Comparison of blade-strike modeling results with empirical data

Technical Report · Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1218123· OSTI ID:1218123

Ploskey, Gene R. ^[1]; Carlson, Thomas J. ^[1]

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

This study is the initial stage of further investigation into the dynamics of injury to fish during passage through a turbine runner. As part of the study, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) estimated the probability of blade strike, and associated injury, as a function of fish length and turbine operating geometry at two adjacent turbines in Powerhouse 1 of Bonneville Dam. Units 5 and 6 had identical intakes, stay vanes, wicket gates, and draft tubes, but Unit 6 had a new runner and curved discharge ring to minimize gaps between the runner hub and blades and between the blade tips and discharge ring. We used a mathematical model to predict blade strike associated with two Kaplan turbines and compared results with empirical data from biological tests conducted in 1999 and 2000. Blade-strike models take into consideration the geometry of the turbine blades and discharges as well as fish length, orientation, and distribution along the runner. The first phase of this study included a sensitivity analysis to consider the effects of difference in geometry and operations between families of turbines on the strike probability response surface. The analysis revealed that the orientation of fish relative to the leading edge of a runner blade and the location that fish pass along the blade between the hub and blade tip are critical uncertainties in blade-strike models. Over a range of discharges, the average prediction of injury from blade strike was two to five times higher than average empirical estimates of visible injury from shear and mechanical devices. Empirical estimates of mortality may be better metrics for comparison to predicted injury rates than other injury measures for fish passing at mid-blade and blade-tip locations.

• Research Organization: EERE Publication and Product Library, Washington, D.C. (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
• OSTI ID: 1218123
• Report Number(s): PNNL-14603; 3735
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

injury
fish
passage
turbine(s)
runner
blade(s)
strike
length
Bonneville Dam
intakes
stay vane(s)
wicket gate(s)
draft tube(s)
new
curved
discharge(s)
ring
model
Kaplan
biological
blade-strike
sensitivity analysis
probability
orientation
leading edge
hub
blade tip
uncertainty
shear
empirical
prediction
mid-blade