Gas Supersaturation Research Articles

Mortality risk evaluation methods for total dissolved gas supersaturation to fish based on a mitigation measure of utilizing activated carbon

The proper water chemical composition of aquaculture water is very important for fish farming in reservoirs or fish multiplication stations. Gas bubble disease (GBD) is mainly caused by total dissolved gas supersaturation (TDGS) in water and is a common problem that affects the healthy growth of fish. Extensive measures have been taken to mitigate TDGS levels in water where fish live, while methods for quantitatively evaluating the mitigation effect of the proposed measures on fish exposed to TDGS are still lacking. In this paper, an activated carbon (AC) adsorption experiment for supersaturated total dissolved gas (TDG) dissipation was conducted, and the experimental results indicated that AC addition could effectively accelerate supersaturated TDG dissipation. Based on fish tolerance experiments conducted by Huang (2010), two models, including a mortality risk degree evaluation model and a mortality rate calculation model, were developed to quantitatively evaluate the mortality risk mitigation effect of AC addiction on fish exposed to unsteady TDGS levels. Application of the results of the mortality risk degree evaluation model has shown that AC addition can help alleviate the mortality risk of fish suffering from TDGS. Application of the results of the mortality rate calculation model has also demonstrated that the final mortality rate of the fish group in the case with AC addition was lower than that of the case without added AC, and the final mortality rate decreased as the specific surface area and dosage of AC increased. Furthermore, an equation that related the required AC mass and a given harvested fish mass was established. This paper provides a reference for evaluating the effects of various mitigation measures to alleviate the risk posed to fish by TDGS.

Tolerance and Growth of Adult Schizothorax prenanti Exposed and Re-Exposed to Supersaturated Gas Downstream of a Dam

Total dissolved gas (TDG) is suggested to be one possible explanation for the extensive mortality of endemic fish suffered from gas bubble disease (GBD). We investigated the effects of water depth on adult Schitzothorax prenanti susceptibility to GBD in TDG supersaturated water 11.5 km downstream of Dagangshan dam in a two-year (2016–2017) live cage study. The probability of survival significantly increased at greater depth. The mortality of fish at 1–2 m was reduced to 50% of that at 0–1 m and the mortality rate for fish at 2–3 m was reduced to 25% of that at 0–1 m. Fish that survived in-situ TDG exposure in 2016 were relocated to equilibrated water and observed for 274 d to investigate sublethal effects of GBD. The surviving fish showed a substantial reduction in growth compared to the control group. During the flood discharge period in 2017, fish were re-exposed to TDG supersaturated water after a period of recovery (274 d) in equilibrated water. The mortality rate of re-exposed fish decreased to 35% compared to newly introduced fish. Our results contribute to the protection of aquatic organisms and the improvement of eco-friendly hydroelectric dam operations in the Yangtze River.

Design of a Vacuum Degassing Apparatus to Reduce Nitrogen Supersaturation and Maintain Hypoxia in Well Water

AbstractWater derived from an underground well or spring is commonly supersaturated with nitrogen and low in dissolved oxygen. These conditions are generally harmful to fishes, and water must be treated to reduce total dissolved gases and adjust dissolved oxygen concentrations to desired levels. Typically, corrective methods remove nitrogen while increasing the oxygen concentration, but this is not desirable for situations where hypoxic conditions are needed for experimental purposes. In this project, a vacuum degasser was designed to remove excess nitrogen from well water while keeping dissolved oxygen concentration low (i.e., ≤2.0 mg/L). Additionally, in a parallel system, a normoxic water treatment system was designed to remove excess nitrogen while simultaneously increasing the oxygen concentration to create normoxic conditions. These systems provide solutions to overcoming gas supersaturation in well water and produce the desired dissolved oxygen concentration, without requiring the use of consumable gas cylinders.

Effects of total dissolved gas supersaturation and sediment on environmental DNA persistence of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) in water

Environmental DNA (eDNA) technology has become an alternative tool for monitoring aquatic communities due to its sensitive, economical, and non-invasive properties. However, the application of this technique is often limited by the complexity of environmental conditions, which often poses a barrier to the transmission of biological information. Here, we conducted a series of experiments with grass carp as the target species to evaluate the effects of total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation and sediment on the persistence of eDNA under different flow conditions. The results showed TDG supersaturation promoted eDNA decay in still water but with no significant effect in flowing water for rapid dissipation of TDG. For sediment, its presence accelerated the decay of eDNA no matter the flow conditions. The grass carp eDNA showed an exponential decay pattern in water and the decay rate constant decreased gradually with time. Our study highlights the importance of integrating experimental results with the natural environment and provides an important reference for species monitoring using eDNA technology in aquatic ecosystems with high dams built.

