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Best Practice Guide for Maintaining Hydro Generating Station Power System Electrical Connections
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- 03/101
A technical report that integrates the best available information and practices into a single source that can be used to understand the design and installation principles of PSE connections while providing guidance for maintenance and repair practices. A technical how-to user manual to help field personnel properly install and maintain PSE connections.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2020
- Conventional Hydro
Best Practice Guide for the Operation and Maintenance of Cranes and Lifting Equipment
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0397
This guide focuses on the entire life-cycle of crane and hoist assets, incorporating best practices obtained from survey responses from a cross section of participating HPLIG utilities that operate and maintain a combined total of 4500 cranes and hoists.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Cold Spray
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Chris Smith
Technology for cavitation repair, cold spray repairs involve the impact of high-velocity particulates with the subject material, which strike with such a high speed that they bond with the chemical structure of the substrate. This has the promise of improved performance and ease of repair over other conventional applications.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Cold Spray Process Development in -situ Repair of Hydroturbines
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Chris Smith
The first goal of this project is to produce an optimized cold spray process for cavitation resistance that represents an additional 50% improvement over cold spray processes tested in PNNL’s current cavitation repair program. The second goal is to include the optimized cold spray process, developed as part of this TCF project, in field testing that is being developed as part of a Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Technology Innovation (TI) project.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Commissioning Guide for Hydroelectric Generating Stations
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0386
to provide general guidelines, best practices, and typical reference procedures to assist engineers in understanding, planning, and carrying out the commissioning of major equipment for hydroelectric stations.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Commissioning Guide for Hydroelectric Stations Auxiliary Systems and Equipment
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0398
This guide will provide general guidelines, best practices, and typical reference procedures to assist engineers in understanding, planning, and carrying out the commissioning of auxiliary systems and equipment for hydroelectric stations.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2020
- Conventional Hydro
Computation and Analysis of Cavitating Flow in Francis-Class Hydraulic Turbines
Lead Companies
The Pennsylvania State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Leonard
Hydropower is the most proven renewable energy technology, supplying the worldwith16%of its electricity. Conventional hydropower generates a vast majority of that percentage. Although a mature technology, hydroelectric generation shows great promise for expansion through new dams and plants in developing hydro countries. Moreover, in developed hydro countries, such as the United States, installing generating units in existing dams and the modern refurbishment of existing plants can greatly expand generating capabilities with little to no further impact on the environment. In addition, modern computational technology and fluid dynamics expertise has led to substantial improvements in modern turbine design and performance.Cavitation has always presented a problem in hydroturbines, causing performance breakdown, erosion, damage, vibration, and noise. While modern turbines are usually designed to be cavitation-free at their best efficiency point, due to the variable demand of the energy market it is fairly common to operate at off-design conditions. Here, cavitation and its deleterious effects are unavoidable, and hence, cavitation is a limiting factor on the design and operation of these turbines. Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used in recent years to model cavitating flow for a large range of problems, including turbomachinery. However, CFD of cavitating flow in hydro turbines is still in its infancy.This dissertation presents steady-periodic Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokessimulations of a cavitating Francis-class hydro turbine at model and prototype scales. Computational results of the reduced-scale model and full-scale prototype, undergoing performance breakdown, are compared with empirical model data and prototype performance estimations based on standard industry scalings from the model data. Mesh convergence of the simulations is also displayed. Comparisons are made between the scales to display that cavitation performance breakdown can occur more abruptly in the model than the prototype, due to lack of Froude similitude between the two. When severe cavitation occurs, clear differences are observed in vapor content between the scales. A stage-by-stage performance decomposition is conducted to analyze the losses within individual components of each scale of the machine. As cavitation becomes more severe, the losses in the draft tube account for an increasing amount of the total losses in the machine. More losses occur in the model draft tube as cavitation formation in the prototype draft tube is prevented by the larger hydrostatic pressure gradient across the machine.Additionally, unsteady Detached Eddy Simulations of the fully-coupled cavitating hydro turbine are performed for both scales. Both mesh and temporal convergence studies are provided. The temporal and spectral content of fluctuations in torque and pressure are monitored and compared between single-phase, cavitating, model, and prototype cases. A shallow draft tube induced runner imbalance results in an asymmetric vapor distribution about the runner, leading to more extensive growth and collapse of vapor on any individual blade as it undergoes a revolution. Unique frequency components manifest and persist through the entire machine only when cavitation is present in the hub vortex. Large maximum pressure spikes, which result from vapor collapse, are observed on the blade surfaces in the multiphase simulations, and these may be a potential source of cavitation damage and erosion.Multiphase CFD is shown to be an accurate and effective technique for simulating and analyzing cavitating flow in Francis-class hydraulic turbines. It is recommended that it be used as an industrial tool to supplement model cavitation experiments for all types of hydraulic turbines. Moreover, multiphase CFD can be equally effective as a research tool, to investigate mechanisms of cavitating hydraulic turbines that are not understood, and to uncover unique new phenomena which are currently unknown.Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2015
- Pumped Storage
Cost Effective Small Scale Pumped Storage Configuration [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
Obermeyer Hydro
Lead Researcher (s)
- Greg Stark, greg.stark@nrel.gov
Since 2000 only one new pumped storage hydropower project has been constructed in the United States. In order to increase the future opportunity for pumped storage development, reductions in cost and scale are necessary. Historically, pumped storage projects have required large capacity to overcome the fixed costs associated with custom engineering of complex underground structures with associated geological risk. The Obermeyer Hydro submersible pump-turbine offers a standard, scalable solution which reduces underground construction and risk. Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
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Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org