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- Conventional Hydro
Refining Quagga Habitat Suitability Models
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Yale Passamaneck
As introductions of invasive freshwater mussels continue to be detected across the Western United States there is significant interest in understanding what waters are most at risk of infestation. In the absence of extensive laboratory studies on the physiological tolerances of invasive dreissenid mussels, correlative studies comparing mussel distribution and environmental parameters remains the best tool available for understanding the risk of mussel establishment in new waters. Previous efforts to define such habitat suitability parameters for dreissenid mussels have drawn primarily on data from waters in the Eastern US and Europe. Hydrological regimes in these regions are often less dynamic than in Reclamation waters in the arid Western US. We hypothesize that such factors may play an as yet unrecognized role in determining a waterbody's potential risk of invasive mussel establishment and infestation, and may serve to limit the spread of infestations in Reclamation waters. The proposed work will draw on a decade of early detection research conducted at the Reclamation Detection Laboratory for Exotic Species (RDLES), as well as publicly available data on water quality and hydrology to understand what factors may control the establishment of mussels in the Western US. Of particular interest will be waterbodies where RDLES has identified evidence of dreissenid mussel introductions, but populations have not proceeded to establishment and infestation. These data suggest initial habitat suitability but that some environmental features limited population expansion and survival. This is significant because for waters where no detection has occurred, it is not necessarily possible to distinguish if this is due to unsuitable environmental conditions or simply a lack of any introduction. This project will assess how current habitat suitability models may be refined to more accurately inform risk assessment in Reclamation waters.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Marine Energy
Remote Community Led Test Campaign (ETIPP)
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
The Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI), in partnership with the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), is establishing a new public-private partnership effort to increase the resilience of energy systems in islanded and remote communities. The purpose of the partnership is to support energy system planning and operations that prioritize the resilience of these communities, including through new generation and storage technologies, physical system design and operations, and closer integration of electricity, transport, and industrial energy use. The support will include direct technical assistance to communities and utilities, as well as peer-to-peer information sharing.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Renewable Energy Production from Water Distribution Systems
Lead Companies
Georgia Institute of Technology
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ilker Telci
Water quality monitoring and search for environment friendly energy sources is becoming two of the most popular engineering research topics as we better understand the limits of our planet. In this thesis, first an optimal design methodology for water quality monitoring networks in river systems is developed. Next, a data interpretation approach is proposed to identify pollution source locations utilizing the water quality measurements supplied by the monitoring network. As the third topic, the thesis introduces an optimal design technique for energy recovery systems in water distribution networks. In the first part of this thesis, an optimization algorithm is developed for the water quality monitoring system. In this process, the best monitoring locations are determined by utilizing the outcomes of a simulation model. The results of the simulation model is an essential component of this approach since they incorporate the unsteady and stochastic nature of hydrodynamics and the contaminant fate and transport processes in rivers into the optimization model. In this approach, the ideal monitoring locations are determined through a multi-objective optimization technique. One of the objectives of the monitoring system is specified as the early detection of the contaminants and the other as the reliability of the monitoring network. The methodology developed was first applied to a simple hypothetical river system to demonstrate the importance of the unsteady hydrological properties of the watershed on the optimal locations of the monitoring stations. Then, it is tested on a realistic river system. The results show that the design technique developed can be effectively used for the optimal design of monitoring networks in river systems. In the second part of the study, a methodology for rapid identification of contaminant source locations is introduced. Since this is an ill posed problem which has non-unique solutions, a classification routine which correlates candidate spill locations with the measurements at the water quality monitoring stations is developed. For this purpose, the breakthrough curve of a contaminant measured at monitoring site is parameterized using its statistical moments. Then, a large number of spill scenarios are simulated for the training of the monitoring system. After the training process, the method is ready for sequential elimination of the candidate locations which leads to the identification of spill location for a breakthrough curve observed at the monitoring station. The model developed is applied to real river system and the results show that this technique can be a reliable starting point for the contaminant source investigation projects The third part of the thesis is devoted to renewable energy production from water distribution systems. The main idea behind this study is to harvest as much available excess energy as possible by utilizing micro turbines. The energy production at these turbines is constrained by the minimum pressure limit set by the management. Moreover, the unsteady nature of the flow in the network results in variations in the available excess