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- Conventional Hydro
Methodology to Reduce the Strain on Hydro Turbines Using Advanced Life Extending Control of Multiple Energy Storage Systems
Lead Companies
Oregon State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Sean Brosig
Over the last 20 years, there has been rapid growth in the amount of installed wind power in the Pacific Northwest, specifically in the Columbia River Gorge. The variable and non-dispatchable nature of this resource requires that it be balanced in some form by other sources on the grid. In the Northwest specifically, the most relied upon generation sources have been hydropower units. However, it is thought that heavy reliance upon hydropower units to rapidly change their output to provide balancing increases the wear and tear on different components of these machines. This research aims to quantify damage incurred on these units in real time through a Real-time Damage Incurrence (RDI) model and minimize this damage and its associated cost through integration of Energy Storage using Advanced Life Extending Control (LEC). First, the relationship between wind power and hydroelectric power generation is investigated. The RDI model for hydropower units as well as multiple Energy Storage System (ESS) technologies is then developed, and LEC is implemented and simulated, resulting in significant reduction of damage incurrence and total cost of damage incurrence up to 10% in some cases.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Asset Management
Status
complete
Completion Date
2013
- Conventional Hydro
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for the Hydropower Industry
Lead Companies
EPRI
Lead Researcher (s)
- Francisco Kuljevan
The recent focus on growing the amount of energy provided by renewable sources such as wind and solar power have placed increased demands on existing hydropower infrastructure to be able to maintain consistent energy availability. The majority of existing hydropower infrastructure, however, was not designed to compensate for the variability and uncertainty of other renewable energy sources. In the past 20 years, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have become an enabling sensing technology in several industries, including the automotive, medical, and consumer electronics markets. This work provides a broad overview of available MEMS sensing technologies and capabilities which could prove beneficial to the hydropower industry, either through adaptation or direct implementation. Multiple different sensor technologies were identified as potentially useful to the hydropower industry, including MEMS strain gauges, accelerometers, microphones, and pressure and temperature sensors.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Modifications to the Runner Blade to Improve Off-Design Efficiencies of Hydraulic Turbines
Lead Companies
The Pennsylvania State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Matthew Erdman
Hydroturbines are known to have very high efficiency at their best efficiency point (BEP). However, it has become increasing beneficial to run some hydroturbines at conditions that are significantly different than BEP. This is a direct result of volatile price fluctuations on the electric market, limited storage capabilities, and environmental rules and regulations. Running the hydroturbine at off-design conditions can result in a significant amount of residual swirl in the draft tube. The presence of this residual swirl is particularly detrimental to the performance of Francis hydroturbines since they rely on a pressure head to generate power. Previous research at The Pennsylvania State University numerically discovered that injecting water through the trailing edge of the wicket gates could change the bulk flow direction upstream of the runner blades. In this manner, the flow rate and swirl angle entering the runner blade could be altered to limit residual swirl in the draft tube. The research determined that properly tuned jets could result in a significant improvement in turbine efficiency when the hydroturbine was operating at low flow. However, this required pumping water through channels into a region of relatively high pressure. This pump requirement lessened the effectiveness of the wicket gate trailing edge injection. The concept of water jet injection was further explored in the present work. However, instead of injecting water into a region of relatively high pressure, water jets were placed at the trailing edge of the runner blades where there is a region of relatively low pressure. It was determined that, although this water jet injection improved the off-design efficiency of a low flow case by 0.8%, the hydroturbine now required a larger head in order to maintain the flow rate. The present work found no increase in efficiency for the high flow case with the added water jet injection technique.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2016
- Conventional Hydro
Operation of Hydro Generators with Bypassed Stator Coils – Phase 2
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0379B
This guide will provide recommendations for temporary winding repairs in order to return generator back into operation. The guide will include methods to assess the consequences in the case of the bypassed damaged stator winding coils.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2020
- Conventional Hydro
Operational time series aggregated data set
Lead Companies
Hydropower Research Institute
Lead Researcher (s)
- HRI Technical Steering Committee
This fundamental ongoing HRI project is focused on aggregating operational data from generating units for all HRI participants. Current participants represent 40% of the US hydropower capacity. This data set will be used to support digital transformation efforts for HRI participants and licensees, and to support collaborative HRI research projects.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Pilot Scale Tests Alden/Concepts NREC Turbine
Lead Companies
Department of Energy and Alden Research Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Thomas Cooke, George Hecker, Steve Amaral, Philip Stacy
