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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

In the field of hydraulic R&D, both order-related developments and basic innovations were carried out successfully. In the Tokke, Norway and Larona, Indonesia contracts (two Francis rehabilitation projects), the excellent performance of the new runner designs was the basis for receiving the contract awards for further runner deliveries. Hydraulic engineering studies were also initiated in other areas in order to provide clients with advanced and detailed information in a very early project stage (e.g. model test for a pump turbine upgrade in the UK; CFD analysis of a complete Kaplan unit on the Columbia River, USA; transient and safety analyses for a pumped storage plant in Switzerland prior to a planned increase of the dam height).

The progress in dynamic simulations of hydraulic machines has been impressive, both in the field of unsteady CFD as well as in dynamic structural analysis, and was presented at renowned international conferences.

For bulb units in the head range above 20 m, a new generation of 5-bladed runners has been developed and successfully tested on a model for a contract in China.

The excellent hydraulic performance of our new multi-jet Pelton designs was verified both on the model (Bassi contract, India) and on-site (Gerlos contract, Austria).

The development of large pumps for India and China, as well as the basic developments for new pump turbines, benefited from the synergies between the two product lines.

R&D activities in the field of hydrogenerator cooling focused on the optimization of several components of the ventilation circuits and on the enhancement of numerical tools for the ventilation design. Good results have been achieved by means of CFD analysis, particularly for rotor-driven axial flow fans.

Stringent health and safety legislations worldwide require low noise emissions in workplaces. In order to improve the precision of noise prediction, an initiative to assess noise sources as well as transfer paths in operating hydroelectric machines has been started.

Based on operating experience with the newly developed StrafloMatrix^™ Generator, which has been running in an Austrian hydroelectric power plant for over two years, the special design of the high voltage stator winding, as well as the heat transfer from the end winding, were optimized.

In the course of cost reduction programs and the generator value-analysis project, a number of new technical concepts were analyzed. A concept for global impregnation of large diameter stator cores, a new plate-rotor design, and an alternative damper winding fixture are among the most promising concepts.

Investigations into concepts for cost and machine operation efficiency resulted in essential improvements of the bearing design.

Investigations for a considerable increase in bulb-type generator output led to a ‘Thermomechanical Decoupled Stator Concept’ for these generators. After detailed FEM simulations, a prototype generator was installed at the Freudenau hydropower station in cooperation with VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power. Extensive testing of the new concept was carried out and showed excellent results.

The current main focus in the area of pumps is on the development of a pump series to convey medium-consistency liquids. The first milestone - proof of the functioning of unique features – was passed successfully. This development has already yielded the first order – for nine pumps. Following intensive trial stand testing in the laboratory in Graz, the first units were installed at the beginning of October to confirm series production capability.

Commercialization of a new process pump series marked an essential step forward in the extension of the existing product portfolio and the renewal of existing products in the pump sector; new product developments and advancements of the existing program will be continued in 2008.

A product value analysis project is being carried out for large pumps, from which clear improvements towards cost-effective designs can be seen to emerge.

One focus of R&D activities was on technologies in the field of hydropower plant automation. SAT250, the cutting-edge control center and operator station system, has been optimized in the low-cost range, functionally and ergonomically. The system now covers all man-machine interfaces in a hydropower plant, from small turbine governor panels to sophisticated multi-site control centers for power plant groups. In electrical protection and excitation, traditional fields of HYDRO Automation’s R&D, two new devices have been introduced to the market; even more importantly, a very new platform, the first technologically unified protection/excitation platform in the world, has been defined. HYDRO Automation is deeply involved in the definition and implementation of the upcoming international standard for hydropower plant automation devices and systems, IEC 61850-7-410.