Incorporating climate change scenarios into new operating rules for large reservoirs: a transnational assessment in the Meuse basin

in Schleiss, Anton (Ed.) Dams and Reservoirs under changing Challenges (2011)

Opportunities for updating and optimizing current operating rules are being evaluated for the Vesdre reservoirs in Belgium (50 M m³) and the Rur complex in Germany (300 M m³). This assessment is conducted ... [more ▼]

Opportunities for updating and optimizing current operating rules are being evaluated for the Vesdre reservoirs in Belgium (50 M m³) and the Rur complex in Germany (300 M m³). This assessment is conducted transnationally at the scale of the Meuse river basin. Common methodological approaches are followed in both countries and operating rules are analyzed in light of common climate change scenarios, recently defined for the whole Meuse basin. Similar risk-based approaches are used consistently in both countries to evaluate the performance of new operating rules in terms of risk reduction for floods and low flows. [less ▲]

Blood Flow under External Strains; Phenomenological Approach, Theoretical Developments & Numerical Analysis

in International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics (2010), 78

In the medical field, the measurement of blood flow characteristics is often necessary. More specifically, blood pressure is an essential measure when it comes to assessing health. All over the world ... [more ▼]

In the medical field, the measurement of blood flow characteristics is often necessary. More specifically, blood pressure is an essential measure when it comes to assessing health. All over the world, many people suffer from hyper- or hypotension, and as it is known that these diseases can lead to serious complications, it is of great interest to determine the blood pressure with high accuracy. Nowadays, such information requires the use of specifi c materials; the present method for the measurement of the arterial pressure, by applying pressure using an armband (with a control device called sphygmomanometer), is known to introduce significant errors due to the inadequacy of the band dimensions (both the length and the circumference). The objective of the present research is to study and simulate the discharge of the blood in an artery subjected to external strains using theoretical developments and a numerical approach. Based on these modelling results, the response of the fluid to the external pressure of the band can be studied, and fi nally appropriate corrective factors for the true pressure and the measured pressure could be assessed. This research has been carried out with the aim of sharing medical and engineering views on the subject. The artery can be modelled as a deformable pipe, where the blood fl owing in it is a fl uid with specifi c properties. Thus, two complementary and interconnected domains are covered, solid mechanics (to obtain analytic relations between the strains and the deformations, using either linear or non-linear theories) and fluid mechanics (to study the discharge of blood in a deformable pipe, using finite volume methods), therefore considering the problem as a loose fl uid–structure interaction (FSI). These two domains, which are well studied for common materials in civil engineering applications, are applied here not only to specifi c materials but especially to uncommon structures that, besides the somehow common FSI developments, lead to the investigation and research of very specifi c boundary conditions, giving them a physically based behaviour. At present, the research has reached the penultimate step, with the two main mentioned axes being fully developed and tested on their own. In particular, the boundary conditions developed for the models have been investigated and modelled in depth. [less ▲]

Modéle réduit hydraulique de la descenderie du barrage de l'Oule

Report (2010)

Hydropower: An Essential Partner of Renewable Energy Source

in Sayigh, Ali (Ed.) World Renewable Energy Congress XI (2010, September 25)

In 2006, the 17 percent of the world’s electricity that was generated from hydropower represented nearly 90 percent of renewable electricity generation worldwide; Hydropower is an important source of ... [more ▼]

In 2006, the 17 percent of the world’s electricity that was generated from hydropower represented nearly 90 percent of renewable electricity generation worldwide; Hydropower is an important source of renewable energy and produces extremely small quantities of carbon dioxide. Between 1998 and 2008, renewable electricity production in the world rose from 2,794.9 to 3,762.6 TWh, i.e. an additional 967.6 TWh. As a final conclusion, despite hydropower’s high initial costs, its long-term overall costs tend to be low. The average cost of electricity production by hydropower is still very attractive for the moment. In the next future, hydropower will keep his position, in front of the other renewable sources of electricity, on the same level with biomass, better that wind power and much cheaper than solar energy. [less ▲]

Dam-break flow computation based on an efficient flux-vector splitting

in Journal of Computational & Applied Mathematics (2010), 234

Dam-break flow computation is a task of prime interest in the scope of risk analysis processes related to dams and reservoirs. In this paper, a 2D finite volume multiblock flow solver, able to deal with ... [more ▼]