River habitat assessment and restoration in high dam flood discharge systems with total dissolved gas supersaturation

The success of river habitat restoration relies on accurate assessment proxies. However, determining how to quantitatively assess the impact of multiple stressors during flood discharge from high dams in riverine ecosystems and where and how to implement more reliable recovery interventions remain challenges. Here, we developed a bottom-up mechanistic framework for assessing the effects of total dissolved gas supersaturation (TDGS) and hydrodynamics on fish habitat quality and applied it to the downstream river reach of the Xiangjiaba Dam in Southwest China. The results showed that the available habitat area of river sturgeon was the smallest, while Chinese sucker had the largest available habitat area among the three target species under all discharge scenarios. Although the TDGS levels were evenly mixed laterally, the habitat suitability index indicated that the suitable habitats were primarily within both sides of the river reach under all scenarios, which is contrary to findings based on the traditional TDGS risk assessment model. The traditional TDGS risk assessment model overestimates the impact of dams on habitats. This divergence reflected the sensitivity of the habitat assessment to fish habitat preferences, fish tolerance to TDGS and the biological response of fish under TDGS. Additionally, the priority areas for restoration can be identified by habitat suitability index with lower values. We simulated twenty-four schemes and found that interventions such as stone groups, ecological spur dike, water-retaining weir and river dredging can enhance habitat suitability for fish species under multiple stressors, providing novel insights into where and how to mitigate the impact of TDGS. Our findings offer a transferable framework for the quantitative evaluation of fish habitat and implementation of restoration management during dam flood discharge periods, thus providing a new perspective for biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration in dam-regulated rivers with TDGS around the world.

Molecular dynamics simulation of bulk nanobubbles

The long-term stability of nanobubbles with high internal gas pressure is a puzzling question for nanobubble researchers. The classical Molecular Dynamics simulation based on LAMMPS software was used to evaluate the performance of an oxygen nanobubble with high gas density. This research consists of two main cases. In the first case, bubble behavior was examined with 3247 O2 molecules embedded in a 4.5 nm radius spherical volume to represent the bubble and was surrounded by 438,490 H2O molecules with 1 g/cm3 density. In the second case, the parametric study was conducted while maintaining the same parameters where the amount of O2 molecules changed at the initial configuration. Hence six different O2 bubble configurations were simulated under two different temperature settings, 20 ℃ and 30 ℃. The Lennard Jones potentials are used for molecular interactions. The simulations were run first under the NVT and then changed to the NPT ensemble. Simulation results were analyzed for bubble size, pressure, surface tension, gas diffusion, the influence of internal initial gas densities, gas concentration, and temperature conditions. The high initial gas concentration with high initial internal gas density causes a more stable bubble condition under both NVT and NPT ensembles. This stability can be attributed to the gas supersaturation conditions. The systems with low initial internal gas densities transferred to a smaller radius gas cluster with a high internal density as they shifted to the NPT ensemble. The system with a higher temperature causes elevated system pressures at NVT and volume expansion during NPT. Under NVT simulation, bubble size was higher at lower temperatures. Under NPT conditions, bubble size increases for larger initial density cases and decreases for lower density cases. Further increased temperature causes faster gas diffusion, and higher internal bubble pressure leads to unstable conditions.

Field observation and numerical modelling of supersaturated dissolved gas at river confluence

