Hydraulic Facilities Research Articles

A parallel multi-objective optimization based on adaptive surrogate model for combined operation of multiple hydraulic facilities in water diversion project

A parallel multi-objective optimization based on adaptive surrogate model for combined operation of multiple hydraulic facilities in water diversion project

Role of three-dimensional vortex motions on horizontal eddies in an open-channel cavity

AbstractLateral cavities are a popular object of study in hydraulic research as they are widely found in rivers and hydraulic facilities and significantly impact flow patterns, sediment transport, and water quality in aquatic ecosystems. While the effects of open-channel cavities on various aspects including characteristics of three-dimensional structures have been extensively studied, the role of vertical flow structures in the cavity has not been focused on. This study examines the relationship between the shallowness parameter and the three-dimensional flow effects on the dynamics of an open-channel lateral cavity flow with horizontal vortex motion, comparing the conventional two-dimensional model (2DC), advanced depth-integrated models including general bottom velocity calculation method (GBVC) with the ability to consider vertical flow structures, simplified bottom velocity calculation method with the shallow water assumption (SBVC), a three-dimensional model (3DC), and experimental data. The comparison results demonstrate that the three-dimensional flow effect significantly impacts the velocity distribution and vortex evolution in the cavity. The GBVC model demonstrates a good agreement with the flow patterns by the 3DC model and experimental results in the cavity, whereas the 2DC and SBVC models are unsuitable for deep-water conditions.

Combining Satellite Images and the Hydraulic Engineering Archive to Map the Processes of Reservoir Construction in Xinjiang

Reservoirs are essential hydraulic facilities for water resource allocation in Xinjiang. Since the 1950s, many reservoirs have been constructed for oasis water resource utilization in Xinjiang, enhancing the storage capacity of water resources. There are a few intact and open reservoir archives containing both geolocations and hydraulic attributes, such as the reservoir completion year, which can facilitate our understanding of the correlation between hydraulic engineering and oasis expansion. This paper mapped all the reservoirs of Xinjiang using Sentinel-2 MSI images from 2022. It associated their attributes with the reservoir’s extent, such as the capacity, area, complete year, altitude, etc., by consulting historical almanac data to establish a full elemental dataset with both geographic and attribute information. Furthermore, the spatial variability and historical process of the reservoirs were discussed against geomorphic information and oasis evolution. The results showed that 804 reservoirs were mapped cumulatively in Xinjiang up to 2022, and 1960–1980 and 2005–2010 are the rapidly developed periods. The construction history of the reservoirs indicates that reservoirs’ locations have the spatial tendency to shift from being in oasis plain areas to mountainous areas, and the newly built reservoirs showed a trend of miniaturization in area and maximization in volume.

Sizing and Selection of Pressure Relief Valves for High-Pressure Thermal–Hydraulic Systems

This study covers the critical concerns related to the sizing, selection, installation, maintenance, and testing of pressure safety valves (PSVs). The aim is to ensure the safety of pressurized systems, hydrostatic transmission systems, and hydraulic plants, including process plants, thermal power plants, and nuclear reactor systems. PSVs are devices that ensure the safety and reliability of pressurized vessels, lines, and systems during overpressure events. The task of selecting which PSV features are of greatest value for a specific purpose is complex—especially in the design of a high-pressure experimental thermal–hydraulic facility for hydrostatic and transient testing of the reactor system—when the systems are in the design and development phases and require qualification and demonstration to prove that they have reached a given level of technological readiness. The present study highlights the required steps for users to follow the associated rules, guidelines, and recommendations. As a part of this research, case studies are presented to help readers better understand the applicable strategy and standards. A discussion and a review of PSV performance degradation and failure are summarized to provide a better understanding of varied process applications and conditions, including fluid flow dynamics, boundary-layer formation and pressure drops, gas bubble formation and collapse, geometric configurations, inlet/outlet piping, abrupt pressure fluctuations, and acoustic resonance. Moreover, this study discusses the servicing and testing of PSVs in a multiphase pressurized system. Overall, it provides a basic overview of how PSVs ensure the safety of pressurized systems, supported by case studies and industrial practices.

