A fully developed turbulent particle-gas flow in a rectangular horizontal channel 100 × 10 × 4000 mm³ is disclosed with high spatial resolution two-dimensional (2D) particle image velocimetry (PIV). The objective is to increase the knowledge of the mechanisms behind alterations in turbulent characteristics when adding two sets of relatively large solid spherical particles with mean diameters of 525 and 755 μm and particle size distributions of 450–600 and 710–800 μm, respectively. Reynolds numbers are 4000 and 5600 and relatively high volume fraction of 5.4 × 10⁻⁴ and 8.0 × 10⁻⁴ are tested. Both the near wall turbulent boundary layer flow and outer core flow are considered. Results show that the carrier phase turbulent intensities increase with the volume fraction of the inertial particles. The overall mean flow velocity is affected when adding the particles but only to a minor extent. Near the wall, averaged velocity decreases while fluctuating velocity components increase when particles are added to the flow. Quadrant analysis shows the importance of sweep near the wall and ejection events in the region defined by y⁺> 20. In conclusion, high inertia particles can enhance turbulence even at relatively low particle Reynolds number <90. In the near bottom wall region, particles tend to be a source of instability reflected as enhancement in rms values of the normal velocity component.

The flow characteristics in the vicinity of a set of half-cylinders of different sizes simulating benthic objects were studied experimentally using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The cylinders were mounted on the bottom of an open channel, and the influence of the flow speed on the distribution of the shear stress along the bottom geometry was investigated. Of special interest was how the shear stress changes close to the wall as a function of the flow speed and cylinder arrangement. It was found that the shear stress varies significantly as a function of position. This implies habitat heterogeneity allowing benthic invertebrates with different shear stress tolerance exists when the bottom consists of differently sized stones. It was also shown that direct measurements of near wall velocity gradients are necessary to accurately calculate the wall shear stress for more complex geometries.

This study describes a multi-camera photogrammetric approach to measure the 3D velocity of free surface flow. The properties of the camera system and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) algorithm were first investigated in a measurement of a laboratory open channel flow to prepare for field measurements. The in situ camera calibration methods corresponding to the two measurement situations were applied to mitigate the instability of the camera mechanism and camera geometry. There are two photogrammetry-based PTV algorithms presented in this study regarding different types of surface particles employed on the water flow. While the first algorithm uses the particle tracking method applied for individual particles, the second algorithm is based on correlation-based particle clustering tracking applied for clusters of small size particles. In the laboratory, reference data are provided by particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The differences in velocities measured by photogrammetry and PIV, photogrammetry and LDV are 0.1% and 3.6%, respectively. At a natural river, the change of discharges between two measurement times is found to be 15%, and the corresponding value reported regarding mass flow through a nearby hydropower plant is 20%. The outcomes reveal that the method can provide a reliable estimation of 3D surface velocity with sufficient accuracy.

Hydropower tunnels are generally subject to a degree of rock falls. Studies explaining this are scarce and the current industrial standards offer little insight. To simulate tunnel conditions, high Reynolds number flow inside a channel with a rectangular cross-section is investigated using particle image velocimetry and pressure measurements. For validation, the flow is modelled using large-eddy simulation (LES) and a Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach with the $k-\epsilon$ turbulence model. One wall of the channel has been replaced with a rough surface captured using laser scanning. The results indicate flow-roughness effects deviating from the standard non-asymmetric channel flow, and hence cannot be properly predicted using spatially averaged relations. These effects manifest as localized bursts of velocity connected to individual roughness elements. The bursts are large enough to affect both temporally and spatially averaged quantities. Both turbulence models show satisfactory agreement for the overall flow behaviour, where LES also provided information for in-depth analysis.

The operating conditions of Nordic hydropower plants are expected to change in the coming years to work more in conjunction with intermittent power production, causing more frequent hydropeaking events. Hydropeaking has been shown to be detrimental to wildlife in the river reaches downstream of hydropower plants. In this work, we investigate how different possible future hydropeaking scenarios affect the water surface elevation dynamics in a bypass reach in the Ume River in northern Sweden. The river dynamics has been modeled using the open-source solver Delft3D. The numerical model was validated and calibrated with water-surface-elevation measurements. A hysteresis effect on the water surface elevation, varying with the downstream distance from the spillways, was seen in both the simulated and the measured data. Increasing the hydropeaking rate is shown to dampen the variation in water surface elevation and wetted area in the most downstream parts of the reach, which could have positive effects on habitat and bed stability compared to slower rates in that region.