Flow Upstream of Hydropower Dams

This work is a Doctoral study of the University of Alberta which describes the flow-field upstream of the hydropower dams, with emphasis on the application of temperature control curtains. By reviewing the available literature, it is concluded that the near intake flow-field upstream of the hydropower intake systems can be modeled by the potential theories. This near intake flow-field can be useful in fish entrainment study and in designing fish repulsion systems. To maintain downstream river temperature, a flexible curtain was installed upstream of several dams in California. Flow downstream of the curtain is analyzed using a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) solver and flow upstream of the curtain is analyzed using potential flow theories. In this part, a theory based on Schwarz-Christoffel transformation is developed to predict the flow-field upstream of the curtain. Effect of stratification on line sink is also analyzed. A theory is developed to predict the incipient withdrawal condition for the line sink problem. This study may be useful in other relevant hydraulic applications, including flow in sedimentation tank, jets, orifices, sluice gates, modeling stratifcations, etc