Authored by Meg B Bishwakarma, PhD Candidate, Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian Universi of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, E-mail: meg.bishwakarma@ntnu.no
Fluvial sediments are causing tremendous problem in run-of-river hydropower plants built on sediment loaded rivers. Documentation of sediment load through the turbine is essential in order to study the relationship between the sediment load and the corresponding effects induced by the sediment. Online sediment monitoring in the hydropower plants facilitates high frequency documentation of sediment concentration as well as provides a system for early warning. In the author's knowledge, a system for online sediment monitoring in the power plants is not filly developed yet. The author made a review of existing techniques for sediment measurement and one of the sensors was selected for testing in the laboratory at NTNU. The author developed a test rig and carried out testing of the sensor to develop online sediment concentration and flow monitoring system for the hydropower plants. This article summaries author's work related to the development of online sediment monitoring system and its application in measuring the sediment load through the turbine.
Hydropower, suspended sediment, sediment monitoring, optimisation