Confluences are common habitats of ecological significance given their complicated hydraulic structures and mass transportation. In hydropower cascades, dissolved gas supersaturation downstream of a dam becomes a negative environmental impact caused by dam spilling, which may cause fish to suffer from gas bubble disease and even death. A difference in the supersaturation level of dissolved gas is consistently noted between the mainstream and tributaries mainly due to their different cascade developments and dam scales, resulting in a significant nonuniform distribution of dissolved gas at a confluence. This study focused on describing the hydrodynamics and dissolved gas distributions under unsteady inflows at an actual confluence of the Min River and Jinsha River in China. A long period of prototype observations on dissolved oxygen (DO) were conducted to demonstrate DO variation at the confluence and calibrate the DO dissipation coefficient. A depth-averaged two-dimensional numerical model was developed that reflects the nonconstant characteristics of flow and supersaturated DO at the confluence and was verified to be in good agreement with the measured data series. The supersaturated DO level at the confluence increases as the inflow DO level of the mainstream Jinsha River increases and decreases as the flow ratio of the branch Min River and Jinsha River increases, representing two aspects influencing the distribution of DO at the confluence. A comparison was performed to evaluate the DO saturation calculation method when DO was laterally mixed downstream of the confluence. The accuracy of the flow weighted average calculation based on the data of the mainstream and a tributary upstream of the confluence was acceptable, but the simulation method was recommended to obtain a refined distribution and spatial utilization of supersaturated DO at the confluence when it was necessary to pay more attention to the ecological function in this region. A two-dimensional unsteady numerical model based on valuable prototype observations was proposed, which provides technical tools for characterizing the hydrodynamics and dissolved gas variations and distributions at confluences and better evaluating the risk for fish in regions of great ecological significance.

Micro heat and mass transfer by bubble-trains from the gas discharging at nucleation sites

In this study consideration is given to the possibility of heat and mass transfer from the characteristic columnar bubble-trains observed when a diluted gas precipitates upon contact with nucleation sites at the surface of the container. Last impressive advances in micro/nanoscale surface modification start to allow the control -in number, roughness and spacing, of such nucleation sites and with this opening interesting and so far unexplored possibilities for heat and mass transfer. One of them is the kind of convection induced by bubble-trains when a supersaturated gas is discharging at nucleation sites clusters. Because the bubble generation from the nucleation sites is continuous, the bubble-trains are moving in a confined container, and because surfaces may be deliberately coated by design with such nucleation sites, then the constant upward ascent of the fluid entrained by the bubble train eventually set a convective loop driven by the bubble trains. This kind of convection -although expected to be rather small, nevertheless could be of potential interest for microelectronic applications and then it is worthy a first theoretical assessment in the mass and heat transfer enhancement attainable. Utilizing a simplified idealized two-dimensional geometrical model an expression for the upper limit in the Nusselt number was derived and comparison with natural convection performed.

Thermally Assisted Heterogeneous Cavitation through Gas Supersaturation.

We demonstrate that besides gaseous pockets also a gas supersaturated spot on a substrate can be a nucleus for cavitation. The supersaturation is achieved by either a formerly dissolved bubble or by heating locally the surface below the boiling temperature. The experiments are conducted in a thin film of water; one side of the water film is in contact with a gold coated substrate that is heated by a continuous laser through plasmonic heating. For nucleation of a bubble, the pressure at the heated spot is reduced by a transient rarefaction wave. The experimental findings suggest that the local gas supersaturation is responsible to nucleate cavitation and thus connects the phase transitions of cavitation and boiling. Additionally, the pressure waves in the liquid gap are studied numerically.

Local entropy generation and exergy analysis of the condenser in a direct methanol fuel cell system

This paper aims to identify the irreversibilities in the condenser of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) system and present possible enhancements in its design through local entropy generation analysis (L-EGA). For this purpose, the local entropy generation terms originating from heat and mass calculated from results of a pseudo two-phase computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of the condenser. Through this analysis, the total irreversibilities due to heat and mass transfer are calculated locally (e.g., film boundary layer, vapour-gas boundary layer) under the variable operating conditions of a DMFC (undersaturated, saturated, and supersaturated conditions of the cathode exhaust gas). Moreover, the exergy destruction ratio of condenser is found to estimate the exergy performance of the condenser. The results show that in the case of supersaturated cathode exhaust gas (CEG) flow, the entropy generation rate due to mass transfer in the film region is found as 0.032 W/(m·K) which is 18 times higher than that for the undersaturated CEG flow. However, entropy generation rate due to mass transfer decreases significantly when the hot flow is just over the film region. In the film region, the entropy generation rates originating from heat transfer are found as 0.0055 W/(m·K) (for the undersaturated case), 0.0032 W/(m·K) (for the saturated case), and 0.0015 W/(m·K) (for the supersaturated case). Moreover, the maximum exergy destruction ratio is found as 0.72 when the CEG is undersaturated and the CEG velocity is 0.18 m/s, while the lowest exergy destruction ratio is calculated as 0.28 when the CEG is saturated.

Ceiling-controlled versus staged decompression: comparison between decompression duration and tissue tensions.