Anthropogenic Impacts in the Yesil River Basin

The research aimed to assess the impact of human economic activities on the Yesil River Basin based on the observational data contained in Kazhydromet’s (Republic State Enterprise, RSE) hydrometeorological periodicals of 1933-2019. The additional analysis of numerous sources – statistics digests, online data of the Bureau of National Statistics under the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK), monographs and scientific papers also allowed to reliably evaluate the overall water consumption in the country. The analysis of the available materials permitted identifying the indicators of irretrievable water consumption (IWC) by sectors of the national economy, including utilities, industry, and agriculture (irrigation). As the result, in terms of water use the IWC in the target watershed turned out to range between 3-29% of the total irretrievable water consumption (TIWC), with the corresponding highest value registered in 2007. It was also established that large reservoirs – Astaninskoye (Vyacheslavskoye) and Sergeyevskoye – have been exerting a regulating pressure on the long-term flow of the rivers comprising the basin. The review of the data obtained likewise indicates that, compared to the conditionally natural phase, their runoff reduction during the disturbed phase is caused not only by reservoir related but also agrotechnical and climate change impacts. The study findings can serve water management purposes, aid the design of hydraulic facilities, as well as expand regional theoretical and applied hydrological research.

Spatial diversion and coordination of flood water for an urban flood control project in Suzhou, China

Suzhou City, located in the Yangtze River Delta in China, is prone to flooding due to a complex combination of natural factors, including its monsoon climate, low elevation, and tidally influenced position, as well as intensive human activities. The Large Encirclement Flood Control Project (LEFCP) was launched to cope with serious floods in the urban area. This project changed the spatiotemporal pattern of flood processes and caused spatial diversion of floods from the urban area to the outskirts of the city. Therefore, this study developed a distributed flood simulation model in order to understand this transition of flood processes. The results revealed that the LEFCP effectively protected the urban areas from floods, but the present scheduling schemes resulted in the spatial diversion of floods to the outskirts of the city. With rainstorm frequencies of 10.0% to 0.5%, the water level differences between two representative water level stations (Miduqiao (MDQ) and Fengqiao (FQ)) located inside and outside the LEFCP area, ranged from 0.75 m to 0.24 m and from 1.80 m to 1.58 m, respectively. In addition, the flood safety margin at MDQ and the duration with the water level exceeding the warning water level at FQ ranged from 0.95 m to 0.43 m and from 4 h to 22 h, respectively. Rational scheduling schemes for the hydraulic facilities of the LEFCP in extreme precipitation cases were developed according to flood simulations under seven scheduling scenarios. This helps to regulate the spatial flood diversion caused by the LEFCP during extreme precipitation.

Unrestrained ASR volumetric expansion for mass concrete structures: Review and experimental investigation using 3d laser scanning

The kinetics related to unrestrained alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion is one of the most important parameters for the coupled chemo-mechanical predictive models of concrete structures affected by ASR. It is experimentally assessed using monitored accelerated tests on poured concrete specimens or on cores extracted from the structure. This work presents a critical review on experimental methods to assess the unrestrained ASR volumetric expansion and discusses the influence of size and aspect ratio effects on its anisotropy. It presents the experimental results carried on a mass concrete mixture with maximum aggregate size of 76 mm, representative of an existing hydraulic facility affected by ASR. Specimens of different shapes and sizes were subjected to accelerated expansion test, monitored in expansion for more than 1000 days. Volumetric expansions were assessed using a conventional method (DEMEC strain gauge and an outside micrometer) and a new innovative method using 3D handled laser scanning technology. Conventional expansion measurements indicated that cylindrical cores had an anisotropic expansion like other studies, while large blocks had mostly an isotropic expansion, confirming size effects on unrestrained expansion anisotropy. Explanations based on chemical and mechanical boundary effects were suggested to explain this phenomenon. The non-invasive 3D laser scan measurement technology allowed to quantify ASR swelling of small specimens and to conveniently visualize this swelling through colormaps. The local swelling due to expansion of coarse aggregates was observed, which could not be detected by conventional measurement methods. 3D laser scanning appears a promising method for assessing expansion in view of the prognosis of critical concrete infrastructures affected by internal swelling reactions.

