Abstract
Hydro-abrasive erosion of hydraulic turbines is an economically important issue due to maintenance costs and production losses, in particular at high- and medium-head run-of- river hydropower plants (HPPs) on sediment laden rivers. In this paper, research and development in this field over the last century are reviewed. Facilities for sediment exclusion, typically sand traps, as well as turbine design and materials have been improved considerably. Since the 1980s, hard-coatings have been applied on Francis and Pelton turbine parts of erosion-prone HPPs and became state-of-the-art. These measures have led to increased times between overhauls and smaller efficiency reductions. Analytical, laboratory and field investigations have contributed to a better processes understanding and quantification of sediment-related effects on turbines. More recently, progress has been made in numerical modelling of turbine erosion. To calibrate, validate and further develop prediction models, more measurements from both physical model tests in laboratories and real-scale data from HPPs are required. Significant improvements to mitigate hydro-abrasive erosion have been achieved so far and development is ongoing. A good collaboration between turbine manufacturers, HPP operators, measuring equipment suppliers, engineering consultants, and research institutes is required. This contributes to the energy- and cost-efficient use of the worldwide hydropower potential.
Highlights
Since the inventions of Francis, Pelton and Kaplan turbines in the years 1848, 1880 and 1913, respectively, erosion of hydraulic machines due to cavitation and/or due to solid particles has been challenging engineers involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of hydropower plants (HPPs)
After the modification of the sand trap, the efficiency drop of the turbines at design discharge was reduced to 6 % in 1919, the costs for turbine maintenance and spare parts were 70 % lower, and downtimes of the HPP were reduced by 95 %
Hydro-abrasive erosion has been mitigated since the early 20th century by reducing the sediment load and improving turbine designs and materials, in particular by applying hard-coatings since the 1980s
Summary
Since the inventions of Francis, Pelton and Kaplan turbines in the years 1848, 1880 and 1913, respectively, erosion of hydraulic machines due to cavitation and/or due to solid particles has been challenging engineers involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of hydropower plants (HPPs). Turbine erosion due to solid particles is termed ‘sand erosion’, ‘silt erosion’, or ‘hydro-abrasive wear’. The term ‘hydro-abrasive erosion’ [1] is adopted. The problem of hydro-abrasive erosion in Francis and mainly Pelton turbines, related research, and countermeasures having been developed for about 100 years are reviewed based on selected literature in English, German, French and Italian language.
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