Design of a Visual Basic HEC-RAS interface to test influence of daily regulation of a hydropower plant on navigation

Abstract

The Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) software package developed by the U.S. The Army Corps of Engineers is a widely used software package designed mainly for modeling steady and unsteady water flow in rivers. Although the software includes tools for implementing basic control elements, HEC-RAS users often require additional unique functions including integration with other software. This is made possible by means of the HEC-RAS Controller, an application programming interface (API) that allows manual interaction with HEC-RAS to enable automated control through user-defined code directly from other programming environments. The main goal of this study was to design a universal software architecture for linking HEC-RAS with Visual Basic using the API, which enables users to enter the unsteady flow boundary condition directly as the demand power output if the river system under analysis includes a hydropower plant. The effectiveness of the proposed approach and its applicability to real-world operational management environments were demonstrated through a case study of the Gabčíkovo hydropower plant on the Danube River in Slovakia. The integration of the HEC-RAS with Visual Basic enabled the simulation of the Danube River's water-level regime within a reasonable time and with adequate accuracy, allowing for the analysis of the impact of daily flow regulation on navigation conditions downstream of the hydropower plant.

Article Highlights

a software interface links HEC-RAS with Visual Basic, enhancing planning the operation of hydropower plant and navigation safety.

automating simulation processes eliminates manual adjustments, saving time and reducing errors in hydropower plant management.

this approach supports better collaboration between energy and hydraulic experts, offering a template for various river systems with hydropower operations.