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Right: Testing is performed on a 1 to 25 scale model of the turbine, constructed specifically for testing purposes. One round of testing is done by the turbine manufacturer, in Ice Harbor’s case, Voith Hydro, who checks to see if the turbine operates well from a power generation standpoint. Next, the model is shipped to Vicksburg Mississippi, where the Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), conducts their own round of testing to see how the turbine operates from a fish passage standpoint
The research and development started back around 1995, with the Turbine Survival Program, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and part of the USACE Columbia River Fish Mitigation program. The Turbine Survival Program sought to assess what factors lead to the injury of fish passing through a turbine unit, with the goal of developing operational and design improvements for turbines that would improve fish passage. To collect data, studies were conducted using Sensor Fish developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Sensor Fish are small autonomous devices filled with sensors that, when released through a turbine unit, can measure the physical stressors that fish may experience while passing through the unit. Engineers used these devices to study factors like the rapid decreases in pressure within the turbine environment and the likelihood of a fish being struck by a runner blade. Other studies were done using juvenile salmonids with balloons attached. For testing, these balloon- tagged fish were released into the turbine intake. Then, after they had passed the dam, the balloons inflated, bringing the fish to the surface of the river where they were picked up and examined by researchers in a boat. Using the data collected from these and other studies, engineers were able to design new turbines that would be safer for fish. “Probably one of the major components that came out of the Turbine Survival Program were the models, the physical hydraulic models we used to evaluate and actually observe what the flow looks like as it passes through the turbines,” Martin Ahmann, hydraulic engineer for the Walla Walla District, and the technical lead for the turbine replacement project, said. “We also developed a method of using small, neutrally-buoyant plastic beads that we can release into the model turbine. Then, using the high-speed digital cameras, we can see how those beads interact with the components of the turbines … we can see how a fish might interact with these components by observing these neutrally buoyant particles as they pass through.”
Once developed, a new turbine design is put though
vigorous rounds of testing to determine if it meets operational and fish passage parameters. Testing is performed on a 1 to 25 scale model of the turbine, constructed specifically for testing purposes. One round of testing is done by the turbine manufacturer, in Ice Harbor’s case, Voith Hydro, who checks to see if the turbine operates well from a power generation standpoint. Next, the model is shipped to Vicksburg Mississippi, where the USACE Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), conducts their own
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round of testing to see how the turbine operates from a fish passage standpoint. Once testing is done, “we assess all the data we
have, we look for the weaknesses and the strengths and we try to make improvements. Then we follow up with a new design iteration,” Ahmann said. A turbine design can go through four or five design
iterations before it is approved to be built full-scale and installed. After installation and commissioning, more testing is done to make sure the turbine meets expectations. For the fixed blade turbine, field tests indicated significant hydraulic improvements to the flow conditions, and biological testing using balloon tagged fish in October 2019 resulted in a 98.25% direct survival rate. “It’s quite a team effort to go from a concept to having one installed like we’re seeing out at Ice Harbor,” Ahmann said. Research for the turbine designs involved numerous federal agencies and organizations in the industry, from PNNL, to ERDC, to the Hydroelectric Design Center (HDC), USACE’s National Center for Expertise for hydroelectric and large pumping plant engineering services. Voith Hydro, in collaboration with the Corps of Engineers, developed and manufactured the f
Below: Pacific Northwest National Lab staff developed small autonomous devices filled with sensors called Sensor Fish to measure the physical stressors placed on fish passing through or around dams. These devices measure acceleration, pressure, rotational velocity, and orientation, and were used at Ice Harbor Dam to evaluate the new turbine designs
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