Characterization of woody material transport on the Madeira River at the Jirau Hydroelectric Power Plant: a study using a three-dimensional particle model

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Madeira River is characterized by large amount of woody material transported, especially during floods, which interferes with the operation of the Jirau Hydroelectric Power Plant. There are many logs and the log boom structures inserted to retain them do not always present the desired efficiency. This work involves the hydrodynamic simulation of the Madeira River and the three-dimensional simulation of these woody materials to analyze their trajectories along the river and to obtain knowledge of their transport and position according to the flow, different plant operations ways and the influence of log booms. The logs are simulated as particles by the PART module of Delft3d, using the Lagrangian particle tracking model. The hydrodynamic model was validated and it was possible to represent the main variations of three-dimensional velocities and water levels. The particle tracking simulation was consistent with the flow distribution and thus it was possible to identify the most attractive destination for the logs, according to power plant operations.