Climate change impact on the freshwater balance of quasi-closed lagoons in the North-Western Black Sea coast

Abstract We studied the impact of regional climate changes that have occurred and are expected in the near future on the freshwater balance of quasi-closed lagoons in the North-Western Black Sea region. These lagoons do not have a permanent connection with the sea but are episodically connected to it by artificial channels, straits, or other hydraulic facilities. We used the value of the deficit in their annual freshwater balance as an indicator of vulnerability to climate change for each lagoon. The changes in the multi-year averages of climatic parameters in the North-Western Black Sea region, which determine the components of the water balance and its annual deficit in lagoons, were assessed by observations at hydrometeorological sites and outcomes of the EURO-CORDEX Project for the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. We have found that regional climate changes are resulting in the increasing deficit of annual freshwater balance for all quasi-closed lagoons in the North-Western Black Sea region. Also, climate change can result in excessive shallowing, salinization, and even the complete disappearance of some lagoons due to the lack of or insufficient water exchange with the sea.

Risk Management for Surface Plants in Mines Using Risk Matrix and BowTie Analysis

Surface plants in mines are important parts of a mine operation. There exist offices, common areas, repair and maintenance shops, compressed air facilities, hydraulic facilities, areas where mine machinery and parts are stacked, transportation cranes and mine stock areas in surface plants. Therefore, while the mining operations are continuing, it is necessary to control all the work in the surface plants in terms of work safety and health. In this study, the risk matrix method is used to identify and prioritize the risks of surface plants in a mine. Then, the highest priority risk, which is found to be "Stock area and work environment", is considered using bowtie analysis. Four threats are determined for "Stock area and work environment" risk. These are improper ore or coal stock area, insufficient lighting in night works, lack of maintenance of field crane and dusty work environment. These threats are also modelled using bowtie analysis. As a result of this study, these threats, corresponding barriers and consequences can be managed by safety and operational engineers.

Fish guidance system for a river water intake - experimental and numerical study

Fish guidance systems associated to water intakes represent an important feature, mandatory to prevent fish from being accidentally drawn into artificial hydraulic facilities. Such systems are recommended for a proper integration of the water intake into the surrounding environment and contribute to reducing the impact on the environment. In this paper a prototype of fish guidance system which can be applied to river water intakes is presented and analysed. The fish are guided by means of an air bubbles curtain, which influence the flow of the water. This study was performed numerically in Fluent software and experimentally in laboratory conditions. Velocity distribution maps were achieved using Particle Image Velocimetry technique for two water flowrates. The results presented in the paper are a part of the recorded data, and have the purpose to validate the numerical model for the case without air bubbles curtain. A second purpose is to evaluate the changes caused by the bubbles curtain on the water velocity. The results obtained by numerical simulations are in good correlation with the experimental results performed using PIV technique and demonstrate that the fish guidance systems associated to water intakes can represent an efficient solution for fish protection in their natural environment.

Determining optimal probability distributions for gridded precipitation data based on L-moments

