Multi-Species Assessment of Injury, Mortality, and Physical Conditions during Downstream Passage through a Large Archimedes Hydrodynamic Screw (Albert Canal, Belgium)

Ine Pauwels, Raf Baeyens, Gert Toming, Matthias Schneider, David Buysse, Johan Coeck, Jeffrey A. Tuhtan

Research output: Contribution to journalA1: Web of Science-articlepeer-review

1054 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Fish passing downstream through hydraulic structures and turbines may be exposed to an elevated risk of injury and mortality. The majority of live fish studies are single-species laboratory investigations and field studies of Kaplan turbines, with a limited number of studies in Francis and screw turbines. In addition to these studies, the physical conditions during turbine passage can be directly measured using passive sensors. In this study, we investigate the multispecies risk of injury and mortality during downstream passage through a large Archimedes hydrodynamic screw for bream (Abramis brama), eel (Anguilla anguilla), and roach (Rutilus rutilus) in conjunction with passive sensors that record the pressure, acceleration, and rate of rotation. This work proposes several new metrics to assess downstream passage including the times and durations of impact events, the kinetic energies of translation and rotation, and the pressure gradient. The major findings of this work are three-fold: (1) Significant differences in injury and mortality were observed between the three investigated species with 37% mortality for bream, 19% for roach, and 3% for eel on average. (2) The operational scenario was found to be significant only for a limited number of species-specific injuries and mortality rates. (3) In contrast to studies in Kaplan turbines, the sensor data revealed highly chaotic physical conditions in the Archimedes hydrodynamic screw, showing little difference in the physical metrics between operational scenarios.
Original languageEnglish
Volume12
Issue number20
Number of pages25
ISSN2071-1050
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21-Oct-2020

Thematic List 2020

  • Water
  • Climate
  • Protected nature

Thematic list

  • Fish migration
  • Surface water
  • Climate
  • Fish

EWI Biomedical sciences

  • B280-animal-ecology

Taxonomic list

  • fishes (Pisces)
  • freshwater eels (Anguillidae)
  • bony fishes (Osteichtyes)

Policy

  • aquatic management
  • fisheries policy
  • environmental impact assessment

Geographic list

  • Belgium

Technological

  • mechanics

Free keywords

  • Archimedes screw
  • Turbine passage
  • Fish injury and mortality
  • Barotrauma Detection System

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Multi-Species Assessment of Injury, Mortality, and Physical Conditions during Downstream Passage through a Large Archimedes Hydrodynamic Screw (Albert Canal, Belgium)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this