Test facility for transient operation point changes of hydraulic machinery

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science Vol. 774; no. 1; pp. 12117 - 12126
• Main Authors: Kirschner, O, Junginger, J, Riedelbauch, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Crack propagation; Dynamic stability; Fatigue failure; Fatigue tests; Frequency control; Hydraulic equipment; Hydraulic machinery; Hydroelectric plants; Hydroelectric power; Oscillations; Power plants; Test equipment; Test facilities; Transient operation; Turbines; Vibrations
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/774/1/012117

Abstract With the increase in fluctuating power generation, hydropower plants have more and more taken on the task of regulating the power frequency control for the electrical grid. Therefore turbines in storage hydro power plants often operate outside their optimum and frequently change their operating points. The question in how far hydro power technology is in a position to allocate large amounts of balancing power very quickly requires research related to the dynamic behaviour of the hydraulic machines. The stability and safety of the operation must be guaranteed for a wide operating range and transient operation. Here, vibrations and oscillations as well as high stresses in the material must be avoided so that no fatigue fractures or high wear occur. A flexible test rig is being constructed in the institute’s laboratory for research work related to these transient operating point changes. In this paper, the structure of the test facility and the various operating modes of the test facility are presented. Furthermore, the transfer of the plant conditions of the prototype to the model machine and the test facility is described. The requirements of the planned experiments on the test equipment are presented and special features of the test equipment for executing tests are derived.