- 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
Maximizing the habitat restoration potential of controlled releases at hydropower dams; Understanding impacts of hydrograph form on sediment transport
Lead Companies
University of Idaho
Lead Researcher (s)
- Megan Kenworthy
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Sediment Transport
Status
complete
Completion Date
2018
- Conventional Hydro
Measuring and evaluating ecological flows
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- James E. McKenna, Jr.
USGS scientists and partners used estimates of river and streamflow and observed fish abundances to develop tools that specify the response of fish to alterations in those flows. They fit the logistic model to a cumulative fish abundance curve as a function of yield providing an empirical means to develop models of the response of cumulative fish abundance to flows. Response zones of yield for each species in each system type illustrate how criteria may be developed that can be used in decision-making for management of flows. Mapping stream sensitivity to flow alteration throughout the Great Lakes Region with a multiscale spatial framework showed how regional variability in sensitivity for any fish species or assemblage may be evaluated and provides managers with information to help determine where the best opportunities for protection or restoration of streamflows and associated communities exist.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2018
- Conventional Hydro
Measuring and Monitoring Sediment Transport in an Ephemeral Stream; Physical and Surrogate Data Collection
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- David Varyu
Is there a strong statistical regression between surrogate measurements and definitive (direct) measurements of sediment transport in ephemeral systems? Which surrogates are the most reliable to predict the discharge of bedload (e.g., seismic or acoustic)? What characteristic of the surrogate is most informative (e.g. total acoustic power or number of impacts for acoustic; amplitude at what frequency for seismic)? Can multiple calibrated turbidity sensors account for sandy suspended sediment concentrations to determine suspended load? Can LSPIV be useful to determine water velocity and discharge in flash-flood environments as shown elsewhere? River maintenance and other in-channel projects – whether for water delivery, public safety, habitat restoration, or other – need to be designed and implemented with a knowledge or river processes and channel morphology to ensure project success. Process and morphology are a result of the magnitude and timing of water and sediment delivery to the channel. A method to adequately quantify sediment delivery from ephemeral tributaries in a reliable and cost-effective manner does not exist. This research will benefit any office charged with rivers that have ephemeral tributaries.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Mercury Loading to Streams and Reservoirs: A Process-Based Approach
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Yong Lai
The proposed research aims to develop a process-based, watershed-scale numerical model that may be used to assess and predict mercury loading to streams and reservoirs. It will answer the following research questions: (1) Can a reliable and accurate process-based, watershed-scale mercury loading model be developed that will allow Reclamation to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of mercury management measures in its facilities such as reservoirs? (2) What are the key physical and biochemical processes, among many possibilities, that should be simulated more accurately than others for a reliable mercury delivery simulation? (3) Can we develop novel numerical methods to simulate mercury delivery more efficiently and reliably than existing models?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- 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
Modeling and Analysis of a Small Hydropower Plant and Battery Energy Storage System Connected as a Microgrid
Lead Companies
University of Washington
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kelly Kozdras
This project developed a model in PowerWorld for a small microgrid being considered to improve reliability in a Washington mountain town. The microgrid utilizes both an existing small hydro generation site and a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The transient stability of this microgrid was analyzed based on the system model, and potential system modifications considered. The software used in the analysis allows for many types of transient contingencies to be analyzed, which will aid in the future modeling and analysis of potential control strategies.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
complete
Completion Date
2015
- Conventional Hydro
Modeling Conventional Hydropower Plants to Duplicate Pumped Storage Hydro Operation
Lead Companies
EPRI
Lead Researcher (s)
- Francisco Kuljevan
As interest rises in pumped storage’s role for integrating variable renewable energy (VRE) resources into the grid, a key resource may be overlooked. Conventional hydropower can, and sometimes does, provide ancillary services that mimic pumped storage’s capabilities. This report describes (1) the development and demonstration of an innovative, water-based methodology for analyzing and evaluating alternative energy and ancillary services operations under different market conditions, (2) the results from analyses using the methodology, and (3) recommendations based on results from the analyses. Results are provided from detailed analyses of a hypothetical three-unit hydropower plant operating (a) under cold weather (February) and hot weather (July) conditions; (b) with low, medium low, medium high, and high water budgets; and (c) in three market regions (CAISO, MISO, and NYISO). Across markets, seasons, and water budgets, the daily revenues from co-optimized energy, regulation, and spinning reserves significantly exceed the daily revenues from energy-only operation.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Optimization
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Modeling fish habitat and disease impacts from hydroelectric flow management
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- Russ Perry
The production of Klamath River fall Chinook salmon is thought to be limited by poor survival during freshwater juvenile life stages, in part a result of Ceratonova shasta—a highly infectious disease that can lead to fish mortality. Higher flushing river flows are thought to affect the concentration of C. shasta spores, and in turn, juvenile salmon infection and mortality. The Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) model was built to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the growth, movement, and survival of juvenile salmon from spawning through migration in response to river flow, habitat availability, water temperature, and C. shasta spore concentrations. The S3 model has been calibrated to juvenile fall Chinook salmon abundances at a trap site within the Klamath River, and was designed to provide objective predictions of juvenile salmon abundance and survival in relation to proposed flow management alternatives and resulting fish infection and mortality by C. shasta.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Modeling Fish Passage and Energetic Expenditure for American Shad in a Steeppass Fishway using a Computational Fluid Dynamics Model
Lead Companies
Montana State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kathryn Plymesser
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2014
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org