Hydro update

The engineers from Spaans Babcock have been on site this week to rectify the design of the bottom bearing.  Here's what remained of it after this recent breakage:

The offending beam has been removed:

 A new plinth has been cast which now holds the new bearing in place.

That hydro electric plant again

 

Disappointment at the hydro-electric plant which has been shut down again for an extended period.  Last year we had a problem with the bottom bearing which blew itself to bits in a way which suggested a design issue; but on the grounds that it could have just been a faulty bearing, we agreed to have the bearing replaced and see what happened.  (Below: what remained of the bearing in 2012).

Well, ten months after the replacement was put in, the problem has returned.  This time, upon inspection it was found that two of the bolts holding the bottom beam upon which the bearing is mounted had sheered off - that's quite a force needed to achieve that, and certainly enough to have caused the damage to the bearing.  What could be causing this?

Our system has the bottom bearing held by a very strong, steel beam (above).  We always had our suspicions about this beam as a design feature - because it is very close to the flights of the screw itself and consequently causes an obstruction to water trying to escape.  This cannot be efficient and as the water falls out of the flight onto the beam, shock waves pass back up through the shaft - these can be felt keenly in the machine room above.  

Have a look below to see the beam causing some serious disruption to exit-flow.

A re-design is required, and so in the coming weeks we shall see a new mounting for the bottom bearing.  

The good news is that it has happened during the first dry spell for months, making the work much easier, and the loss of generation less significant.

100 MWh reached, rain still falling but opera continues undaunted

It is odd to think how much store we put in milestone numbers, which of themselves mean very little - after all, does the 1,000,000th customer bring anything that the previous 999,999 did not?  Of course not, they are just another customer.  But with smiles all round, we're still going to be pleased that the hydro plant has made it to 100 Mega Watt Hours, thanks to the rather determined rain we've been having lately.

Cleaning the screen through the wet season has been relatively easy, which is a relief.  On the other hand, since the hydro party, which was reported fairly widely in the press (which was nice), we had some problems with the bottom bearing.  When I say that we had some problems, I mean that the entire bearing unit had to be replaced.  It is thought by the experts on our installation team to have been of faulty construction, however we shall see... if it happens again we shall know if there is a more fundamental problem.  Fingers are very firmly crossed.

Whilst we have been making power thanks to the rain, the Iford Arts season has been suffering from this bout of British drizzle.  It would, however, take quite a tempest to dampen the spirits of a stoical English audience watching Mozart's comic opera Die Entfürung aus dem Serail.  Thankfully all the performances are in the cloister, under cover, and Bill Bankes-Jones production brings a delightful warmth to the story.  On the 22nd June the sun graced us with its presence, reminding us of the golden light which bathes the valley on a beautiful evening (before clouds promptly returned for the rest of the week!).

The Seraglio princesses and their security guards take the scenic route to the cloister (June 22nd):