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About AQFlow

 
   

ASL AQFlow's mission is to produce acoustic scintillation flow measurement systems that are globally accepted as the solution to the hydroelectric industry's toughest turbine discharge measurement challenge: measurements in low-head plants with short, converging intakes.

ASL AQFlow Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. ASL Environmental Sciences has been carrying out successful flow velocity measurement programs in difficult ocean environments from the Arctic to the tropics since 1977. ASL Environmental Sciences has been working in hydroelectric applications for over 20 years, since October 2000 through AQFlow.

Early projects related to the hydroelectric industry include:

  • Flow surveys in forebays and tailraces of hydro plants in Canada and the USA since the 1980s.

  • A prototype of the Acoustic Scintillation Flow Meter (ASFM) was introduced at Rocky Reach in 1992.

  • Flow studies at Fort Patrick Henry and Wheeler Dams, Tennessee Valley Authority, in 1997 and 1999.

  • The first production ASFM system was purchased by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland District in 1998. Between 1998 and 2001, measurements with this system were conducted successfully at McNary, Bonneville, Lower Granite and The Dalles Dams.

transducer layout, laptop, surface unit
3-bay, 10-path ASFM Advantage System

In 2001, the second generation instrument, ASFM Advantage was released. It incorporated significant refinements, and has since been used effectively by:

All this time, the instrument was used for relatively short duration, one-time flow measurements. But because all ASFM Advantage instruments are located away from the flow, protected from debris impact, it was recognized that the technology is ideally suited for long-term, continuous flow monitoring.  Thus, in 2005, ASFM Monitor was introduced. This non-intrusive system, installed permanently in the intake, provides continuous, repeatable and reliable real-time monitoring of turbine discharge. Examples of its use may be found at:

Typical applications include:

ASFM Advantage: One-time measurements of absolute or relative turbine discharge to:

  • determine optimum settings for maximizing operating efficiency of individual units and/or plants,

  • facilitate field performance testing or acceptance testing,

  • check measurements obtained with other technologies,

  • calibrate Winter-Kennedy taps,

  • review effects of fish diversion screens on turbine efficiency.

ASFM Monitor: Continuous long-term flow measurement in near-real time to:

  • monitor turbine/plant performance,

  • document compliance with regulatory/environmental requirements,

  • monitor trashrack blockage,

  • detect penstock rupture.

Code Acceptance The process of obtaining code recognition continues. Both international committees, responsible for the ASME PTC-18 Hydraulic turbine and pump turbines and for the IEC 41 Test code for field acceptance tests to determine the performance of hydraulic turbines, are currently considering the inclusion of the acoustic scintillation technology in the next issue of their respective codes.

CFD Modeling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling has been used by the industry to optimize hydro turbine designs for many years. CFD has now become an indispensable tool in the design of entire hydro installations, from intakes to draft tubes, and from forebays to tailraces.

At AQFlow, we have applied the CFD technique since 1998, using a cluster of computers and sophisticated CFD software including the latest ANSYS and Amtec products (CFX, Fluent, ICEMCFD). By conducting direct field measurements of velocity and turbulence in combination with the CFD modeling, we have gained better understanding of the complex fluid physics in the converging intakes of the low head plants. In turn, this helped us to make better measurements with the ASFM.

 

 

Innovative Solutions for Hydro's most challenging Flow Measurements



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