energy. These aspects of the water distribution systems necessitate operation schedules for the micro turbines. In this study, a simulation-optimization method is developed which maximizes the energy recovered at the micro turbine(s). This simulationoptimization model is based on Genetic Algorithms (GA). A smart seeding of the GA is introduced to lower the computational burden. The algorithm tests several energy recovery system configurations which has different turbine locations and turbine types. Then the best configuration which has the highest energy production is selected. The methodology is first applied to a real pump driven network. Then, this network is converted into a hypothetical gravity driven system and the optimization model is tested on this new system. The results show that the energy recovery systems in water distribution networks can provide significant economic and environmental benefits and the methodology introduced is not only an optimal design tool but also an effective means of assessing the renewable energy potential in water distribution systems.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Water Conveyance
Research Sub-Category
Canal
Status
complete
Completion Date
2012
- Conventional Hydro
Representing Hydropower in Power Flow and Stability Models
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Nadar Samaan
Identification of modeling gaps for existing and new hydropower replacements/installations including, but not limited to the following: • Governor dead-band issues • Response exceeding generator nameplate template • Forced oscillations, while operating in rough zones • Secondary control loops • Frequency trip settings • Water-hammer effect and water inertia • Over/underestimation of water availability • Static head-water values that are not adjusted to represent current conditions • Over/underestimation of available generation capacity
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Emerging Issues and Measures to Recover the Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon ESU
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kenneth Tiffan
- Russell Perry
In this report, USGS scientists and partners illustrate how a life-cycle model of intermediate complexity can be used to understand population dynamics and factors affecting different life stages of Snake River basin fall Chinook salmon.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Marine Energy
Resiliency of Poly-Crystaline Diamond Bearings Exposed to Marine Environments
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Robert Jeters
Marine energy efforts are increasingly focused on remote locations where traditional grid-tied systems are not practical. Seals and bearings in marine energy generators are a common source of failures, accounting for up to a 25\% failure rate per year. Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) bearings are composed of one of the most durable substances known to humankind and have been successfully tested in laboratory conditions for marine use. PCD bearings can be used to construct flooded marine energy generators that do not have seals while providing virtually indestructible bearings to reduce maintenance while increasing reliability for marine energy systems. PNNL built a bearing test stand to mimic conditions found in the cross-flow turbines being built by researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory at University of Washington. We exposed steel and PCD bearings in the bearing test stand to Arctic water temperatures (-2.4°C), fostering ice formation around bearing surfaces while monitoring bearing health for \~1,000 hours. While the steel bearings failed at the 990 hour mark, the PCD bearing show virtually no signs of wear beyond characteristic self-polishing of bearing surfaces. The PCD bearings did not change weight appreciably and while ice formation impacted bearings function while present, the coefficient of friction (CoF) of the bearings was approximately .05 without ice, making these bearings 95\% efficient. PCD bearings present an opportunity for rugged marine power generation in flooded marine energy generators.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Physical & Cyber Security
Resilient Alaskan Distribution system Improvements using Automation, Network analysis, Control, and Energy storage (RADIANCE)
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Tamara Becejac, PNNL
- Sigifredo Gonzalez, SNL
This project aims to perform a full-scale regional deployment of advanced technologies and methods for resiliency-enhanced operation of regional distribution grid in the City of Cordova, AK under harsh weather, cyber-threats, and dynamic grid conditions. PNNL will lead the efforts for design, analysis and evaluation of communication networks, fault propagation, interoperability and communication protocols, including IEC 61850 (and associated standard IEC 62351), for loosely- and tightly-networked microgrids. PNNL’s expertise in advanced sensors such as micro-PMUs will be utilized in the project and aspects related to optimal placement of sensors in Cordova grid will be addressed in collaboration with SNL’s efforts for microgrid design and INL’s real-time CHIL and cyber-testing.
Technology Application
Physical & Cyber Security, Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2022
- Conventional Hydro
Review and Recommendation of Hydrologic Forecast Verification Strategies and Methods
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0432
Provide a verification framework that can be implemented on hydrologic parameters at a variety of levels of sophistication.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2020
- Conventional Hydro
Review of Data Screening Methods for Discharge/Inflow Time Series
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0425
The main objectives of this project are to review/describe/classify data screening methods, identify easily applicable and robust techniques, develop a reference guide to assist users in the selection of data screening methods, and identify emerging techniques for discharge/inflow data screening.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Optimization
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
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Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org