Ideas in Action: Keeping hydro units aligned
Ongoing concrete growth in the powerhouse at the Uganda Electricity Board`s 150-MW Owen Falls Power Station created alignment problems in eight of the plant`s ten hydroelectric units and threatened to limit the effectiveness of an upgrade and life-extension program. Engineers for the board and its refurbishment consultant devised a method for periodic realignment with a minimum of downtime and expense. The Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) commissioned and ten 15-MW vertical Kaplan turbines at Owen Falls on the Victoria Nile River between 1954 and 1968. Cracks began to appear in the concrete powerhouse as early as 1964. In a 1991 investigation, the cracks were determined to have been caused by alkali-silicate reaction, in which the alkalis in the cement react with the silicate particles embedded in the coarse aggregate. After a number of years, the reaction causes the concrete to increase in volume, or {open_quotes}grow{close_quotes}, though it does not lose its ability to carry compression loads.
- OSTI ID:
- 229701
- Journal Information:
- Hydro Review Worldwide, Vol. 2, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Win 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Feasibility study of the Paidha hydroelectric project. Volume 1: Executive summary
Feasibility study of the Paidha hydroelectric project. Volume 3: Appendices