PNNL

Abstract

In 2003, an extension of the existing ice and trash sluiceway was added at Bonneville Powerhouse 2 (B2). This extension started at the existing corner collector for the ice and trash sluiceway adjacent to Bonneville Powerhouse 2 and the new sluiceway was extended to the downstream end of Cascade Island. The sluiceway was designed to improve juvenile salmon survival by bypassing turbine passage at B2, and placing these smolt in downstream flowing water minimizing their exposure to fish and avian predators. In this study, a previously developed computational fluid dynamics model was modified and used to characterized tailrace hydraulics and sluiceway egress conditions for low total river flows and low levels of spillway flow. STAR-CD v4.10 was used for seven scenarios of low total river flow and low spill discharges. The simulation results were specifically examined to look at tailrace hydraulics at 5 ft below the tailwater elevation, and streamlines used to compare streamline pathways for streamlines originating in the corner collector outfall and adjacent to the outfall. These streamlines indicated that for all higher spill percentage cases (25% and greater) that streamlines from the corner collector did not approach the shoreline at the downstream end of Bradford Island. For the cases with much larger spill percentages, the streamlines from the corner collector were mid-channel or closer to the Washington shore as they moved downstream. Although at 25% spill at 75 kcfs total river, the total spill volume was sufficient to "cushion" the flow from the corner collector from the Bradford Island shore, areas of recirculation were modeled in the spillway tailrace. However, at the lowest flows and spill percentages, the streamlines from the B2 corner collector pass very close to the Bradford Island shore. In addition, the very flow velocity flows and large areas of recirculation greatly increase potential predator exposure of the spillway passed smolt. If there is concern for egress issues for smolt passing through the spillway, the spill pattern and volume need to be revisited.