Real-Time Pore Blockage Quantification in Hydropower Drainage Pump Inlets via Canny Edge Detection and HSV Segmentation

Abstract

As a core component of the diversion tunnel in hydropower stations, the drainage pump is prone to blockage in its inlet filter due to severe water calcification inside the tunnel. In this study, the present study proposes a computer-vision-based detection method to assess the blockage degree of the inlet filter's pores. Specifically, the outline of the small pores in the inlet screen of the drainage pump unit was captured using the Canny edge detection algorithm. Then the pore and non-pore areas of the filter were distinguished with the HSV color model. Finally, the degree of blockage was determined by calculating the proportion of pore areas within the filter screen. When applied to a real hydropower station using 12 images sampled at 15-day intervals, this developed computer vision technology achieved 13.6% average error against manual annotations and demonstrated real-time processing (<1s/image on 4-core/8GB edge devices) effective detection for the pores blockage degree of the drainage pump's inlet filter screen, by quantitatively assessing the blockage degree, it provides critical metrics that enable predictive maintenance scheduling and performance evaluation, thereby ensuring reliable hydraulic performance and minimizing downtime in the hydropower station's drainage system.

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Authors

  • Xiangqian Fu 1 Hubei Technology Innovation Center for Smart Hydropower, Wuhan 430000, China 2 School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430000, China
  • Linghua Hou China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd.
  • Qiqi Ding Three Gorges Jinshajiang Chuanyun Hydropower Development Co., LTD. Yongshan Xi Luodu Power Plant, Yongshan 657300, China
  • Long Xu Three Gorges Jinshajiang Chuanyun Hydropower Development Co., LTD. Yongshan Xi Luodu Power Plant, Yongshan 657300, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31449/inf.v49i33.9010

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Published

08/26/2025

How to Cite

Fu, X., Hou, L., Ding, Q., & Xu, L. (2025). Real-Time Pore Blockage Quantification in Hydropower Drainage Pump Inlets via Canny Edge Detection and HSV Segmentation. Informatica, 49(33). https://doi.org/10.31449/inf.v49i33.9010

Issue

Vol. 49 No. 33 (2025): Online-only issue

Section

Online-only

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