Hydro Turbines Maintenance

May 29, 2017

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Agenda
• Introduction
• Tooling and spare parts
• Routine maintenance
• Maintenance with major outage

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Introduction
HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Maintenance types

• Preventive maintenance
• Routine maintenance with or without outage
➢ Daily or monthly

• Maintenance with minor unit outage

➢ Every 1 to 5 year

• Maintenance with major unit outage

➢ Every 10 to 20 years

• Unplanned maintenance

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Safety
• Qualified and authorized Personnel
• Electricity

• Hydraulic/Pneumatic

• Lifting/handling

• Work at height

• Confined space

• …

• Risk assessment for maintenance

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Safety

• Safety apparatus: special care, qualified personnel

• Lock-out/tag out procedure (LOTO)
• Personnal Protective Equipment
• Qualified lifting/connecting points
• Comply with the Operation and Maintenance Manual (OMM)

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Safety
• Safety symbols

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Safety
• Prohibition signs

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Safety
• Mandatory action signs

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Bolting

• Bolts tightening instructions (coupling torques, elongations, crosswise,

…).
• Mechanical locking as detailed by Constructor

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Tooling and spare parts
HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Tooling and spare parts

• List-book of all components

• Some components have expiry date (seals, hoses, …)
• Lifting tools maintained, controlled and potentially re-certified
• Storage in a specific protective area, in their original packaging:
• Dry and clean (tools, metalic components, …)

• Temperature and humidity controlled (seals, hoses, …)

• Temperature controlled, recovery system (chemicals, …)

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Routine maintenance
HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance

• Planning is detailed in Operating and Maintenance Manual (Daily or

monthly)
• On further pages are examples of maintenance operations.

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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance with no outage

• General:
• Visual inspections and observations on the turbine during operation.

• Check working parameters of the turbine under operation/at standstill

• Check shaft line displacements, accelerations

• Check water leakages at flanges, manholes, wicket gates, …

• Check oil leakages at hydraulic systems (servomotors, bearings…)

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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance with outage

• Hydraulic duct :
➢ Install the outlet stoplog gates to isolate the turbine.

➢ Drain down the draft tube.

➢ Drain down the spiral case inlet pit.

➢ Install the inspection platform.

➢ Perform visual inspection of hydraulic duct (spiral case, runner distributor,

draft tube)

➢ Measure gaps at distributor and wearing rings

➢ Disassemble the inspection platform.

➢ Remove the outlet stoplog.

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Routine maintenance with outage

• Distributor:
• Check wicket gates gaps

• Visual inspection from hydraulic duct

• Check tightening of bolts and hoses

• Perform complete opening-closing of the distributor and control parameters

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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance with outage

• Distributor:
• Check guide vanes pre-stress:
1. Close distributor.

2. Release oil pressure from the closing chamber.

3. Measure and record the movement of the servomotor end rod

4. Control gaps between wicket gates blades

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Routine maintenance with outage

• Distributor:
• Control the wicket gates leakage:
1. Fully close the distributor.

2. Use the bypass line to equalize the pressure.

3. Fully open the inlet valve and/or gate.

4. Check that shaft line remains stationary. If not,

5. measure the steady state speed.

6. Fully close the inlet valve and/or gate

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Routine maintenance with outage

• Runner:
• Visual inspection from hydraulic duct

• Control wearing rings gaps

• Bearings and shaft seal:

• Check tightening of bolts and hoses

• Check oil levels

• Filter/replace oil loads

• Check wear indicator

• Auxiliaries:
• Clean/replace seals cartridges

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Maintenance with major
outage
HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Maintenance with major outage

Special engineering and maintenance planning

• Scheduling of the overhaul for the proper time
• Accurate prediction of the work to be done
• Comprehensive overhaul planning and competent performance of the
work
• Resulting in the shortest possible shutdown time

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Wear components

• Operation engineering and planning is required

• Life expectancy known => replacement intervals
• Otherwise => regular control procedure
• General:
• Any seal shall be replaced when dismantled

• Standard bolting shall be replaced when dismantled, other bolting shall be at

least controlled by Non Destructive Test

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Wear components
Distributor actuation wear components

Servomotor links bearings

Operating ring tracks

Breaking pins
Thrust-counter thrust
bearing

Wicket gates bearings

Servomotor: bearings

Servomotor manoeuvering forces evolution,

clearances and vibrations can be an indication of
bearings wear.

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Maintenance with major outage

Distributor actuation wear components - Accessibility

Accessible from turbine pit or lower if housings

and non-concreted design

• Disconnection of the linkage system

• Dismantle housings
• New pre-stress of the wicket gates is
necessary

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Wear components
Distributor wear components – Wearing plates

Distributor dismantling is
necessary for access
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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Wear components
Distributor and Runner wear components – Wearing rings

Distributor and runner dismantling is

necessary for access
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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Maintenance with major outage

Distributor and Runner wear components – Wearing plates and
wearing rings accessibility – Access through generator

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HYDRO TURBINES MAINTENANCE

Maintenance with major outage

Distributor and Runner wear components – Wearing plates and
wearing rings accessibility – Access from below or intermediate

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Maintenance with major outage

Pelton runner dismantling-replacement

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Wear components
Bearing – Thrust bearing wear components – Shell, pads and
membranes

Bearing dismantling is necessary for access

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Maintenance with major outage

Bearing – Accessibility

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