Hydroelectric turbine installation and operation method for enhancing the level of dissolved oxygen

A hydroelectric turbine installation, comprising:

• a turbine, a water passage upstream of said turbine, and a draft tube downstream of said turbine;
• a controller for controlling operation conditions of said turbine, and a device for introducing oxygen-containing gas into water passing through the installation during an operation of said turbine;
• an injector for injecting water into said draft tube, with injected water passing through one or more openings in a wall of said draft tube;
• and
• a flowrate controller for controlling a flowrate of the water injected into said draft tube, said flowrate controller having a control unit and a valve;
• said control unit being configured to control the flowrate of the water injected into said draft tube as a function of the operation conditions of said turbine, with the flowrate set by said control unit at an operation condition of said turbine that corresponds to an optimal efficiency point of said turbine being higher than a flowrate set by said control unit at one or more other operation conditions of said turbine that correspond to an efficiency point of said turbine that is not an optimal efficiency point of the turbine.

A method of operating a hydroelectric turbine installation having a turbine, a water passage upstream of the turbine, and a draft tube downstream of the turbine, the method comprising:

• providing a controller for controlling operation conditions of the turbine, a device for introducing oxygen-containing gas into water passing through the installation during an operation of the turbine, an injector for injecting water into the draft tube, with the injected water passing through one or more openings in a wall of the draft tube;
• providing a flowrate controller for controlling a flowrate of the water injected into the draft tube, the flowrate controller having a control unit and a valve, and the control unit being configured to control the flowrate of the water injected into the draft tube;
• setting the operation conditions of the turbine by the controller for controlling the operation conditions of the turbine;
• setting with the control unit the flowrate of the water injected into the draft tube, with the flowrate being a function of the operation conditions of the turbine;
• and
• thereby setting the flowrate by the control-unit at an operation condition of the turbine that corresponds to an optimal efficiency point of the turbine to a higher flowrate than at one or more other operation condition of the turbine which correspond to an efficiency point of the turbine that is not optimal.