Alden Research Laboratory, Inc. (Alden) has completed pilot scale testing of the new Alden/Concepts NREC turbine that was designed to minimize fish injury at hydropower projects. The test program was part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Hydropower Turbine Systems Program. The prototype turbine operating point was 1,000 cfs at 80 ft head and 100 rpm. The turbine was designed to: 1) limit peripheral runner speed; 2)have a high minimum pressure; 3) limit pressure change rates; 4) limit the maximum flow shear; 5) minimize the number and total length of leading blade edges; 6) maximize the distance between the runner inlet and the wicket gates and minimize clearances (i.e., gaps) between other components; 7)maximize the size of flow passages. A pilot scale facility was designed and constructed to test a 1:3.25 reduced scale turbine with and without wicket gates. The test loop was operated at flows ranging between 50-95 cfs and 35-85 ft heads and the pilot scale turbine was operated at speeds ranging between 200-375 rpm to determine the Best Efficiency Point (BEP) over the range of wicket gate positions. Engineering tests were conducted to define the turbine BEP speed and head/flow combinations without and with wicket gates. Biological testing was conducted to evaluate turbine passage survival relative to: 1) fish injection location at the turbine inlet; 2) size of fish; 3) species; 4) high and low turbine speed/head/flow conditions; 5) BEP with and without wicket gates, and; 6) off-BEP wicket gate positions. A final CFD analysis was completed as part of the pilot scale study to investigate the turbine flow patterns at off-BEP wicket gate positions for comparison to the flow patterns at the BEP gate position and observed fish injury at the different gate settings. The pilot scale test results indicate that the Alden/Concepts NREC turbine has the potential to pass fish at hydroelectric projects with minimal injury and mortality.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2003
- Pumped Storage
PSH Reservoir Lining Study [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
ANL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Vladimir Koritarov, koritarov@anl.gov
In response to significant interest from the hydropower industry, this project investigates regulatory challenges and potential research needs related to PSH reservoir liners. The resulting report will cover a literature review and standard industry practices for using polymeric geomembranes as reservoir liners, including examples from the US and worldwide. Metrics related to cost, performance, and regulatory implications will be considered. Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Real-Time Condition Health Monitoring and its Application to Hydro Turbines
Lead Companies
Colorado School of Mines
Lead Researcher (s)
- Samuel Dyas
Hydroelectric power has been the number one renewable energy source in the U.S. since the beginning of the industrial revolution and continues to be today. Hydroelectricity is a critical component in the power production grid to keep greenhouse gas emissions and pollution minimized. As such, it is crucial that unexpected shutdowns and unplanned maintenance of hydropower turbines be kept to a minimum, so as to maximize hydroelectricity production. This thesis aims to investigate condition health monitoring (CHM) methods specifically designed for non-intrusive cavitation detection within hydropower turbines. Cavitation is a highly damaging phenomenon common within turbines. When allowed to continue undetected over an extended period of time, cavitation can lead to severe and crippling effects for efficient operation. The application of CHM will lead to less downtime and ultimately more electrical production from hydropower turbines, resulting in the maximization of the U.S.’s number one renewable energy source’s potential. An instrumented cavitation inducing apparatus was designed and built for laboratory testing. The goal of the cavitation inducing apparatus was to produce both non-cavitating and cavitating flows within the available flow range. Also, it was critical for the apparatus to be simple and allow the instrumentation utilized to be placed as close as possible to the cavitation within the flow. Instrumentation including pressure transducers, accelerometers and acoustic emission sensors were used to non-intrusively record cavitation signals from the cavitation apparatus. Multiple signal processing techniques, spanning both the time and frequency domains were utilized to develop methods and metrics to quantify the cavitation monitoring data. Most of the techniques are well documented, including analyzing the root mean square values of the signals and utilizing the Fast Fourier Transform for frequency domain analysis. There were also some signal processing techniques developed throughout this project, specifically for cavitation monitoring. The metrics and methods developed proved successful at identifying volatile flow rates and subsequently the onset of cavitation state change with the flow. It was also determined that time domain signal processing techniques were more successful at cavitation characterization than frequency domain techniques. There is confidence the methods developed for non-intrusive cavitation monitoring through this thesis could be easy transferred to on-site operational test data received from a cavitating turbine and successfully diagnose the onset of cavitation with the flow range.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Asset Management
Status
complete
Completion Date
2013
- Conventional Hydro
Rotor Mounted Scanner
Lead Companies
Hydropower Research Institute
Lead Researcher (s)
- HRI Technical Steering Committee
This project is in the planning stage. The proposed initial focus is to design and develop components for a new sensor. Later stage focus will be development and testing of a prototype at an HRI participant hydropower plant.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
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Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org