Flow-velocity model for hydrokinetic energy availability assessment in the Amazon

Abstract

The Brazilian hydrological information network does not provide data series of daily velocities. The river velocities are important for the study of hydrokinetic potential. Therefore, the work proposes a model called flow-velocity that estimates the average daily velocity and the distribution of the velocity profile of the cross section of rivers. The model was applied to the Amazon basin, using the highest and lowest flow rates of the historical series. The highest and lowest average velocities found in the Amazon River were 2.27 m s-1 and 0.735 m s-1, respectively. The main contributors to the Amazon River presented average daily velocities close to 2.0 ms-1 for the flood period, but in the dry season these velocities did not exceed 0.5 m s-1. Thus, it was verified that the Amazon River has hydrokinetic potential throughout the year and its tributaries during the flood period.