Understanding the probability distributions of precipitation is crucial for predicting climatic events and constructing hydraulic facilities. To overcome the inadequacy of precipitation data, regional frequency analysis was commonly used by “trading space for time”. However, with the increasing availability of gridded precipitation datasets with high spatial and temporal resolutions, the probability distributions of precipitation for these datasets have been less explored. We used L-moments and goodness-of-fit criteria to identify the probability distributions of annual, seasonal, and monthly precipitation for a 0.5° × 0.5° dataset across the Loess Plateau (LP). We examined five 3-parameter distributions, namely General Extreme Value (GEV), Generalized Logistic (GLO), Generalized Pareto (GPA), Generalized Normal (GNO), and Pearson type III (PE3), and evaluated the accuracy of estimated rainfall using the leave-one-out method. We also presented pixel-wise fit-parameters and quantiles of precipitation as supplements. Our findings indicated that precipitation probability distributions vary by location and time scale, and the fitted probability distribution functions are reliable for estimating precipitation under various return periods. Specifically, for annual precipitation, GLO was prevalent in humid and semi-humid areas, GEV in semi-arid and arid areas, and PE3 in cold-arid areas. For seasonal precipitation, spring precipitation mainly conforms to GLO distribution, summer precipitation around the 400 mm isohyet prevalently follows GEV distribution, autumn precipitation primarily meets GPA and PE3 distributions, and winter precipitation in the northwest, south, and east of the LP mainly conforms to GPA, PE3 and GEV distributions, respectively. Regarding monthly precipitation, the common distribution functions are PE3 and GPA for the less-precipitation months, whereas the distribution functions of precipitation for more-precipitation months vary substantially across different regions of the LP. Our study contributes to a better understanding of precipitation probability distributions in the LP and provides insights for future studies on gridded precipitation datasets using robust statistical methods.

Trivariate Probabilistic Assessments of the Compound Flooding Events Using the 3-D Fully Nested Archimedean (FNA) Copula in the Semiparametric Distribution Setting

Severe flooding in coastal areas can result from the joint probability of oceanographic, hydrological, and meteorological factors, resulting in compound flooding (CF) events. Recently, copula functions have been used to enable a much more flexible environment in joint modelling. Incorporating a higher dimensional copula framework via symmetric 3-D Archimedean or elliptical copulas has statistical limits, and the preservation of all lower-level dependencies would be impossible. The heterogeneous dependency in CF events can be effectively modelled via a fully nested Archimedean (FNA) copula. Incorporating FNA under parametric settings is insufficiently flexible since it is restricted by the prior distributional assumption of the function type for both marginal density and copulas in parametric fittings. If the marginal density is of a specific parametric distribution, it could be problematic if underlying assumptions are violated. This study introduces a 3-D FNA copula simulation in a semiparametric setting by introducing nonparametric marginal distributions conjoined with parametric copula density. The derived semiparametric FNA copula is applied in the trivariate model in compounding the joint impact of rainfall, storm surge, and river discharge based on 46 years of observations on the west coast of Canada. The performance of the derived model has also been compared with the FNA copula constructed with parametric marginal density. It is concluded that the performance of FNA with nonparametric marginals outperforms the FNA copula built under parametric settings. The derived model is employed in multivariate analysis of flood risks in trivariate primary joint and conditional joint return periods. The trivariate hydrologic risk is analyzed using failure probability (FP) statistics. The investigation reveals that trivariate events produce a higher FP than bivariate (or univariate) events; thus, neglecting trivariate joint analysis results in FP being underestimated. Moreover, it indicates that trivariate hydrologic risk values increase with an increase in the service time of hydraulic facilities.

Microbial community structure and denitrification responses to cascade low-head dams and their contribution to eutrophication in urban rivers

Low-head dams are one of the most common hydraulic facilities, yet they often fragment rivers, leading to profound changes in aquatic biodiversity and river eutrophication levels. Systematic assessments of river ecosystem structure and functions, and their contribution to eutrophication, are however lacking, especially for urban rivers where low-head dams prevail. In this study, we address this gap with a field survey on microbial community structure and ecosystem function, in combination with hydrological, environmental and ecological factors. Our findings revealed that microbial communities showed significant differences among the cascade impoundments, which may be due to the environment heterogeneity resulting from the cascade low-head dams. The alternating lentic–lotic flow environment created by the low-head dams caused nutrient accumulation in the cascade impoundments, enhancing environmental sorting and interspecific competition relationships, and thus possibly contributing to the reduction in sediment denitrification function. Decreased denitrification led to excessive accumulation of nutrients, which may have aggravated river eutrophication. In addition, structural equation model analysis showed that flow velocity may be the key controlling factor for river eutrophication. Therefore, in the construction of river flood control and water storage systems, the location, type and water storage capacity of low-head dams should be fully considered to optimize the hydrodynamic conditions of rivers. To summarize, our findings revealed the cumulative effects of cascade low-head dams in an urban river, and provided new insights into the trade-off between construction and decommissioning of low-head dams in urban river systems.

