Dam with suspended hydroelectric station

A water storing dam body with means for directing a water flow therethrough includes one or more hydromotive assemblies suspended adjacent said dam water directing means. Each hydromotive assembly comprises a unitary assembly including an energy generation unit associated with a machine hall and buoyancy means regulatable to suspend the hydromotive assembly in operative position without imposing stresses upon the structural body of the dam due to its weight. Disposed downstream of the dam body, adjacent each water directing means, is a diffuser which is either fully or partly embodied as an integral portion of the dam body.

The present invention relates generally to dams having hydroelectric 
stations erected in river watersheds for the purpose of energy 
generation-transformation, navigation development, flood control and the 
provision of good water storage for flood control. By energy 
generation-transformation, it is intended to include the increasingly 
popular reversible pumped-storage electric power systems. 
The hydromotive assembly according to the present arrangement is intended 
to be positioned adjacent the water directing means or water passages 
disposed through the main body of a dam so as to employ the inherent 
gravitational energy stored in the mass of water behind the dam, for the 
conversion thereof into electric energy. Alternatively, this inherent 
gravitational energy can be increased by using excess electric energy from 
other generation sources to operate the hydromotive assembly in a reverse 
mode, thus transforming this excess energy into volumes of water pumped 
and stored behind the dam. 
With the instant engineered construction methodology a substantially 
increased efficiency is obtained not only in the initial construction of 
the hydromotive assembly and the attendant dam body, but also in the 
erection of the assembly and in its operation. First, the construction 
time for the dam body and hydromotive assembly are substantially reduced 
along with a noteworthy reduction in the amount of material required. With 
the present construction, a dam body of considerably less mass is required 
due to the suspended feature of the associated hydromotive assembly and 
the introduction of the substantially horizontal-axis engineered concept. 
By suspending the hydromotive assembly in its operative position it will 
be appreciated that a far lesser amount of concrete construction will be 
required in the dam body, which construction is further lessened due to 
the avoiding of the incorporation of machine halls for the hydromotive 
assembly as an integral part thereof. The hydromotive assembly itself will 
be understood preferably to be an integral assembly including a 
capsule-mounted energy generation or transformation unit having a turbine 
of the Kaplan type with its longitudinal axis horizontally disposed. With 
such construction in mind, it will be appreciated that the more intricate 
manufacture involving the hydromotive assembly takes place at a remote 
factory location with the desirable result that the completed hydromotive 
assembly may be subsequently readily transported to a dam site and, by 
means of incorporated bouyancy chambers, controllably submerged and 
positioned adjacent the dam water passage, either upstream or downstream 
thereof. A further reduction in construction cost may be realized by 
incorporating a diffuser downstream of each dam body water passage, as an 
integral part of the dam body, either fully or partly embodied therewith. 
A difficulty encountered during the operation of generator sets is the well 
known runaway condition. A runaway condition imposes extreme stresses upon 
not only the components of an electric generation set but also upon the 
surrounding construction of the structural body of the dam. Several well 
known means are usually provided, including hydraulic systems for closure 
of the distributor movable gate vanes and/or means for closure of upstream 
and downstream gates to halt water flow through the conduit surrounding 
the hydroelectric set. Experience has clearly shown that certain of these 
protective measures often fail or at least, require a lengthy period of 
time to operate. In any case, dangerous stresses are transmitted to the 
components of the hydroelectric set and the surrounding structural body of 
the dam. With the construction of the present hydromotive assembly a 
suspended arrangement is provided which greatly relieves all such stresses 
and additionally allows of employment of the reaction during a runaway 
condition to axially displace the hydromotive assembly away from its 
associated dam body water passage. 
Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an 
improved dam with suspended hydroelectric stations including an integral 
hydromotive assembly having a horizontal-axis energy transformation unit. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved dam 
with suspended hydroelectric station including a dam body of substantially 
reduced mass and incorporating a hydromotive assembly including integral 
buoyancy means for maintaining same in a suspended operable position. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved dam with 
suspended hydroelectric station including an integral hydromotive assembly 
having buoyancy means for maintaining one end thereof adjacent fluid 
conveying means through the dam body, which means communicates in turn 
with a diffuser integrally formed with the dam body. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved dam 
with suspended hydroelectric station including an integral hydromotive 
assembly having buoyancy means therein operable to overcome the entire 
mass of the hydromotive assembly and including means therein for 
horizontally displacing said assembly away from and toward the dam body. 
With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the 
nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists of 
the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter 
more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the 
several figures of the drawings. 
Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, the present 
invention will be seen to comprise a hydromotive assembly, generally 
designated 17, containing therein an electric transformation or generation 
set including the forwardmost motive turbine runner 1 joined to a 
generator 2 by means of the connecting shaft 3. The generator 2 may have a 
similar diameter in relation to the turbine runner bulb-type or, as 
illustrated, may comprise a substantially larger diameter resulting in the 
suspended type electric generation set. A gated distributor 4 having 
movable vanes is disposed rearwardly of the turbine runner 1 following 
which is a fixed distributor 5, said movable distributor providing a 
control of the water flow which produces actuation of the turbine runner 
1. The generation set is enclosed by means of the capsule 6 and within 
this capsule 6 are a plurality of chambers 8, 9 and 10 serving as means 
providing buoyancy to the electric generation set. 
The aforedescribed generation set 6 includes an exterior peripheral wall 7' 
which is spaced inwardly from the peripheral wall 7 to provide a conduit 
serving as the water flow circulating path conically and angularly 
surrounding the capsule 6 and extending from one end of the hydromotive 
assembly to the other. The configuration of the foregoing structure will 
be seen to provide a fluid conduit defining a significantly restricted 
fluid flow path from the upstream open end to the downstream turbine 
runner conduit's cross area of the hydromotive assembly 17. 
The main body of the hydromotive assembly 17 will be seen likewise to 
include a plurality of chambers 8, 9 and 10. Chambers 8 preferably serve 
as buoyancy compartments, chambers 9 as machine halls and the remaining 
chambers 10 for ballasting purposes or for fluid storage. The volume of 
the various chambers will be adequate to at least provide a lifting force 
of a magnitude sufficient to overcome the full weight of the hydromotive 
assembly. 
The hydromotive assembly 17 is adapted to be positioned as an integral unit 
with one end of its water conduit juxtaposed appropriate dam water 
directing means comprising a passage through the dam body 28. A suitable 
gate 11, vertically displaceable within slots 31 formed in the dam body 28 
may be lowered as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in order to close off the dam 
water directing means for purposes of servicing the installation or in 
case of an emergency such as a runaway generation set. 
Entry within the dam main body 28 may be achieved through access means 12 
therein while switchyard electrical components and the usual transformers 
are shown at 13 and 15 respectively, below the downstream face 33 of the 
dam body. A diffuser 16 extends downstream from the dam water passage and 
includes an interior defining a hollow conduit 19. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 
2 of the drawings, the diffuser 16 is preferably embodied as an integral 
part of the dam main body 28 and is supported upon the downstream slab 26 
which extends from the bottom 34 of the dam main body to the downstream 
open end 20 of the diffuser. 
Referring now to the upstream construction of the present invention, the 
bottom 18 of the hydromotive assembly 17 will be seen to be juxtaposed the 
upstream slab 27 joined to the toe of 14 of the dam. Rollers (not shown) 
may be provided on the bottom 18 to ease horizontal displacement of the 
hydromotive assembly atop the slab 27. In view of the normally suspended 
condition of the hydromotive assemblies 17, it will be appreciated that 
the mass of the upstream slab 27 as well as much of the remaining 
structure of the dam itself is considerably less than that as required in 
present hydroelectric stations. When the hydromotive assembly is in 
operation, the normal hydraulic thrust thereof is supported by the 
upstream face 20' of the dam main body while the forward portion of the 
assembly nests within the recess therein defined by the rearwardly 
directed surfaces 29 and laterally directed surfaces 30. Means for 
achieving horizontal or axial displacement of the hydromotive assembly is 
provided in the form of recesses 21 disposed in the forward portion of the 
assembly 17 for the reception of hydraulic jacks or other force 
multiplying means. 
When disposed within the use position as shown in the drawings, the 
hydromotive assembly 17 will be seen to be positioned with its downstream 
open end 24 fully disposed within the recess defined by the surfaces 29 
and 30 and with its upstream open end 25 directed in the opposite 
direction. By manipulation of the buoyancy means provided by chambers 8 
the assembly will be understood to be maintained in a suspended condition 
below the upstream water level 22 and the air or fluid controlling the 
various chambers will be understood to be regulated to maintain this 
suspended condition regardless of the position of the upstream water level 
22 or downstream water level 23. Manipulation of the service gate 11 may 
be readily achieved by means of suitable crane apparatus 35 disposed atop 
the dam main body as at 32. 
The structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings depicts a single 
hydromotive assembly and its associated portion of the dam body structure 
and this illustrated structure will be understood to be multiplied any 
number of times according to the size and requirements of the particular 
hydroelectric installation, with a plurality of the hydromotive assemblies 
17 being adjacently disposed such as shown in FIGS. 3-4 of the drawings.