1.1 Hydropower tunnels, penstocks and surge chambers
Hydropower tunnels, penstocks and surge chambers
To give the future hydropower system the flexibility and behavior required to serve the demand from market, grid, bilateral power cables, new industry, new materials and advances in turbine and generator design, tunnel systems and penstocks must be designed different from the state of the art technology.
This includes research in long tunnels with quick response, increased dampening of surges, cost efficient large scale hydro tunnels, intake and reservoir design adapted to new tunnel systems, power houses constructed for flexible solutions, and reconstruction of dams and reservoirs.
This also includes reliable tunnels able to withstand new regimes in pressure and velocity variation. Former design principles are assumed to not take care of the new load regimes. Flexible operation will benefit from more reliable design and that will reduce operational risk of scheduling new hydropower technology hence increase the revenue potential.
Task WP 1.1 will to a great extent be organized through PhD-projects.
Two of the three PhD-projects directly linked to HydroCen are related to engineering geology.
Focusing on:
- 1) Effects of swelling rock and swelling clay gouge on stability and support requirement
- 2) Impact of peaking operation in unlined/shotcrete lined tunnels, respectively. The third is focusing on reconstruction and improvements of the tunnel system for upgrading of hydropower plants to peaking or pumped storage plants.
In addition, there is one NTNU PhD-project focusing on transition zones/plugs directly linked to WP 1.1, one focusing on reconstruction and improvements of the tunnel system and one associated PhD-project focusing on Tunnel Roughness (KPN).
Publications Work package 1.1 Hydropower tunnels, penstocks and surge chambers
Effect of power plant operation on pore pressure in jointed rock mass of an unlined hydropower tunnel: An experimental study. Neupane, Bibek; Panthi, Krishna Kanta; Vereide, Kaspar. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. 2020
An analysis on the slaking and disintegration extent of weak rock mass of the water tunnels for hydropower project using modified slake durability test. Selen, Lena; Panthi, Krishna Kanta;
Vistnes, Gunnar. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment. 2020
Detailed engineering geological assessment of a shotcrete lined pressure tunnel in the Himalayan rock mass conditions: a case study from Nepal. Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment. 2020
Evaluation of earthquake impact on magnitude of the minimum principal stress along a shotcrete lined pressure tunnel in Nepal.Panthi, Krishna Kanta; Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. 2019
Evaluation on the Minimum Principal Stress State and Potential Hydraulic Jacking from the Shotcrete-Lined Pressure Tunnel: A Case from Nepal. Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 2019 s. 1-23. NTNU
Analysis of unlined pressure shafts and tunnels of selected Norwegian hydropower projects. Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2018 ;Volum 10.(3) s. 486-512. (ISSN 1674-7755) NTNU
Issues related to the long-term stability of unlined water tunnels in Norwegian hydropower projects – a case review. Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Pennwell Books. 2018
Roughness evaluation in shotcrete-lined water tunnels with invert concrete based on cases from Nepal. Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2018 ;Volum 10.(1) s. 42-59 NTNU
Estimating Tunnel Strain in the Weak and Schistose Rock Mass Influenced by Stress Anisotropy: An Evaluation Based on Three Tunnel Cases from Nepal. Panthi, Krishna Kanta; Shrestha, Pawan Kumar. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 2018 ;Volum 51.(6) s. 1823-1838. NTNU
A dynamic analysis of in-situ stress state at the Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project area. Hydro Nepal. Krishna Panthi, Chhatra Basnet. Journal of Water, Energy and Environment 2018 ;Volume Issue.(23) p. 42-47.
3D in-Situ Stress Model of Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project Area. Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment 2017 ;Volum July Issue.(21) s. 34-41
NTNU
Design review of the headrace system for the Upper Tamakoshi project, Nepal. Panthi, Krishna Kanta; Basnet, Chhatra Bahadur. International journal on hydropower and dams 2017 ;Volum 24.(Issue 1) s. 60-67
NTNU
Evaluation of Powerhouse Cavern for the SachKhas Hydroelectric Project in Himachal, India. Rathore, Ajender; Panthi, Krishna Kanta. Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment 2017 ;Volum January.(20) s. 23-30
NTNU
Upgrading of a Norwegian pressurized sand trap combined with an open air surge tank. Wolfgang Richter, Kaspar Vereide, Gerald Zenz. Geomechanics and Tunneling, 2017
Master thesis
Anne Leroquais. Upgrading of Roskrepp hydropower plant to a pumped storage plant: Necessary reconstruction of the surge tank.
Anna Helene Mong Urdal. Stability assessment of the asphalt concrete tunnel invert of Roskrepp hydropower project
Snorre Anneson Ledsaak Solli. Evaluering av hydraulisk splitting på Bjørnstokk kraftverk
Ragna Torås Halseth. Stability assessment of the headrace tunnel system at Brattset Hydropower Project
Debora Bardini. Direct Simulation of Surge Tank Stability
Silje-Elin Skrede. Stability Assessment of Hydropower Tunnel in Swelling and Slaking Rock Mass
Contact
About the Project
Full project title: Hydropower tunnels, penstocks, and surge chambers
Duration: 2017-2021
Objective: Develop new technology for headrace tunnels, penstock, surge chambers and enlarging the tunnels.
R&D Partners: NTNU, Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) Indonesia, Graz Technical University (TU Graz), EPFL Lausanne, Power China Changsha.
Associated projects: Tunnel Roughness (KPN)
Researchers working on the project: Bjørn Nilsen, Krishna Panthi, Kaspar Vereide, Leif Lia, Pål-Tore Storli, Roger Olsson, Nils Rüther, Elena Pummer.
PhD working on the project: Ola Haugen Havrevoll, Bibek Neupane, Lena Selen, Henki Ødegaard and Livia Pitorac.
Master students associated with the project: Lena Selen, Silje-Elin Skrede, Bikash Thapa, Anne Leroquais, Anna Helene Mong Urdal, Snorre Anneson Ledsaak Solli, Ragna Torås Halseth, Debora Bardini, Sofie Marie Steinkjer, Håvard Barkved, Jana Daxnerova, Alexander Torbergsen, Linn Døvle, Haakon Jørlo Haugerud, Runa Berstad Frengen, Tonje Mek Eidset, Erik Kleiven, Steven Sergij Salim, Daniel Pace, Ingrid Gulbransen.