The information about the sediment properties is required for mitigation or proper handling of hydro-abrasive erosion issues due to growing focus of hydropower in Himalayan region. Hydro-abrasive erosion depends on sediment concentration, size, shape and mineral composition. The consideration of hydro-abrasive erosion issue is required in both planning stage of a hydropower project as well as the maintenance and renovation of existing hydropower projects. To study and mitigate the hydro-abrasive issues in Himalayan region, a laboratory with state-of-the-art instrumentation is established at HRED, IIT Roorkee with support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India and Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) Central Water Commission.
Research and analysis of suspended sediment flow and its impact on hydropower components.
Sediment depository for Himalayan region where hydropower plants are prone to hydro-abrasive erosion
Research data base of hydro-abrasive erosion and its effect on components of hydropower plants-turbines, penstock etc.
Development of a knowledge centre to educate and train personnel to handle erosion issues effectively.
The main research areas of the laboratory are as follows:
Design and improvement of sediment settling basins
Sediment flow dynamics and sediment flow models
Validation and development of hydro-abrasive erosion models
Relation of sediment parameters with hydro-abrasive erosion
Effect of hydro-abrasive erosion on efficiency reduction
Development of methods for quantifying suspended sediment
Designing turbine blades and other components for less erosion
Identification of hydro-abrasive erosion affected hydropower plants in India.
Collection of suspended sediment samples from hydro-abrasive erosion affected hydropower plants for laboratory analysis in HRED, IIT Roorkee.
Continuous measurement of suspended sediment properties at hydro-abrasive erosion affected hydropower plants.
Measurement of hydro-abrasive erosion in hydropower plants.
Measurement of efficiency loss due to hydro-abrasive erosion in hydropower plants.
Suspended sediment measurement before and after desilting tank to measure desilting efficiency at a plant.
Sediment measurement in river reaches with potential of hydropower development to assess the erosive potential and its future implications.
To conduct erosion experiment on different material/coatings and develop hydro-abrasive erosion models, a circulatory test rig is available along with a stirrer for well mixing of sediments. In this set-up, two Pelton turbines having different designs were already tested. The Pelton wheel had detachable features for ease of dismantling the buckets to measure erosion. The model Pelton turbine has 6 different materials namely 13Cr-4Ni, 16Cr-5Ni, 16Cr-4Ni martensitic steel, bronze, 13Cr-4Ni with plasma sprayed Cr2O3coating and 13Cr-4Ni with WC-Co-Cr HVOF coating. A set of Pelton buckets for different material was sponsored by Andritz Hydro for erosion testing. The set-up has the provision to conduct erosion tests for both Francis and Kaplan turbine models in addition to Pelton turbine model.
Monitoring hydro-abrasive erosion, suspended sediments and efficiency reduction for optimal operation -
Anant Kumar Rai, Arun Kumar, Thomas Staubli and Xiao Yexiang | Renewable Energy | Vol. 160, 2020, Pages 396-408
Interpretation and application of the hydro-abrasive erosion model from IEC 62364 (2013) for Pelton turbines
Anant Kumar Rai, Arun Kumara and Thomas Staubli | Renewable Energy | Vol. 145, 2020, Pages 893-902
Effect of concentration and size of sediments on hydro-abrasive erosion of Pelton turbine
Anant Kumar Rai, Arun Kumara and Thomas Staubli | Wear | Vol. 436–437, 2019, 203003
Analytical modelling and mechanism of hydro-abrasive erosion in pelton buckets
Anant Kumar Rai and Arun Kumar | International Journal of Sediment Research | Vol. 34, Issue 5, 2019, Pages 409-421
Determination of the particle load based on detailed suspended sediment measurements at a hydropower plant
Anant Kumar Rai, Arun Kumar and Thomas Staubli | International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems | Volume 12, No. 2, 2019, pp. 119-127.
Optimization of hydropower plants regarding hydro-abrasive erosion
Print ISSN: 2250-0103 Online ISSN: 2250-0111.
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Naman Arora and Arun Kumar | International Association for Small Hydro (IASH) Journal | Vol. 7, No. 2, July 2018, pp 13 – 24.
Performance Analysis of Trench Weirs
Print ISSN: 2250-0103 Online ISSN: 2250-0111.
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Anant Kumar Rai and Arun Kumar | International Association for Small Hydro (IASH) Journal | Vol. 7 No. 1, 2018, pp. 3-10.
Measurements and financial analysis for Hydro-abrasive erosion in hydropower plants
Anant Kr. Rai, Arun Kumar and Thomas Staubli | Wear | Vol. 392–393, 2017, Pages 8-20.
Hydro-abrasive erosion in Pelton buckets: Classification and field study
ISSN (Online): 1882-9554
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Anant Kr. Rai and Arun Kumar | International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems | Vol. 10, No. 2, 2017, pp. 146-153.
Sediment monitoring for hydro-abrasive erosion: A field study from Himalayas, India
Anant Kr. Rai and Arun Kumar | Journal of Hydrodynamics | Vol. 28, Issue 5, 2016, pp 863–872.
Analyzing hydro abrasive erosion in Kaplan turbine: A case study from India
Anant Kr. Rai and Arun Kumar | Measurement | Vol. 76, 2015, Pages 209-227.
Continuous Measurement of Suspended Sediment Concentration: Technological Advancement and Future Outlook
Arora, N., Kumar, A. and Rai, A. K. (2021) "Online Sediment Measurement Strategy for Hydro Power Plants", 6th IAHR Europe Congress, February 15-18, 2021 at Warsaw, Poland (Accepted).
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A. and Staubli T. (2019) "Financial analysis for optimization of hydropower plants regarding hydro-abrasive erosion: A study from Indian Himalayas", 29th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems – September 16-21, 2018 at Kyoto, Japan. Published in IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 240 (2019) 022025.
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A. and Staubli T. (2018) "Design and verification of a model Pelton turbine rig for hydro-abrasive erosion testing", Current Research in Hydraulic Turbine (CRHT-VIII’18) – March 20, 2018 at Turbine Testing Lab, Kathmandu University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A. and Staubli T. (2016) "Forces acting on particles in a Pelton bucket and similarity considerations for erosion", 28th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems - July 4-8, 2016 at Grenoble, France, (pp. 917 - 926). Published in IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 49 (2016) 122002.
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A., Hies, T. and Nguyen, H. H. (2016) "Field application of a multi-frequency acoustic instrument to monitor sediment for silt erosion study in Pelton turbine in Himalayan region, India", 28th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems – July 4-8, 2016 at Grenoble, France, (pp. 1037 - 1046). Published in IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 49 (2016) 122004.
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A. and Staubli T. (2015) "Developing a test rig to measure hydro-abrasive erosion in Pelton turbine", International Conference on Hydropower for Sustainable Development, Feb 05-07, 2015, Dehradun, India.
Rai, A. K., Kumar, A. and Staubli T. (2014) "An innovative approach to measure hydro-abrasive erosion in Pelton turbine", International Conference on Environment and Energy (ICEE-2014) - December 15-17, 2014 at Hyderabad, India.
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