Dam-break flow computation is a task of prime interest in the scope of risk analysis processes related to dams and reservoirs. In this paper, a 2D finite volume multiblock flow solver, able to deal with natural topography variation, is presented in details. The model is based on an efficient Flux Vector Splitting method developed by the authors. A number of validation examples are comprehensively described. [less ▲]

Barrage de Kembs - Réalisation et exploitation d'un modèle réduit hydraulique de la centrale B

Report (2010)

River modelling and flood mitigation in a Belgian catchment

in Proceedings of ICE : Water Management (2010), 163(8), 417-423

This paper describes the steps followed to propose solutions to recurring flooding problems in a Belgian catchment. Firstly, the hydraulic capacity (maximum discharge before bank overflow) of the cross ... [more ▼]

This paper describes the steps followed to propose solutions to recurring flooding problems in a Belgian catchment. Firstly, the hydraulic capacity (maximum discharge before bank overflow) of the cross sections was computed all along the river by an iterative 1D steady-state approach. In order to carry out these simulations, cross sections from on-site surveys of the river were integrated into the model, as well as hydraulic structures such as culverts, footbridges, and pipes. Secondly, the flooding problem was analysed with a time-dependant approach consisting of simulating floods following extreme rainfall events. The hydrological aspect was studied in a spatially distributed way using a multi-layer hydrological model. The available data on the basin such as the digital elevation model (DEM), the landuse, and the pedology were exploited to identify the basic modelling parameters. The hydrological contribution was routed by a 1D network resulting from the merging of the DEM-based and the cross section-based river networks. According to the results of the aforementioned steps, various local and catchment-wide solutions against flooding were proposed and analyzed. The comparison of simulated situations before and after these improvements allowed checking the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. [less ▲]

Hydraulic behavior of Piano Key Weirs: experimental approach

in Janssen, Robert; Chanson, Hubert (Eds.) 3rd Int. Junior Researcher and Engineer Worjshop on Hydraulic Structures (2010, May)

The Piano Key Weir (PKW) is a particular geometry of weir similar to a labyrinth shape that features overhanging cycle ends to reduce the base length. Together with its high discharge capacity for low ... [more ▼]

The Piano Key Weir (PKW) is a particular geometry of weir similar to a labyrinth shape that features overhanging cycle ends to reduce the base length. Together with its high discharge capacity for low heads, this geometric feature makes the PKW an interesting solution for dam rehabilitation, permitting the placement of the weir directly on dam crest. However, PKW stays a new type of weir, firstly designed in 2001 and built for the first time in 2006 by Electricité de France (EDF). Even if the first experimental studies confirmed its discharge capacities, lacks persist in the understanding of the flow behaviour upstream, along and downstream of this complex structure. This paper presents the mean results and observations obtained from experiments on a large scale model of PKW. The hydraulics of the structure is clarified based on measurements of water depths, pressures, velocities and discharges on each part of the weir. These observations explain the effect of geometric improvements proposed in former studies. [less ▲]

Integrated flood risk analysis for assessing flood protection strategies

in Tagelsir, Gasmelseid (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Hydroinformatics: Technologies Theories and Applications (2010)

The present chapter describes an end-to-end methodology for assessing flood protection strategies, including the whole methodological process from hydrological statistics to detailed 2D hydraulic ... [more ▼]

The present chapter describes an end-to-end methodology for assessing flood protection strategies, including the whole methodological process from hydrological statistics to detailed 2D hydraulic modelling, damage calculation and flood risk evaluation. This risk-based approach serves as a component of a decision-support system (DSS) developed in Belgium for identifying cost-effective flood management strategies in the context of climate change. The DSS accounts for both hydraulic and socio-economic parameters to quantify the benefits (in terms of avoided risk) and the cost of each strategy. Besides reviewing fundamentals of flood risk assessment, including the inundation model and main concepts related to flood risk, a consistent methodology for micro-scale flood risk analysis is presented in detail, combining complementary sources of GIS information such as high resolution and high accuracy land use database as well as socio-economic datasets. Finally a case study on a main tributary of river Meuse in Belgium is described. [less ▲]

Flood Protection Design Based on Micro-scale Risk Modelling

Poster (2010, April 22)