InSAR-based investigation on spatiotemporal characteristics of river sediment behavior

For the purpose of investigating spatiotemporal characteristics of river sediment behavior, we proposed a strategy integrating the PS-InSAR technique together with gridding spatial calculation to estimate time series change of sediment volume over the Baibufan section in Daan River in Taiwan. Firstly, the PS-InSAR performance based on ascending/descending and all-season/dry-season-only images were examined to identify the most optimal Sentinel-1 image data set. Subsequently, the estimated results were validated through internal and external validations. Once the PS-InSAR results were proved reliable, we utilized the advantages of the long-term wide-extent observation to investigate the sediment behavior over sequential wet/dry seasons and relatively long hydrological seasons. Based on the estimation of sediment volume change, the most severe erosion occurred in the wet season starting from 2019/04. The erosion volume reached 1513.652 m3 and 1194.829 m3, respectively, in high and median water coverage areas. Moreover, based on the sediment maps, the sediment distribution along the river was visualized, in which the regions prone to erosion or deposition were also identified. As the strategy for investigating the detailed spatial- and temporal-wise river sediment was proved feasible, we are able to perform a regular observation to determine the deposition and erosion zones. The corresponding change of sediment volume can subsequently be estimated for an early warning of damage of hydraulic facilities or settlements along the river.

Supplying long-term workability of the old elements of the hydraulic facilities by using of cold compositions

The aim of the research is to improve the composition of the cold composition BNR (bitumen-nairite rubber) by improving the technical properties, the technology of anti-filtration and anti-corrosion materials using at repair of the hydraulic structures, as well as the development of a method for predicting the state of reliability of hydraulic structures with anti-corrosion and sealing protective coating.

Numerical modeling of hydrodynamic accidents: Erosion of dams and flooding of territories

A mathematical and numerical model of the joint dynamics of surface water and traction sediment is built, which takes into account the nonlinear dynamics of fluid and bottom deformation. The dynamics of surface waters is described by the equations of Saint-Venant, taking into account the spatially inhomogeneous distribution of the terrain. The transport of sediment loads is described by the nonlinear Exner equation, generalized to the case of a spatially inhomogeneous distribution of the parameters of the underlying surface. For the numerical integration of the Saint-Venant and Exner equations, a stable and well-tested CSPH-TVD method of the second order of accuracy is used, the parallel CUDA algorithm of which is implemented as a software package “EcoGIS-Simulation” for high-performance computing on supercomputers with graphic coprocessors (GPU). Hydrodynamic modeling of the processes of erosion of the enclosing dam of a real hydraulic facility and flooding of adjacent territories has been carried out. The parameters of the penetration of the enclosing dam and flooding zones, formed as a result of the development of a hydraulic accident at the tailing dump, have been determined. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the proposed method for numerical modeling of the joint dynamics of surface water and traction sediment can be more universal.

Sustainability of a hydraulic facility and flood risk of its downstream section: the case of the Foum El-Gherza dam (Ziban east, Algeria)

Sustainability of a hydraulic facility and flood risk of its downstream section: the case of the Foum El-Gherza dam (Ziban east, Algeria)

Early water management systems on the southern Transjordan plateau

The efficient management of water resources to supply the needs of societies in territories where water is a scarce and limited resource has been essential throughout time. The site of Sela on the southern Transjordan plateau is unique for understanding water management in this semi-arid area. The analysis of hydraulic installations has allowed us to characterise its hydro technology and spatial distribution in the settlement. To this end, the hydraulic facilities have been identified, documented, and analysed in detail through two archaeological surveys (2015 and 2016). Spatial analysis has been carried out by preparing extensive 2D planimetry and 3D reconstructions. The results obtained have made it possible to reconstruct the water supply system necessary for the subsistence of the societies that inhabited Sela over time. The system consists of canals, cisterns, and sedimentation basins for the collection, conduction, storage, and preservation of water, mainly from rain. Some of Sela's hydraulic structures may have originated in the Bronze Age (mid-late 2nd mill. BCE), but more secure dating is needed to substantiate this possibility.

