*2.1. Sediment Characterization at Pastaza River*

The Pastaza River originates in the Andes mountains, where irregular geography and the presence of soft sediments due to high volcanic activity contribute to the high sediment content of South American rivers [15]. These sediments pass through the turbines of hydraulic power plants, resulting in sediment erosion on exposed turbine components. To tackle the problems derived from erosion wear, an analysis of the particulate matter that

flows through each power plant becomes necessary for a proper assessment of the erosion in a particular station. On this basis, the samples for the analysis were collected from the following zones of the hydropower plant:


### 2.1.1. Sediment Analysis

In order to characterize the particles of the Pastaza River at San Francisco hydropower plant, the collected sediment samples were analyzed at the Soil Mechanics and Materials Testing Laboratory, Escuela Politecnica Nacional, performing a sieve and composition analysis. The results of this analysis were considered during the study.
