Location
Groningen, The Netherlands
Event Website
http://fishpassage.umass.edu/
Start Date
22-6-2015 4:15 PM
End Date
22-6-2015 4:30 PM
Description
Abstract:
An innovative technology that has potential to contribute to renewable energy development with reduced impacts on downstream fish passage is the Alden turbine, originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) more recently enhanced by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This turbine is designed to allow the safe passage of fish through the turbine eliminating the need for expensive screens and bypasses and loss of generation via spillage for fish passage. The turbine features a helical-shaped runner with only three blades. Pilot-scale tests demonstrated that fish survival, when scaled to a full-size field installation, would be in excess of 98% for many fish species. EPRI, with DOE support, funded Alden and Voith Hydro to enhance the turbine’s conceptual design performance through modification of the hydraulic passageways, including the spiral case, distributor, runner and draft tube. The final stage of the Alden turbine design effort included a model test at Voith Hydro’s hydraulic laboratory in York, PA, in addition to the updated mechanical and balance of plant equipment sizing necessary for an actual field installation. Model testing indicated a maximum calculated prototype efficiency of almost 94% at conditions corresponding to a prototype net head and flow of 92.0 ft and 1,504 cfs, respectively. The next stage in developing the Alden turbine is a field demonstration project. While EPRI had two field demonstration projects in development, both have been cancelled because of economic reasons unrelated t the cost of the turbine. EPRI is now actively seeking a new demonstration site. The conference presentation will review the detailed results of the mechanical, hydraulic and efficiency performance of the model Alden turbine and its predicted field performance and relative cost compared to conventional Kaplan and Francis turbine designs.
Session B3: Alden Fish-Friendly Hydropower Turbine: History and Development Status
Groningen, The Netherlands
Abstract:
An innovative technology that has potential to contribute to renewable energy development with reduced impacts on downstream fish passage is the Alden turbine, originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) more recently enhanced by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This turbine is designed to allow the safe passage of fish through the turbine eliminating the need for expensive screens and bypasses and loss of generation via spillage for fish passage. The turbine features a helical-shaped runner with only three blades. Pilot-scale tests demonstrated that fish survival, when scaled to a full-size field installation, would be in excess of 98% for many fish species. EPRI, with DOE support, funded Alden and Voith Hydro to enhance the turbine’s conceptual design performance through modification of the hydraulic passageways, including the spiral case, distributor, runner and draft tube. The final stage of the Alden turbine design effort included a model test at Voith Hydro’s hydraulic laboratory in York, PA, in addition to the updated mechanical and balance of plant equipment sizing necessary for an actual field installation. Model testing indicated a maximum calculated prototype efficiency of almost 94% at conditions corresponding to a prototype net head and flow of 92.0 ft and 1,504 cfs, respectively. The next stage in developing the Alden turbine is a field demonstration project. While EPRI had two field demonstration projects in development, both have been cancelled because of economic reasons unrelated t the cost of the turbine. EPRI is now actively seeking a new demonstration site. The conference presentation will review the detailed results of the mechanical, hydraulic and efficiency performance of the model Alden turbine and its predicted field performance and relative cost compared to conventional Kaplan and Francis turbine designs.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2015/June22/30
Comments
Presenting Author Bio: Douglas Dixon is the Program Manager of EPRI's Fish Protection Issues Program. He has over 40 years of preofessional experience in environmental impact analysis and nearly 20 years in the design and evaluation of fish passagwe and protection technologies. He received a PhD in Marine Fisheries Science from the College of William & Mary and a BA from the State University of New York at Geneseo.