In dissolved gas decompression algorithms, the ceiling is the depth at which the dissolved gas pressure in at least one tissue equals the maximum tolerated value defined by the algorithm. Staged decompression prescribes stationary stops in three-metre intervals so as to never exceed this maximum tolerated value. This keeps the diver deeper than the ceiling until the ceiling itself decreases to coincide with the next, three-metre shallower stage. Ceiling-controlled decompression follows the ceiling in a continuous ascent. Mathematical simulations using the ZH-L16C decompression algorithm and gradient factors were carried out for several dive profiles to compare patterns of tissue gas supersaturation and overall decompression times for decompressions based on these approaches. During a stationary staged decompression stop the available pressure gradient for inert gas washout diminished as inert gas is washed out while inhaled inert gas partial pressure remained unchanged. Ceiling-controlled decompression, on the other hand, maintained the available pressure gradient for inert gas washout at its maximum tolerated level. Decompressions were 4-12% shorter using ceiling-controlled approaches but at the cost of exposing tissues with faster half times to higher levels of supersaturation than they would experience during staged decompression. Ceiling controlled approaches accelerate decompression but the effect of this on the risk of decompression sickness is unknown.

An Analytical Method to Estimate Supersaturation in Gas–Liquid Systems as a Function of Pressure-Reduction Step and Waiting Time

When the concentration of a gas exceeds the equilibrium concentration in a liquid, the gas–liquid system is referred as a supersaturated system. The supersaturation can be achieved by either changing the pressure and/or temperature of the system. The gas from a supersaturated liquid escapes either through bubble nucleation that usually occurs on solid surface and/or gas diffusion through the gas–liquid interface. The bubble nucleation requires a minimum threshold supersaturation. A waiting time is required to observe whether the applied supersaturation is sufficient to initiate bubble nucleation. When the supersaturation is not sufficient to cause bubble nucleation, some or all of the supersaturated gas may diffuse out from the liquid through the gas–liquid interface before further reducing the pressure in order to increase the supersaturation. In this article, using Fick’s second law of diffusion and Henry’s law, an analytical method is proposed to estimate the level of supersaturations generated in three gas–liquid systems at different step-down pressures. Characteristic times of the gas–liquid systems were estimated to validate whether the waiting times used in this study are in accordance with the semi-infinite diffusion model used to estimate the supersaturations generated.

Evolution process and stabilization mechanism of different gas nanobubbles based on improved statistical analysis

AbstractNanobubbles (NBs) have attracted increasing attention due to their unique physicochemical characteristics and enormous potential industrial applications in the biology, environment, medicine, and many other fields. A complete understanding of the underlying stability mechanism of NBs is an essential requirement for their research, development, and industrial applications. In this study, a facile and reliable approach to generating different gas NBs using a porous ceramic membrane is reported. In addition, an improved method of statistical analysis to predict NB size distribution is proposed. The results indicated that the gas NBs presented a log‐normal distribution due to an underlying Ostwald ripening process. The concentration of NBs in solution was controlled by the gas type owing to different magnitude of molecular polarizability of dissolved gases. The mean size of the NB was inversely proportional to the surface charge density. Moreover, the NB stability lies in a special state at the bubble interface, not only because the presence of surface charges hinders collisions between bubbles, but also because the degree of gas supersaturation of molecules around bubbles resulting in gas exchange has a certain stabilizing effect, and also controls the evolution of particle size distribution (PSD) for different bulk NBs.

Influence of dense macrophyte vegetation and total gas saturation on the performance of acoustic telemetry

BackgroundAcoustic telemetry is widely used as a method for high resolution monitoring of aquatic animal movement to investigate relationships between individual animals and their environment. In shallow freshwater ecosystem, aquatic macrophytes are common and their presence increases habitat complexity and baffles sound propagation. These properties may be likely to affect the performance of acoustic telemetry, however, to date this issue has received little attention, when studying the ecology of movements of fishes in and around the important macrophyte habitats. Here, we conducted a range-test study in a freshwater riverine ecosystem, with mass development of the aquatic macrophyte Juncus bulbosus (L.), to assess how dense macrophytes impact detection probability, detection range, and performance of a three-dimensional receiver positioning system. Supersaturation of gas frequently occurs at the study site as a by-product of upstream hydroelectric power generation and gave a unique opportunity to investigate how total gas saturation affects the performance of acoustic telemetry. We also investigated the influence of environmental conditions (i.e., day-of-year, time of day, average water level above J. bulbosus) on detection probability together with vertical position of transmitters and location inside or outside macrophytes.ResultsThe detection probability and range were generally low for transmitters in and outside J. bulbosus stands, with mean hourly detection probabilities ranging from 1.18 to 5% and detection ranges between 17.26 m ± 0.74. The interaction between total macrophyte biomass and distance to receiver reduced the detection probability and detection range substantially. Detection probability further decreased with increasing total gas saturation, and transmitters positioned near the sediment and close to the surface also had lower detection probabilities compared to receivers in the middle of the water column. Finally, the low detection probability affected position estimates, where only 23% of the detections could be positioned using the average positioning estimation method and positional accuracy and precision were low ranging from 1.48 to 164.8 m and 0 to 50.1 m, respectively.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate the impact of macrophytes and total gas saturation on detection probability and range of acoustic transmitters in a shallow ecosystem, where tagged fish are unlikely to be detected by receivers or positioned. These results emphasise that in situ range testing is strongly needed before determining the density and design of receiver array when performing acoustic telemetry studies in shallow ecosystems.

