Hydropower digital twins solution helps with operator challenges

No two hydropower amenities are the identical. All of them work equally by harnessing the ability of speeding water to spin generators and mills, which in flip creates electrical energy. However their variations—in measurement, age or mechanical elements—means there isn’t any one reply that may clear up each downside that arises.

“Hydropower facilities are like snowflakes; even individual turbines within a plant are unique due to their individualized construction and varying upgrades over the years,” mentioned Nathan Fletcher, senior hydropower engineer on the Division of Vitality’s Pacific Northwest Nationwide Laboratory.

Managing all that maintenance for a hydropower facility is cumbersome and complex, Fletcher continued. With so many elements to supervise, he is heard dam operators say they wished for a solution to monitor potential issues inside a dam’s equipment lengthy earlier than they will hamper operations.

Enter hydropower digital twins: a digital illustration of real-life generators.

After listening to dam operators’ repeated frustrations, specialists from a number of domains collaborated and developed a platform called Digital Twins for Hydropower Systems in 2023 to cut back outages and prolong the lifespan of a dam. With new updates launched in September 2024, dam operators can now use the dashboard to regulate elements that may doubtlessly put on down a turbine’s effectivity, like surprising electrical energy demand or excessive water degree adjustments.

Dam operators can customise their digital twin to mirror the individuality of every facility; they only must add their facility’s information and the Digital Twins for Hydropower Methods dashboard handles the evaluation.

“Each dam requires a unique maintenance strategy to improve efficiency, and the new digital twins platform can provide those solutions,” mentioned Chitra Sivaraman, PNNL principal investigator of the venture. “The platform is both extensible and scalable—capable of adapting to new facilities, data and models.”

Digital twin fashions additionally sort out one other problem.

“The average age of the nation’s dams is around 60 years, meaning multiple generations of employees have worked on each turbine. And knowledge is inevitably lost as seasoned employees retire and new employees join the team,” mentioned Scott Warnick, electrical and automation methods engineer at PNNL and the technical lead on the digital twins venture. Hydropower digital twins can document and simulate all adjustments made to the dam over subsequent years—passing down information and serving to future generations make selections.

Modernizing hydropower

“The digital twins solution enables hydropower operators to simulate different scenarios, such as low water flow or varying water levels, and predict future performance or maintenance needs,” Warnick mentioned.

To construct a digital twin that precisely represents actual life, the group used real-time data from a hydropower era unit at Alder Dam on the Nisqually River in western Washington state, operated by Tacoma Public Utilities.

Main the modeling improvement is Hong Wang, principal investigator of the venture at DOE’s Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory. He and the group collected information, such because the river’s stress because it enters the hydropower facility, how briskly the generators spin and the way a lot energy the dam generates over time.

Within the authentic model of the digital twin, dam operators may solely observe how regular or anticipated circumstances affected the dam’s mechanical elements. In model 2.0, operators have extra management. They will alter water ranges, stream charges and turbine pace that may change based mostly on climate, droughts or energy demand. With the flexibility to simulate each regular circumstances and better or decrease water stream, the dam operators can dwelling in on potential issues earlier than they come up.

“People in operations and maintenance can perform trials on a digital twin instead of risking expensive equipment, making sure decisions can be made with confidence,” Warnick mentioned.

Integration with renewable power

The up to date digital twins mannequin addresses one other rising want. Because the nation strikes in the direction of a sustainable grid and embraces extra wind and solar energyhydropower methods should be adaptable and conscious of help a secure grid.

“This platform is capable of extending the lifespan of the nation’s dams while at the same time integrating additional sources of renewable energy to the grid,” Sivaraman mentioned.

As an illustration, power demand rises within the evenings as individuals come dwelling from work and activate the TV or run the dishwasher or laundry machine. On the identical time, the solar is setting, so solar energy era begins to fall. What’s extra, typically the wind would not blow—this may be significantly difficult throughout extraordinarily sizzling days, when energy is required for air con. Throughout occasions of little solar or wind, hydropower dam operators can fill the hole in era by rapidly beginning generators.

However regardless of the advantage of an simply ramped-up renewable power supply, “too much use can age a dam’s components quicker,” Fletcher mentioned. “The key is generating enough energy when needed without overburdening the turbines themselves.”

With a digital twin resolution, operators can simulate and evaluate real-world energy demand fluctuations. If the mannequin exhibits that the circumstances are optimum to run the generators, operators can really feel assured about continuing, which maximizes income.

“The digital twins dashboard paves the way for the digitalization of hydropower systems—providing a critical tool for operators to simulate and optimize grid operation for increased penetration of renewables, such as solar and wind,” Wang mentioned.

Increasing the attain

With continuous collaboration with TPU, the group good points perception into methods to enhance the mannequin. Whereas serving to TPU function extra effectively, updates to the dashboard imply it could possibly symbolize a wider variety of generators.

“The PNNL and ORNL teams have the mathematical and practical skills needed to solve complex digital twin problems,” mentioned Greg Kenyon, automation engineering supervisor at TPU.

The group can also be working with Chelan County Public Utility in north-central Washington state to gather and analyze years of operation information information from the Rocky Attain Dam to develop a digital twin. Similar to for Alder Dam, Chelan County’s hydropower digital twins will present operators with the flexibility to evaluate efficiency monitoring and evaluation, carry out predictive upkeep and optimize power manufacturing—all at zero price.

“The digital twin will help minimize the risk to perform on the real operation, such as load rejection, over-speed test and vibration at the unit start or stop stage,” mentioned Wenbo Jia, Chelan County Public Utility’s senior mechanical engineer.

The group anticipates future tasks increasing on the appliance of digital twins.

“We are building the basics now, focusing on turbines and rotors. But we aim to address broader concerns, such as biological buildup like sludge in coolers, along with the challenge in making them more environmentally friendly which are now common worries for many utilities,” Fletcher mentioned.

Kenyon’s imaginative and prescient for hydropower methods is a data-driven future the place information analytics and predictive upkeep algorithms drive asset administration.

“It is one where there are no unplanned outages and lost revenue, but rather outages determined by data-driven maintenance schedules and equipment replacements,” he mentioned.