Application of Tesla Valve’s Obstruction Characteristics to Reverse Fluid in Fish Migration

More and more activities have caused significant damage to the river environment, among which a typical problem of blocked fish migration is constantly attracting people’s attention. Nowadays, fishways are essential hydraulic facilities to solve such problems. Although a different fishway has a particular blocking effect on the water flow, the flow velocity of the vital positions of fish migration in the fishway could still be relatively high locally, which may pose a certain challenge to the fish migration (the higher flow velocity could lead to the increase in migratory energy consumption of fish). Therefore, further exploration of fish passing facilities may be required. As a check valve without movable parts, the Tesla valve is expected to be used in fish passing facilities because of its substantial obstruction to the reverse flow of internal fluid. This paper conducted numerical simulation experiments on the fish passage pipeline designed based on Tesla valves using the RNG (renormalization group) k-ε model. Grass carp were selected as the primary analysis object, and the simulation results were analyzed from the perspective of turbulence characteristics. The results showed that the fish passage pipeline based on the T45-R Tesla valve was better than that on the GMF (Gamboa, Morris and Forster) Tesla valve in velocity control. The velocity at the vital position of T45-R internal fluid was about 20% lower than that of GMF. The results of the velocity cloud diagram showed apparent high-velocity and low-velocity areas in the fish passage pipeline designed based on the T45-R Tesla valve. The high-velocity area was the vital position for fish upstream, and the maximum velocity variation range in this area was 0.904~1.478 m/s. At the same time, the flow in the low-velocity area is almost static water. The analysis illustrated that the resulting velocity environment could provide conditions for grass carp to move upstream successfully. The results of turbulent kinetic energy inside the fish passage pipeline showed that the maximum value of turbulent kinetic energy was only about 0.043 m2/s2, which could be friendly for fish upstream. In addition, the results show that pressure-related problems could not seem to have an excessive impact on fish migration, such as causing damage. Overall, the results further studied the feasibility of using the Tesla valve as a fish passage pipeline.

Deriving an Optimal Operation Plan for Hydraulic Facilities with Complex Channels through Unsteady Flow Simulations

In recent years, the frequency of flooding damage has increased owing to torrential rains caused by abnormal weather and rising sea levels, which can be attributed to global warming. In particular, in the case of low-tide rivers, when a high tide and critical rainfall occur simultaneously, the flood damage will increase due to the increased external water level. The establishment of a disaster prevention plan through a simulation of existing inequality streams may be suitable for general rivers; however, it is inadequate for considering the effects of tide changes over time, such as those in a reduced tide stream. Therefore, in this study, an optimal operation plan is formulated based on unsteady flow simulations in regions where a large number of hydraulic facilities are installed, and an optimal river management plan is derived for the flood season. For the Ara Waterway (Ara Stream) and Gulpo Stream managed by the Korea Water Resources Corporation, various hydraulic facilities (weir, inverted syphon, etc.) are operated in conjunction with the West Sea to mitigate the continuous flood damage. In that context, a West Sea drainage gate has been installed. Correspondingly, it is necessary to optimize the flood exclusion capacity by deriving an optimal operation plan because it directly affects the water level in hydraulic facilities such as the Right No. 1, Left No. 1, and flood gates, which are the most important drainage structures for the Gulpo Stream operation. Herein, through a trial-and-error method, an optimal operation plan is derived to reduce the flood frequency in the Ara Waterway and Gulpo Stream.