Improved Model for Predicting Total Dissolved Gas Generation With the Residence Time of the Water in the Stilling Phase

Quantitative predictions of total dissolved gas (TDG) super-saturation are essential for developing operation schemes for high dams. Most TDG generation prediction models have various shortcomings that affect the accuracy of TDG super-saturation estimation, such as oversimplification of influencing factors and uncertainty in parameter values. In this study, the TDG generation process was divided into three parts, gas-liquid mass transfer process in the stilling phase, dilution resulting from the water jet plunging into the stilling phase, and outflow of TDG–super-saturated water from the stilling phase, while considering the water body and bubbles in the stilling phase as a whole. The residence time of the water in the stilling phase (Tr) was introduced to estimate mass transfer time, along with dimensional analysis methods. The properties of TDG generation were evaluated experimentally under varying Tr values. Based on the theoretical analysis and experimental results, a basic water renewal model was proposed and was validated using experimental data. Furthermore, prediction results of this model were compared with those of a classical empirical model and mechanical model based on observed data from a field survey at Xiluodu Dam. The results show that the relative errors between the predicted and experimental measurements were all less than 5%, indicating that the developed prediction model has a good performance. Compared with the mechanism model, the developed model could reduce the standard error (SE), normalized mean error (NME), and error of maximum (REMAX) by 60, 96, and 15%, respectively. Meanwhile, the developed model could reduce the SE, NME, REMAX by 17.4, 36, and 23%, respectively, compared with the empirical model. Considering all the error indexes, it can be concluded that the prediction performance of the water renewal model is the best among the three models. The proposed model was also more generically versatile than the existing models. Prediction results of water regeneration model for TDG could aid the drafting of governing strategies to minimize the risk of super-saturated TDG.

Swimming performance of a pelagic species in the Yangtze River under different exposure modes of the total dissolved gas supersaturation.

During flood discharges of upstream dams in the Yangtze River, the pelagic fish have a stress risk from total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation in the river water. This study took the silver carp as the object and systematically evaluated the effects of TDG supersaturation levels and exposure time on their critical swimming speed (Ucrit) at different temperatures. The external symptoms of gas bubble disease were found when TDG levels exceeded 130%. Both exposure time and TDG level did not significantly impact the Ucrit of fish under 6days of non-lethal exposure (110%, 120%, 130% TDG) with lower or higher water temperature. Significant differences in Ucrit were found among different exposure times at 11.0 ± 1.0°C under 10hours of lethal exposure (135%, 140%, 150% TDG) and the Ucrit reduced by 59.88%, 83.32%, and 92.40%, respectively. TDG level had a significant impact on the Ucrit at 21.0 ± 1.0°C when exposure time exceeded 8hours. Ucrit at 21.0 ± 1.0°C water were significantly greater than those at 11.0 ± 1.0°C water where conditions had the same TDG supersaturation and exposure time. Differences in Ucrit between temperatures ranged from 3.24 to 6.12 BL/s under non-lethal exposure and from 6.38 to 13.88 BL/s under lethal exposure. The results of this study can provide a reference for fish conservation during flood discharge.

