Development of Floating Slender Structure System for Unprotected Water Intake in Tenom Pangi Hydro Power Station

Abstract

A general problem experienced by many hydro power plants especially the run-off-river type is intake clogging which primarily due to accumulation of floating trash. Tenom Pangi Hydro Station is one of them where the problem has resulted in shortage of power generation due to frequent station shutdown. The installed log boom was found ineffective and this caused rapid clogging of the intake during monsoon season. A floating slender structure that act as a diverter system was developed and installed to prevent the clogging while complying to station operational requirements. The design of water intakes from other local hydropower and water treatment plants were studied in finding the effective solution. The development involved literature review and both computer and physical modeling to design the diverter system. Commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) program and physical model were utilized to study and evaluate the river flow characteristics. The river flow was expected to change due to the diverter installation, and to determine optimum diverter location for effective diversion of trashes and ensure minimum flow resistance into the water intake. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) program was used for stress analysis on the trash diverter system. The system was built and installed successfully at site.