Increasing the Power Generation by Raising the Capacity of the Thrust Bearing Oil Cooling System in Hydroelectric Power Plants

Abstract

Cooling capacity decreases due to faults appearing over time in the thrust bearing oil cooling systems of hydroelectric power plants and cooling process cannot proceed sufficiently. For this reason, while the turbine-generator unit generates energy, the thrust bearing heats up. This temperature problem prevents the unit from operating at full capacity and therefore decreases in energy production. Producing deficient energy in hydroelectric power plants, which is a renewable energy source, causes long-term economic losses for countries. In this study, the thrust bearing cooling system of a vertical Francis turbine, which produces 150 MW of energy per hour, is investigated. The reduction in the cooling capacity over time in turbine thrust bearing cooling system is solved by using exchanger system with additional plate and the power produced by the turbine-generator unit is increased 15 MW/h. This improvement has greatly contributed to the national economy. The method of increasing the cooling capacity applied to the hydroelectric power plant thrust bearings can be applied to all hydraulic turbines. This method will increase the energy production amount of the unit by approximately 10% and it costs approximately 80% cheaper than completely replacing the existing cooling system.