Morphologies evolution and mechanical behaviors of SiC nanowires reinforced C/(PyC-SiC) multilayered matrix composites

• The bionic (PyC-SiC) n multilayered structure was used to improve flexural properties. • The SiC nanowires formed in-situ on the surface of multilayered structure played an important role in micro-zone reinforcements. • The (PyC-SiC) n multilayered structure and SiC nanowires were prepared at the same time, and they could form a multiscale reinforcing system. • The flexural strengths and flexural modulus of modified composites were up to 62.36% and 102.20% respectively higher than C/C composites. SiC nanowires reinforced C/(PyC-SiC) n multilayered matrix composites (SM-CS for short) were prepared by combined with sol-gel and chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) method. Firstly, (PyC-SiOC) n multilayered structure was formed by cycles of impregnation and deposition. Then SiOC was transformed into SiC by heat-treatment, and (PyC-SiC) n multilayered structure would be obtained. At the same time, the PyC layer which was designed as the outmost layer could decrease gas supersaturation to form in-situ tubular SiC nanowires on the surface of multilayered structure. The results of three-point bending test showed that the maximum force of SM-CS composites was increased by the number of cycles of the preparation process, which were up to enhanced by 74.38% compared with C/C composite materials. The fracture surface showed that the improvement was due to the multiscale reinforcing system of (PyC-SiC) n multilayered structure and SiC nanowires. Multilayered structure can protect carbon fibers and release stress concentration by induction of cracks. And the mechanical interlocking effect of SiC nanowires could reinforce bonding force of the remaining matrix.

Visualization of bubble formation at the wall of beer cans

Visualization experiments are performed to examine nucleation, growth, and detachment of bubbles at hydrophobic surfaces of a beer can. Solutions of our concern are carbonated water and beer. The solution under cooling is poured into a (hydrophilic) glass container; the container is then sealed. A piece of a beer can whose inner coating is hydrophobic is inserted inside the container. To trigger gradual growth of bubbles nucleated preferentially at the piece of the beer can, dissolved gas supersaturation is created by heating the solution (with the container being sealed). From the visualization experiments, we report on the evolution of bubble population and size (from the front view) and the shape of attached bubbles (from the side view) at surface, exploring the role of surface tension and proteins in detachment of the bubbles.

The application of baffle block in mitigating TDGS of dams with different discharge patterns

Total dissolved gas supersaturation (TDGS) caused by high-dam discharge leads to gas-bubble trauma or even death in fish and has become an active research area because of global concern regarding this issue. It is important to use engineering measures to reduce the TDGS level to protect the fish habitat and water environment. As there are different mechanisms for TDGS generation by discharge, the application of mitigation measures needs to be investigated. In this study, three dams in which bottom flow, surface flow and trajectory jet used for energy dissipation were simulated to analyze the characteristics of TDGS generation and distribution. The simulated results show that the generation and distribution of TDGS is affected by bubble-water mass transfer. Consequently, a mitigation measure in which baffle blocks installed downstream of the spillway was proposed to change transport bubbles to low-pressure regions. The simulated results showed this engineering measure reduced TDGS by 5.2% and 13.1% for dams with bottom flow and trajectory jet, respectively. This study serves as a reference for the characteristics of TDGS generation and the design of TDGS mitigation measures.

Behavioural response of brown trout (Salmo trutta) to total dissolved gas supersaturation in a regulated river

AbstractTotal dissolved gas supersaturation from dams and power stations is a chronic freshwater pollutant that is toxic to animals with aquatic respiration. Laboratory ecotoxicology experiments have revealed capacity for captive fishes to saturoregulate by moving deeper, but field ecotoxicology research is largely lacking. We instrumented 94 brown trout in the Rysstad basin of the Otra River, Norway, with depth sensor acoustic transmitters and monitored their movements for 10 months. We found that the depths used by the trout largely protected them from the effects of total dissolved gas supersaturation, which ranged from 96% to 133% total gas pressure during the study. The depth use of fish was affected by sun position, lunar phase and spatial position in the river (i.e., available depth), and there was an extremely weak effect of total dissolved gas supersaturation that was counterintuitive (i.e., positive slope, movement toward surface). Depth traces of the fish revealed that nine fish died during the study, mostly coinciding with the first wave of supersaturation, consistent with observations of untagged dead fish with signs of gas bubble trauma found on the river bottom during this period (May‐June). Overall, tagged trout exposure to total dissolved gas supersaturation depended on their use of depth, but responses to waves of extreme supersaturation at supraphysiological levels were weak and biologically insignificant, with individual variation and spatial position in the river most important in the model. Exposure to total dissolved gas supersaturation was mediated by individual differences in habitat use, which may be linked to activity and other traits that determine overall vulnerability to exposure to total dissolved gas supersaturation.