Charlie Murphy ctmurph2 The Science Behind Hydropower Plants
The Condit Dam, constructed along the White Salmon River in South Central Washington, was created in order to power the Crown Willamette Paper Company nearby. Unfortunately, the salmon that inhabited the river were unable to pass through the dam, leading to its destruction nearly one hundred years later. As a result of its removal, the salmon were able to repopulate the river and thrive in the reestablished environment. Although there were complications with the design of the dam, its initial purpose was not meant to harm any living organisms, but to help them. In order to get a better understanding of the function of the dam, one needs to understand how a dam works and the …show more content…
The energy output of the dam wasn’t the problem. The problem involved the decreased population of salmon in the river, which decreased the overall quality of the environment of the river. Other fish species suffered, and these consequences outweighed the benefits of the dam. A possible solution to the problem involved a fish hatchery at the lower end of the river in order to repopulate salmon and account for the deaths of the salmon on the top side of the river. Another solution was introducing a fish passage system that would decrease the productivity of the dam and the overall output of energy. The dam was eventually removed, and fish population was …show more content…
In order to determine how effective a dam is, one can calculate its power, a variable that is related to the actual electrical power a dam can create in kilowatts. The formal equation for power is, according to the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company, “(Height of Dam) x (River Flow) x (Efficiency) / 11.8” (“How Hydropower Works”). The three factors to the equation are relatively self-explanatory. Height of the dam refers to the distance the water falls measured in feet. River flow is the amount of water that flows in the river in cubic feet per second. Efficiency, the most influential variable, refers to how well the turbine and generator can convert the kinetic energy of the flowing water into usable electrical energy. A high efficiency dam produces upwards of 90% of the water that is used in the system (“How Hydropower Works”). Finally, the equation is divided by 11.8 in order to convert the units into kilowatts. This value of power is the prime indicator of whether or not a dam or other hydropower system is effective. The Condit Dam created “79,700 Megawatt hours of electricity at $0.06/kWh” (Hough-Snee), a rather efficient dam for being built in 1913. All of these factors need to be considered and evaluated in order to construct an effective
The Condit Dam, constructed along the White Salmon River in South Central Washington, was created in order to power the Crown Willamette Paper Company nearby. Unfortunately, the salmon that inhabited the river were unable to pass through the dam, leading to its destruction nearly one hundred years later. As a result of its removal, the salmon were able to repopulate the river and thrive in the reestablished environment. Although there were complications with the design of the dam, its initial purpose was not meant to harm any living organisms, but to help them. In order to get a better understanding of the function of the dam, one needs to understand how a dam works and the …show more content…
The energy output of the dam wasn’t the problem. The problem involved the decreased population of salmon in the river, which decreased the overall quality of the environment of the river. Other fish species suffered, and these consequences outweighed the benefits of the dam. A possible solution to the problem involved a fish hatchery at the lower end of the river in order to repopulate salmon and account for the deaths of the salmon on the top side of the river. Another solution was introducing a fish passage system that would decrease the productivity of the dam and the overall output of energy. The dam was eventually removed, and fish population was …show more content…
In order to determine how effective a dam is, one can calculate its power, a variable that is related to the actual electrical power a dam can create in kilowatts. The formal equation for power is, according to the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company, “(Height of Dam) x (River Flow) x (Efficiency) / 11.8” (“How Hydropower Works”). The three factors to the equation are relatively self-explanatory. Height of the dam refers to the distance the water falls measured in feet. River flow is the amount of water that flows in the river in cubic feet per second. Efficiency, the most influential variable, refers to how well the turbine and generator can convert the kinetic energy of the flowing water into usable electrical energy. A high efficiency dam produces upwards of 90% of the water that is used in the system (“How Hydropower Works”). Finally, the equation is divided by 11.8 in order to convert the units into kilowatts. This value of power is the prime indicator of whether or not a dam or other hydropower system is effective. The Condit Dam created “79,700 Megawatt hours of electricity at $0.06/kWh” (Hough-Snee), a rather efficient dam for being built in 1913. All of these factors need to be considered and evaluated in order to construct an effective