The Dalles Dam, Columbia River: Spillway Improvement CFD Study
This report documents development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models that were applied to The Dalles spillway for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District. The models have been successfully validated against physical models and prototype data, and are suitable to support biological research and operations management. The CFD models have been proven to provide reliable information in the turbulent high-velocity flow field downstream of the spillway face that is typically difficult to monitor in the prototype. In addition, CFD data provides hydraulic information throughout the solution domain that can be easily extracted from archived simulations for later use if necessary. This project is part of an ongoing program at the Portland District to improve spillway survival conditions for juvenile salmon at The Dalles. Biological data collected at The Dalles spillway have shown that for the original spillway configuration juvenile salmon passage survival is lower than desired. Therefore, the Portland District is seeking to identify operational and/or structural changes that might be implemented to improve fish passage survival. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) went through a sequence of steps to develop a CFD model of The Dalles spillway and tailrace. The first step was to identify a preferred CFD modeling package. In the case of The Dalles spillway, Flow-3D was as selected because of its ability to simulate the turbulent free-surface flows that occur downstream of each spilling bay. The second step in development of The Dalles CFD model was to assemble bathymetric datasets and structural drawings sufficient to describe the dam (powerhouse, non-overflow dam, spillway, fish ladder entrances, etc.) and tailrace. These datasets are documented in this report as are various 3-D graphical representations of The Dalles spillway and tailrace. The performance of the CFD model was then validated for several cases as the third step. The validated model was then applied to address specific SIS design questions. Specifically, the CFD models were used to evaluate flow deflectors, baffle block removal and the effects of spillwalls. The CFD models were also used to evaluate downstream differences at other locations, such as at the Highway 197 bridge piers and Oregon shore islands, due to alterations in spill pattern. CFD model results were analyzed to quantitatively compare impacts of the spillwall that has subsequently been constructed between bays 6 and 7. CFD model results provided detailed information about how the spillwall would impact downstream flow patterns that complemented results from the 1:80 scale physical model. The CFD model was also used to examine relative differences between the juvenile spill pattern used in previous years and the anticipated spill pattern that will be applied once the wall is complete. In addition, the CFD model examined velocity magnitudes over the downstream basalt shelf to investigate potential for erosion under high flow conditions (e.g., 21 kcfs/bay for bays 1 through 6) with the spillwall in place. Several appendices follow the results and discussion sections of this report. These appendices document the large number of CFD simulations that have been performed by PNNL; both spillway improvement study (SIS) related and those performed for related biological tests.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 969745
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-14768; 400403209; TRN: US201002%%397
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BAFFLES
BASALT
COLUMBIA RIVER
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONFIGURATION
FISH PASSAGE FACILITIES
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRAULICS
JUVENILES
MONITORS
REMOVAL
SALMON
SHORES
SPILLWAYS
US CORPS OF ENGINEERS
VELOCITY
CFD modeling
hydraulic modeling
The Dalles Dam
Columbia River
fish survival
flow prediction