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- Conventional Hydro
Design and Manufacturing Study of Hydroelectric Turbines Using Recycled and Natural Fiber Composites
Lead Companies
Oregon State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Marc Whitehead
The objective of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility fiber-reinforced turbine components through a design and manufacturing study. The motivation for using composites is to reduce weight and simplify manufacturing especially at high production volumes. In addition, natural fiber composites are implemented for applicable components to reduce environmental impact. Existing steel designs provided by major manufacturers are used as models. These are re-designed using composite materials, maintaining original geometry as much as possible. The components selected for composite design are the turbine penstock, scroll case, guide vanes, runner (impeller) and draft tube. In addition, the design of a composite fish ladder is presented to show the application of composites to other elements of hydroelectric power. Once the structural and mechanical design was complete, material and manufacturing costs were analyzed. The choice of materials was based upon loading requirements, the runner required a high strength random reinforcement carbon fiber sheet molding compound (SMC) while a glass fabric and rovings provided adequate strength for the guide vanes, scroll case, penstock and outer walls of the fish ladder while minimizing the cost. A flax fabric was selected for the design of the draft tube additionally using a bio-based PLA resin. The inner sections of the fish ladder use a flax fabric and polypropylene pultrusion. Manufacturing methods for each were selected based on geometry and cost. The complex shape of the runner was most easily formed using compression molding, which also reduced the cost as compared to hand lay up. A comparison between hand lay up and vacuum infusion was completed for the guide vanes and scroll case. Hand lay up was chosen for the draft tube as it is the most commercially proven method for the manufacture of components using natural fibers. Filament winding, the method used for the penstock would be the ideal method of manufacture but it has yet to be completed in a commercial setting with natural fibers. Results show the cost of most parts is dominated by tooling (molds) for the components as the research focused on a small run of ten parts, assumed to be for research and testing purposes. However, the contribution of tooling can be cut in half if the run size is doubled. The design and manufacturing analysis does support the use of composite materials in hydroelectric turbines and the costs associated with their manufacture are within reasonable parameters for industry.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Turbine
Status
complete
Completion Date
2013
- Conventional Hydro
Determination of Optimal Operating Schemes for a Multi-Reservoir System Under Environmental Constraints
Lead Companies
Vanderbilt University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Hydropower Foundation
In stratified reservoirs, both dam tailwater discharge and thermal plant intake water quality and temperature can be highly dependent on structure depth. A twodimensional laterally-averaged model allows for better prediction of water quality over time at specific depths. Because high-fidelity models are typically too computationally expensive for direct inclusion within optimization algorithms, water quality is incorporated using one dimensional models are simple flow requirements. Water quality predictions can be incorporated within the optimization process through using surrogate modeling methods, in this application artificial neural network (ANN) models. ANNs are flexible machine learning tools for function approximation composed of a structure of neurons assembled within a multi-layer architecture. They are capable of handling large amounts of training data and modeling nonlinear dynamic systems, making ANNs a well-suited method for this application. This report illustrates the development of ANN models to emulate the hydrodynamic and water quality modeling capabilities of the high-fidelity, two-dimensional CE-QUAL-W2 (W2) model, as well as a linked riverine reservoir system optimization process which accounts for energy generation, water balance and hydraulics, and compliance point water quality. A process for hourly hydropower generation planning is demonstrated on a pair of reservoirs linked in series. The two reservoirs are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects with hydropower capabilities on the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The content presented here is largely a combination of technical papers previously presented at the HydroVision International conference (Shaw et al., 2015, 2016).
