Author(s): R. M. Boes
Linked Author(s): Robert Boes
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: A suspended sediment monitoring campaign is described to investigate the trigger mechanism for accelerated turbine abrasion encountered at a hydropower plant in the Austrian Alps. Both an optical backscatter turbidimeter and a novel laser diffraction sensor were used to continuously monitor suspended sediment concentration. Both instruments were calibrated using laboratory results from pumped water samples. Particle size distributions were determined in real-time by the laser sensor. The results of these different methods for concentration and particle size measurements are compared, and total sediment load is derived. Together with frequent turbine wear measurements, the sediment data including mineralogical features allow for an analytical description of the abrasion process of the runner buckets by accounting for quartz mineral content and particle shape and size.
Year: 2009