How Main Inlet Valve and wicked gates are Opened in Hydro Power Plant

[@robertnorthrup1914]

Going to university for electrical engineering the class took a field trip to a local hydro dam on the Snake River in Washington State (USA). A generator was going thru an overhaul so we got to climb all over this thing and ask lots of questions. It was huge! I found it most interesting down in the wicket gate and turbine hall to see the moving parts plus the size of the turbine. It was about 15 feet in diameter and 4-5 feet thick. Below the turbine you could see the tail race and river water. Each wicket gate was about 10 foot tall and resembled an aircraft wing section. A most Memorial Day indeed!!

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@maxwellbutler4184]

Yikes. I've been wanting to see a video of this very thing for some time, up close of a turbine coming online. I never knew if it happened slowly, or quickly...well, now I know. The sound of the water starting to rush in at 1:10 is chilling.

[@russellking9762]

Amen to that...especially that high pitched whistling sound at the very beginning...eerie!

[@rustblade5021]

they usually spin up a bit slower, over the course of a couple minutes... they brought this one up a bit fast...

[@kls2020]

The wicket gate ring that is connected to each individual wicket gate is driven by a hydraulic servo with lots of force . Each wicket gate will typically have a shear pin that breaks to protect it from damage if something gets stuck like a piece of wood . Two workers were inspecting one wicket gate that was routinely breaking these pins and one time they found a large trout stuck in the wicket . A debate then ensued on if a large trout could actually break a shear pin to which one of the crew chimed in , " Must have been a "Steelhead Trout" . Wish I would have thought of that one ...

[@cletuss57]

Sounds almost as bad as chopping down the mightiest tree in the forest with…. A HERRING!

[@nicolek4076]

Oh, those naughty, naughty wicket gates - so naughty they're wicked!

[@johndeere772002]

I love how you can see (sort of) the immense power of potential energy go to work as the water rushes into the runner, and that immense amount of hanging mass (say 100 tons) gets up to speed so quickly. The shaft had some very slow rotation before the wickets opened - was there some blow by, or was there another reason?

[@freddykruger6194]

At 2:26 you can notice they open some more, must be when the circuit Breaker closes and there is a load put on the generator.

[@Cailean750]

Title correction. They’re wicket gates not wicked gates.

[@FredtheDorfDorfman1985]

Oh no, they are wicked. See I heard they did a seance with a ouija board, while standing around the shaft, to try and summon the soul of a dead worker that was killed by a co-worker that went crazy for some reason and encased him in concrete. What they summoned, however, was not anything that had ever been alive as a human being. Afterwards strange things started happening, strange apparitions were seen out of the corner of worker's eyes, so they didn't know if they had actually seen something or not, then things got worse. Tools began to levitate, strange sounds and screams were heard, apparitions of people floated around with no legs, really weird things started happening. They told their supervisor that they were terrified to work near that shaft. The supervisor thought they were crazy until an invisible force picked him up off of the floor, into the air, and it started pulling his leg kinda like I'm pulling yours.

[@EstorilEm]

I’m assuming anyone with direct access to a high power hydro generation plant probably knows this. Autocorrect on 99% of phones lol.

[@Kurokyura]

Wicked.

[@utt48]

unit creep after open main inlet valve

[@markjmaxwell9819]

Many different Hydro power plant designs... But l am sure the latest designs are better than something from fifty years ago... Valve designs differ turbine designs differ. Only three main turbine designs are usually used. Several valve designs are used penstocks as used by early US designs are not used in Australian designs.

[@kls2020]

Hydro units built years ago had a safety margin of 150-200% because failures tend to be catastrophic so they overbuilt things . Nowadays things are engineered to around a 115% safety margin so you tell me which is better ? From my experience new parts never last as long as the original spec parts after an upgrade .

[@Darkk6969]

@@kls2020 Hence the expression "They don't make em like they used to."

[@FrankHeuvelman]

I don't get it.

[@simonbowman6206]

you wish to make a difference?? Hydro electricity The Frozen technology An open letter to the world By Simon Bowman Australia Since the beginning the growth of hydro science has been slow and we have made very little forward movement in the past 40 years. The ideas that might make it leap forward with more efficient use of the water are stifled by education being thought of as immovable . What was wrong yesterday will be wrong forever and new tech can't get around a problem. This is not a problem solving mind set Australia has forced many an idea to leave this country to grow just because we have an issue with new ideas A classic example was Metal Storm a new type of fire arm that had no magazine and no brass cartridges to hold the propellent. all the bullets are held in the barrel and with this configuration the barrels can be stacked this gives it a rate of fire unmatched anywhere It had to leave Australia to become a product or stay and die. This I fear is the same story about to happen with the hydroelectric field Since 2016 RDP Marine Australia has been working on a system that can be retro fitted to all dams with tailraces longer than the turbine hall needs so it has to deal with a backpressure higher than is ideal creating a loss that can now be recovered At this point it should also be noted that the inventor asks where is it written that water storage dams can’t make hydro power to ? So is this inventor saying “This is the answer to all ur power needs?” No of course not but like all good things it is a part of a solution it will fill the gap for base load green power Lets not forget at the location where these units will be fitted has most of the infrastructure already in place to build the system NOW TO THE ISSUES There are three main issues right of the top that are the most commonly raised as why it will not happen So lets stomp on them straight off 1, fit an item into the tailrace and backpressure will rise in the turbines No this is not true as a this system if done right it can be fitted to be like a tuned exhaust for a car 2, There will be to little back pressure so RPM will not be constant Again No if the system is correctly fitted this to is a dead issue 3, Dissolved gasses that are held in suspension This is a minor issue and most chief engineers are well capable to work with this 4, NOW this one can be a deal-breaker it is to do with a what if question. So what if the new set of turbines go down or just one ? Well if one or all freeze up the main turbine hall will be unaffected and no issues flowing up hill These four issues are the most common reasons I am told No It is this closed thinking (knee jerk response) to a new idea from the same family of being blinded by their education that stifles the industry moving forward The one question I have no answer to is time How long to install? How long to service the new turbines? To service time i still don't know but the system is set to allow a swap out setup so actual down time for that turbine slot is less than two hours and the rest of the system remains running during the swap How much will it cost? I can guess only the price but the price is not so high as to be to costly Whats its life span? Well with servicing I can see it giving service for the life of the dam NOW the big question Money!! this is a fluid issue shall we say the rate changes and i have stated previously money values but the income is in two parts the improved tailrace efficiency and the second bank of turbines should be close to 10% extra income The one main issue I find so wrong is the time line needed from this point to the world seeing a working unit. The tech is there to make it The skills are available to hire The market is in need of this item But the price will rise with demand as the population is getting bigger but the book keepers are happy to see it remain as a rare item with a limited output that pushes up the price The first adopters have always been the biggest winners I wonder in this area if it will be the big four or will a player from left field run on and wipe the floor with the rest standing with their hands in their pockets confused as to what just happened Well, I hope this has given you food for thought and made you pause your thinking and look into what I have said I do not expect you to just except what I have stated as fact nor do I know it all so I can learn a new thing to. Please pass this around let the open minded look it over and pass judgment after all the driver in the end is the need and the ability to see what is needed down the road is the saving grace of the human species to plan ahead If you think i have missed a point or you have questions please comment i will respond well within 24hr and as i have said many times i don't know it all and you never stop learning