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
complete
Completion Date
2016
- Conventional Hydro
Determining the capabilities and limitations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) equipped with Light Detection Ranging (LiDAR) sensors when applied to hydrologic studies, infrastructure, mapping, and general land data collection
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Meyer Jay
The ability to obtain high quality topographic data is a challenging and time consuming process. The current methods of obtaining this level of quality data and information utilizes traditional terrestrial GPS equipment which requires a greater amount of staff and time. With increasing technology innovations, it could be possible to obtain topographic data over much larger areas in a shorter amount of time and utilizing less staff with the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors. Advances in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have proven to be valuable in topographic data collection operations. The advantage of LiDAR as opposed to alternate methods such as photogrammetry and traditional survey practices, is the ability to penetrate vegetation layers and return surface level elevations.The need to obtain topographic data could stem from a magnitude of needs. Whether the need to have high quality topographic data will aid in developing inundation maps of upstream and downstream of reservoirs or assist in the construction and design of recreation sites, UAS equipped with LiDAR can provide that information in a fraction of the time it would take to obtain it in a traditional fashion. A specific project that this type of technology would be tested and utilized on would be obtaining topography upstream of Lugert-Altus Reservoir located in Lone Wolf, OK. In the past, this type of data for this specific area was collected using traditional GPS survey methods and practices however, not only was that extremely time consuming, collecting data over a several hundred acre area on foot, we believe that LiDAR has the capability to collect updated data, more accurate data, more frequent collection of data, all while reducing boots on the ground.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
- Conventional Hydro
Developing process-based and spatially consistent approaches for correcting streamflow biases in watershed hydrology simulations
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Marketa McGuire
The goal of the proposed research is to develop a new streamflow bias-correction method that can be used by Reclamation to create input time series for water resources models at a daily time step. The proposed method will avoid existing artifacts in the bias-corrected streamflow, such as discontinuities on month boundaries and inconsistent local inflows. The methodological advances are that the bias-correction method will develop corrections based on the dominant hydrologic process (e.g. snow melt) rather than on time-of-year (e.g. a correction based on month) and that the method will account for the connectivity between successive downstream locations to result in realistic incremental flows.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Developing Tools to Evaluate Environment-Flexibility Tradeoffs [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
ORNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Brenda Pracheil, prachielbm@ornl.gov
This project will build on previous research led by the labs to understand the flexibility and environmental tradeoffs involved in hydropower operation. Researchers will develop a user-friendly tool that helps operators analyze the flexibility-environmental tradeoffs of hydropower operations. This is expected to lead to improved support of variable renewable generation without sacrificing river ecosystem health. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Regulatory Management Process
Research Sub-Category
Regulatory Process
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Development and Experimental Hardware Validation of Novel Variable Speed Hydropower Control Schemes for Emerging Applications and Water Resource Paradigms
Lead Companies
Oregon State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Michael Starrett
Recent opportunities for new hydropower generation in the United States have often been in non-powered dams and run-of-river type flows occurring in low-impact natural areas and unregulated conduits. At the same time, a changing water resource paradigm is challenging some existing generation in drought stricken areas where supply reservoirs behind many medium and high head units are at historically low levels. The result is a developing market space which is potentially best captured by machines capable of variable speed operation. Variable speed units have a wider range of operating conditions compared to their synchronous counterparts and have already proven their resilience through a 20+ year history in pumped hydro applications. This work develops a control scheme for variable speed hydropower units operating to deliver a set-point power through flow controlling gates. This control scheme increases both the hydrologic operating range of a unit as well as the speed of response to grid contingencies under droop and automatic generator control. Results from simulation are confirmed on hardware.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Controls
Status
complete
Completion Date
2016
- Conventional Hydro
Development and Field Research on Next Generation Coatings for Mussel Mitigation on Infrastructure.
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Carter Gulsvig
Can new technologies be developed and scaled up to commercialization that have foul release properties, preventing attachment of quagga and zebra mussels, while maintaining durability protecting infrastructure? PNNL and USACE will be researching and developing new durable foul release coatings. USBR will provide support by sharing its knowledge and expertise it has learned during its past 10 years of researching foul release coatings and USBR will provide a site for field testing. Products that perform well in laboratory testing will be tested in the field on testing racks or scaled up on infrastructure.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Development and Operation of the Flow Measurement Accuracy Assessment Tool
Lead Companies
University of Tennessee- Knoxville
Lead Researcher (s)
- Mark Christian
The following report documents the generation of a tool developed by the author over the course of an awarded fellowship by the Hydro Research Foundation. The Appendix of this report contains operational instructions for the use of the tool. The purpose of this tool is to provide the user with an established, rigorous technique to determine the accuracy associated with the application of a user specified number of flow measurement instruments. This tool specifically simulates the application of Current Meters and Acoustic Time of Flight Meters. The tool has been extensively tested and demonstrated consistent operation while being utilized within stated operational constraints. Case studies of both Current Meters and Acoustic Time of Flight Meters demonstrate that the recorded flow rate accuracy changes significantly as a function of: the number of sensors applied; the location of the sensors within the flow path; and overall flow rate itself. Demonstration of this variance acts to validate the need for further research into the effectiveness of flow measurement across the range of hydroelectric facilities given the influence of flow measurement accuracy on plant efficiency and revenue. It should be noted by the reader that the presented work along with the developed tool is preliminarily in nature. Therefore the findings and methodologies developed over the course of this research will be subjected to further peer review via: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Technical Manuscript Report, University of Tennessee Energy Science and Engineering Thesis or Journal Publication. This work is a subsection of the research the author is performing to attain a Doctorate in Energy Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee which will establish scaling relations between hydroelectric plant characteristics and the value of flow measurement accuracy.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Water Conveyance
Research Sub-Category
Intake Gates
Status
complete
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Development of a Chimeric Biopesticide for the Treatment of Zebra and Quagga Mussels
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kevin Kelly
Currently, no approved treatments of zebra and quagga mussels provide effective eradication strategies in open water. There are currently no biopesticides utilizing immunotoxin technology for the remediation of aquatic nuisance species. Engineered toxin body (ETB) and Immunotoxin technologies are well validated in human health applications and can be utilized for environmental application. Production of such biopesticides in commercial micro-algae production vectors offer a low cost, high yield solution. This approach lowers the risk of unintended harm to native ecologies, lowers production cost, and requires a lower effective dose than previously approved biopesticides.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
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Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org