Hydro-Québec Experience with Acoustic Scintillation Flow Measurement Method in Low Head Power Plants

摘要

The flow is one the most difficult parameters to measure in determining the efficiency of a hydraulic turbine. For low head power plants, it is even more difficult because the measurement is normally done in a short converging intake. Few methods exist for performing the flow measurement under these conditions; one of them is the Acoustic Scintillation Flow Measurement (ASFM) method. After a first comparative test with a Current Meter (CM) measurement at Laforge-2 power plant, HQ acquired an ASFM system and has gone through a series of comparative tests in five other power plants. For some power plants, the agreement between both methods (CM vs ASFM) was good while for some others, difficulties were encountered which lead to a greater difference. These results will be used to illustrate the accuracy achievable with the ASFM under various intake hydraulic conditions.