- Show all
- Asset Management
- Buoy
- Canal
- Climate Change
- Controls
- Dam Safety
- Environmental Impact
- Fish and Aquatic Resources
- Future Grid
- Generator
- Governor
- Hydraulic Forecasting
- Hydraulic Optimization
- Hydrokinetic
- Intake Gates
- Markets
- Penstock
- Regulatory Process
- Renewable Integration
- Sediment Transport
- Shoreline and Riparian Resources
- Spillgates
- Tidal
- Transmission Services
- Turbine
- Water Management
- Water Resources
- Water Systems
- Wave
- Conventional Hydro
Hydro Turbine Generator Start/Stop Cost Study
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0391
This report reviews the literature, studies, and presentations regarding the effects of start/stops on hydroelectric equipment.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Hydro Turbine Generator Vibration and Balancing Field Guide
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0392
provides a consistent set of definitions for terms commonly used in the design, operation and maintenance of the components and systems used on hydroelectric generator units.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Hydro-Based Microgrids to Support Grid Resiliency during Wildfires [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Abhishek Somani, abhishek.somani@pnnl.gov
As wildfires are becoming more severe and commonplace in the U.S., researchers are evaluating how to mitigate the impacts from west coast wildfires on the grid since power is often critical for life-saving services. This project will create a framework to leverage hydropower resources to ensure grid resilience during and after wildfire events. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Regulatory Management Process
Research Sub-Category
Asset Management
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Hydro+Storage: Accelerating Industry Deployment of Hydropower Hybrids [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
INL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Thomas Mosier, Thomas.mosier@inl.gov
This project seeks to develop tools and tactics that will advise current and future hydropower hybridization efforts. Hydropower hybrids—or the combined operation of hydropower with other energy generation or storage technologies—have the potential to increase value for hydropower owners while also leveraging hydropower’s non-power benefits. The project team aims to provide deployable solutions to accelerate the potential of hydro-storage hybrids. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Markets
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Hydroelectric Turbine-Generator Units Guide for Erection Tolerances and Shaft System Alignment
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0381
This guide is the latest update of the original Alignment Guide published in 1989, and the goal is to present the tolerances for the erection of the principal components of vertical shaft hydroelecric generating units.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Hydrofleet Cybersecurity Maturity: Spectrum, Trends, and Foundations for Technology Roadmap
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Marie Whyatt
With this roadmap, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) hopes to assist the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) in improving the cybersecurity of hydropower plants across the nation. This effort draws upon collected data from the dams sector, from industrial control system cybersecurity threat reports, from similar work focused on neighboring sectors, and from frank discussions with owners, operators, and vendors. While remaining tightly focused on the needs of hydropower projects, during this landscape study and development of the resulting roadmap, the research team sought to remain informed by the larger energy sector’s vision and direction so that the topics and milestones may fit within a larger vision common to the whole.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
HydroPASSAGE
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Lara Aston
This project provides information and tools to increase fish survival through turbines and other hydropower structures across the U.S. and around the world.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Hydrophobicity of Rare-earth Oxide Ceramics and their Application in Promoting Sustained Dropwise Condensation and Corrosion and Fouling Mitigation in Hydropower Systems
Lead Companies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lead Researcher (s)
- Sami Khan
Hydrophobic surfaces that are robust can have widespread applications in various industries including energy, hydropower, and transportation. In particular, hydrophobic materials promote dropwise condensation, which results in heat transfer coefficients that can be an order of magnitude higher than those seen in conventional filmwise condensation. Existing durable materials such as metals and ceramics are generally hydrophilic and require polymeric modifiers to render them hydrophobic, but these modifiers deteriorate in harsh environments. Therefore, robust hydrophobic surfaces have been difficult to realize and their widespread applicability has been limited. In this project, the class of ceramics comprising the lanthanide series rare-earth oxides (REOs) is studied for their hydrophobic potential. The unique electronic structure of the rare-earth metal atom inhibits hydrogen bonding with interfacial water molecules resulting in a hydrophobic hydration structure where the surface oxygen atoms are the only hydrogen bonding sites. Despite being inherently hydrophobic, the presence of excess surface oxygen on REOs can lead to increased hydrogen bonding and thereby reduce their hydrophobicity. Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and wetting measurements, surface stoichiometry and surface relaxations have been shown to impact wetting properties of REOs. Specifically, freshly sputtered ceria is shown to be hydrophilic due to excess surface oxygen (shown to have an O/Ce ratio of ~3), which when relaxed in a clean, ultra-high vacuum environment isolated from airborne contaminants reaches close to stoichiometric O/Ce ratio (~2.2) and becomes hydrophobic. Further, airborne hydrocarbon contaminants do not exclusively impact the wetting properties of REOs, and relaxed REOs are intrinsically hydrophobic. This project also demonstrates that thin-film coatings (~300 nm) of relaxed hydrophobic REOs show sustained dropwise condensation behavior for over 100 hours at accelerated saturated steam conditions without compromising structural integrity or hydrophobicity, and produce an almost tenfold enhancement in the heat transfer co-efficient (103 ± 5kW/m2 K) compared to conventional filmwise condensation (usually <10 kW/m2 K). It is envisioned that robust hydrophobic rare-earth oxide ceramics will have far reaching technological applications, especially in dropwise condensation and fouling mitigation in hydropower systems.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2015
- Conventional Hydro
Hydropower Advancement Project
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Pradeep Ramuhalli (ramuhallip@ornl.gov)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed the Hydropower Advancement Project, an initiative for audits and feasibility studies at hydropower facilities and non-powered dams, to promote the application of advanced hydropower technology through an assessment, upgrade design, and upgrade demonstration process. The program evaluates the overall efficiency of hydropower projects compared to the designed performance level or the industry's best practices. The difference between observed performance and best practice is the potential for increased energy from the available water. The immediate outcomes of an energy audit for a hydropower site would include (a) identifying actions that can improve energy performance, (b) prioritizing improvement activities, and (c) identifying metrics and targets that site operators can use to track improvements. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2016
- Conventional Hydro
Hydropower as a Signal Processor [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Srijib Mukherjee (mukherjeesk@ornl.gov)
The Hydropower Signal Processor project will develop a data-driven methodology for classifying and comparing the water-to-energy and energy-to-water transfer functions that succinctly characterize the essential regulating and converting behavior of hydropower facilities. If one considers the time series of flow (and the specific energy conveyed by that flow) in a river as the signal, insight may be gained by examining how this inflow signal, with its myriad and periodic fluctuations, is lagged, filtered, and otherwise converted into an outflow signal by a hydropower facility, with a corresponding electric power output signal. By taking advantage of analytics from the signal processing and information flow domains, this effort will develop an efficient method for encapsulating the complex and facility-specific behavior of many hydropower facilities. The hypothesis of the project is that the transfer functions of facilities, derived from time series data, in the same archetype (run-of-river, ponding storage, and long-term storage for example) will exhibit similarities and features that can be used to classify facilities and model facilities more coherently and consistently in river and power system models, and understand which hydropower project archetypes warrant more detailed study and effort to improve their representation in models. These hydropower facility transfer functions and their facility-specific parameters derived from historical time series data will ultimately be intuitively and quantitatively linkable to hydropower parameters production cost modeling (e.g., modes of operation for hydropower facilities) and water balance modeling, routing, and scheduling. This research and proposed methodology is not intended to create yet another model for how hydropower participates in power systems; it will provide an analysis tool, lexicon, and set of concepts that enable river system and power system decision-makers and modelers to mutually convey the functionality and value of hydropower to electric power systems.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org