.png)
Safe through-turbine fish passage
Natel’s patented FishSafe™ Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT) runner designs feature thick, forward-swept blades that allow fish to pass safely downstream through the turbine. This unique shape is informed by laboratory blade strike studies, CFD modeling, and numerous fish passage tests
Download our brochure
.svg)
Cost effective
By enabling safe fish passage at the same speed and power point as conventional turbines, RHT designs allow for straightforward equipment replacements with little to no change in civil works or generator specifications. Safe through-turbine passage also eliminates the need to install and maintain fine screens, large bypass fishways, and other costly compromise solutions. Read more about the relative costs of fish exclusion vs fish INclusion.
Watch our webinars
Broadly applicable
FishSafe™ runner designs span a wide operating range. Working with established manufacturing partners, Natel can provide FishSafe™ propeller, Kaplan, or Francis-style RHT runners or turbines of any diameter for sites up to 40 m (130 ft) in head. Learn more about our highly-regarded turbine manufacturing partners.
Contact Sales
High performance
Natel’s runner designs combine safe through-turbine fish passage with resistance to cavitation and >90% peak hydraulic efficiency. Natel rigorously tests design performance at our IEC 60193-compliant hydraulic test facility. Performance tests measure flow, pressure, torque, and speed of scale-model turbines and are conducted to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers PTC-18 standard.
Abrasion resistant
The same principles that guide the fish safety of Natel’s runner designs also reduce blade erosion. Tests following the IEC Standard 62364 showed that the unique blade shape that characterizes RHT designs demonstrated high resistance to abrasion. The testing found that the thickness of RHT blades produced a stagnation effect on sediment slurry while the blade sweep also decreased the contact velocity of sediment impacting the runner. The outcome of these effects resulted in six times less material loss on an RHT-style blade sample as compared to a conventional propeller blade.
Watch our Webinars
