Role of Turbine Testing Lab for overcoming the challenges related to hydropower development in Nepal

29th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems

Neopane, Hari Prasad^1 ; Chitrakar, Sailesh^1 ; Dahlhaug, Ole Gunnar^2

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal^1

Waterpower Laboratory, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway^2

关键词: Efficiency measurement;    Electro-mechanical;    Field measurement;    Foundation modeling;    Hydro-power development;    Manufacturing techniques;    Repair and maintenance;    Sediment particles;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/240/4/042012/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/240/4/042012

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Repair/maintenance issue in power plants of Nepal is one of the major concerns, which has become an obstacle for smooth power generation. The rivers in Nepal contain excessive sediments, which is carried into the turbine causing erosion of several electro-mechanical components. The problem is more severe in wet season, when the concentration of sediment particles in rivers is maximum. The damaged turbines undergo repair and maintenance, which adds to the total cost, not only because of the cost of repair, but also because of the generation loss during the time of assembly/disassembly. Furthermore, turbines in Nepal are imported from companies outside Nepal, where the problems of sediment erosion are negligible. The turbines usually focus on better efficiency with optimization in cost and material. However, such turbines undergo erosion in short span of time, causing the efficiency to fall drastically. At this moment, Nepal needs to focus on research works related to sustainable turbine operations in power plants. Turbine Testing Lab (TTL) was established in Kathmandu University in 2011 to overcome the challenges of the hydropower plants in Nepal. In future, the lab is foreseen as a centre for turbine design, manufacturing and testing services for the Indian sub-continental countries. This paper presents the roles of TTL for dealing with current problems of hydropower plants in Nepal. The major components are efficiency measurements of the model turbines at the lab, as well as field measurements of the prototype turbines, design of the optimized turbines for sediment affected regions, exploring manufacturing techniques in the context of Nepal, handling problems of maintenance, refurbishment, and overall operation of power plants. The lab has implemented three strategic models to accomplish these activities. They are Foundation model, Co-operation model and Business model. This paper also presents the synergy of these three models and recent activities of the lab within these models. This paper gives an overview of the challenges of hydropower turbines in Nepal and initiation of TTL for overcoming those challenges.