Research and Development

Advanced manufacturing holds promise to modernize hydropower fleet

Advanced manufacturing holds promise to modernize hydropower fleet
Fixed guide vane for hydropower turbine printed by ORNL (photo credit Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)

Advanced manufacturing and materials, such as 3D printing and novel component coatings, could offer solutions to modernize the existing fleet and design new approaches to hydropower, according to a report published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The hydropower industry — which the U.S. Energy Information Administration said accounted for 30% of all renewable energy generation and 6.1% of the total energy portfolio in 2021 — was built using traditional manufacturing processes. But surging energy demand, higher material costs and supply chain hurdles have led researchers to rethink the manufacturing of hydropower equipment, ORNL said.

Hydropower technology and designs have been optimized throughout the years, but manufacturing of hydropower components still relies heavily on traditional methods and materials, according to the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Hydropower: Challenges and Opportunities report. Changes in global energy production systems and international supply chain issues are inspiring the manufacturing sector to reconsider their processes. Similarly, the hydropower industry is facing manufacturing challenges stemming from well-known maintenance issues, environmental impact mitigations and changes in operations. These challenges, along with continued innovation in new hydropower and pumped storage development and modernization of the fleet, present an opportunity for advanced manufacturing and materials (AMM) to provide immense value to the hydropower industry.

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), this report aims to characterize the current and emerging manufacturing-related challenges in U.S. hydropower and to identify the high-impact opportunities in AMM that could address these challenges.

For the assessment, ORNL brought together representatives from the hydropower industry, advanced manufacturing industries, research institutions and groups committed to environmental stewardship. Their collaboration identified existing infrastructure challenges and ways in which advanced manufacturing could enhance new design capabilities, improve system and component performance, reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing and better address environmental concerns.

State-of-the-art AMM opportunities that were identified as applicable to hydropower are:

Additive Manufacturing — Constructing parts layer by layer enables unconventional geometries and material configurations for hydropower components. Additive technologies provide many benefits, including design optimization and the ability to potentially manufacture parts on site, thus increasing accessibility to necessary parts. Embedded sensors, aeration, and cooling channels are some potential hydropower applications.

Novel Machining and Casting Processes — Hydropower facilities rely on large metal components (e.g., turbine blades and wicket gates) with unique geometries and material properties. These components require large casting processes (>10 tons) that are currently mainly performed outside of the United States. Combining additive and subtractive techniques into a hybrid process can enable faster production and higher-quality parts by avoiding supply chain bottlenecks and reducing manual interaction.

Innovative Materials — To enable new value propositions for hydropower, the industry needs lower cost and/or higher performance alternatives for plant components. For example, functionally graded materials could help optimize the surface and bulk properties of runners, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites could help reduce conveyance costs for new facilities.

Novel Coating Processes — Coatings can help mitigate many of the common failure modes for hydropower systems, including biofouling, corrosion, and cavitation. New coatings and application processes can reduce toxicity and improve durability of conventional alternatives.