Copy to clipboard
Technical Report:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that may hold this item. Keep in mind that many technical reports are not cataloged in WorldCat.
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

  • ; ; ; ...
    The Alden turbine was developed through the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) former Advanced Hydro Turbine Systems Program (1994-2006) and, more recently, through the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the DOE's Wind & Water Power Program. The primary goal of the engineering study described here was to provide a commercially competitive turbine design that would yield fish passage survival rates comparable to or better than the survival rates of bypassing or spilling flow. Although the turbine design was performed for site conditions corresponding to 92 ft (28 m) net head and a discharge of 1500 cfs (42.5 cms), themore » design can be modified for additional sites with differing operating conditions. During the turbine development, design modifications were identified for the spiral case, distributor (stay vanes and wicket gates), runner, and draft tube to improve turbine performance while maintaining features for high fish passage survival. Computational results for pressure change rates and shear within the runner passage were similar in the original and final turbine geometries, while predicted minimum pressures were higher for the final turbine. The final turbine geometry and resulting flow environments are expected to further enhance the fish passage characteristics of the turbine. Computational results for the final design were shown to improve turbine efficiencies by over 6% at the selected operating condition when compared to the original concept. Prior to the release of the hydraulic components for model fabrication, finite element analysis calculations were conducted for the stay vanes, wicket gates, and runner to verify that structural design criteria for stress and deflections were met. A physical model of the turbine was manufactured and tested with data collected for power and efficiency, cavitation limits, runaway speed, axial and radial thrust, pressure pulsations, and wicket gate torque. All parameters were observed to fall within ranges expected for conventional radial flow machines. Based on these measurements, the expected efficiency peak for prototype application is 93.64%. These data were used in the final sizing of the supporting mechanical and balance of plant equipment. The preliminary equipment cost for the design specification is $1450/kW with a total supply schedule of 28 months. This equipment supply includes turbine, generator, unit controls, limited balance of plant equipment, field installation, and commissioning. Based on the selected head and flow design conditions, fish passage survival through the final turbine is estimated to be approximately 98% for 7.9-inch (200-mm) fish, and the predicted survival reaches 100% for fish 3.9 inches (100 mm) and less in length. Note that fish up to 7.9- inches (200 mm) in length make up more than 90% of fish entrained at hydro projects in the United States. Completion of these efforts provides a mechanical and electrical design that can be readily adapted to site-specific conditions with additional engineering development comparable to costs associated with conventional turbine designs.« less

  • This report presents the results of a collaborative research project funded by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and hydropower industry partners with the objective of completing the remaining developmental engineering required for a “fish-friendly” hydropower turbine called the Alden turbine.

  • The Advanced Hydropower Turbine System Program (AHTS) was created in 1994 by the U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, and the Hydropower Research Foundation. The Program’s main goal is to develop “environmentally friendly” hydropower turbines. The Program’s first accomplishment was the development of conceptual designs of new environmentally friendly turbines. In order to do so, two contractors were competitively selected. The ARL/NREC team of engineers and biologists provided a conceptual design for a new turbine runner*. The new runner has the potential to generate hydroelectricity at close to 90% efficiency. The Voith team produced new fish-friendly design criteriamore » for Kaplan and Francis turbines that can be incorporated in units during rehabilitation projects or in new hydroelectric facilities**. These include the use of advanced plant operation, minimum gap runners, placement of wicket gates behind stay vanes, among others. The Voith team will also provide design criteria on aerating Francis turbines to increase dissolved oxygen content. Detailed reviews of the available literature on fish mortality studies, causation of injuries to fish, and available biological design criteria that would assist in the design of fish-friendly turbines were performed. This review identified a need for more biological studies in order to develop performance criteria to assist turbine manufacturers in designing a more fish-friendly turbine.« less

  • The Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) program addresses new low-impact technology that reduces the footprint of drilling activities, integrates light weight drilling rigs with reduced emission engine packages, addresses on-site waste management, optimizes the systems to fit the needs of a specific development sites and provides stewardship of the environment. In addition, the program includes industry, the public, environmental organizations, and elected officials in a collaboration that addresses concerns on development of unconventional natural gas resources in environmentally sensitive areas. The EFD program provides the fundamentals to result in greater access, reasonable regulatory controls, lower development cost and reduction of themore » environmental footprint associated with operations for unconventional natural gas. Industry Sponsors have supported the program with significant financial and technical support. This final report compendium is organized into segments corresponding directly with the DOE approved scope of work for the term 2005-2009 (10 Sections). Each specific project is defined by (a) its goals, (b) its deliverable, and (c) its future direction. A web site has been established that contains all of these detailed engineering reports produced with their efforts. The goals of the project are to (1) identify critical enabling technologies for a prototype low-impact drilling system, (2) test the prototype systems in field laboratories, and (3) demonstrate the advanced technology to show how these practices would benefit the environment.« less

  • ; ;
    A team worked together on the development of environmentally advanced hydro turbine design concepts to reduce hydropower`s impact on the environment, and to improve the understanding of the technical and environmental issues involved, in particular, with fish survival as a result of their passage through hydro power sites. This approach brought together a turbine design and manufacturing company, biologists, a utility, a consulting engineering firm and a university research facility, in order to benefit from the synergy of diverse disciplines. Through a combination of advanced technology and engineering analyses, innovative design concepts adaptable to both new and existing hydro facilitiesmore » were developed and are presented. The project was divided into 4 tasks. Task 1 investigated a broad range of environmental issues and how the issues differed throughout the country. Task 2 addressed fish physiology and turbine physics. Task 3 investigated individual design elements needed for the refinement of the three concept families defined in Task 1. Advanced numerical tools for flow simulation in turbines are used to quantify characteristics of flow and pressure fields within turbine water passageways. The issues associated with dissolved oxygen enhancement using turbine aeration are presented. The state of the art and recent advancements of this technology are reviewed. Key elements for applying turbine aeration to improve aquatic habitat are discussed and a review of the procedures for testing of aerating turbines is presented. In Task 4, the results of the Tasks were assembled into three families of design concepts to address the most significant issues defined in Task 1. The results of the work conclude that significant improvements in fish passage survival are achievable.« less