Pelton Hydro Turbine Repair

Turning - Milling - Threading - Tapping - Issue Resolution & Improvement 

Due to catastrophic failure of the main shaft bearings the turbine continued to run, which resulted in wear to the housing shaft and water ingress and failure. The turbine was dismantled and inspected to evaluate the work required. This highlighted a number of failure paths including with the primary being the seals grooving the shaft resulting in water flooding the bearings, bearing failure, worn shaft bearing journals causing vibrations and the Pelton wheel to interfere with the houses causing it to become worn and unbalanced.

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We dismantled onsite and machined replacement parts including, shaft, bearing housing and main casting. To avoid subsequent repeat failure, we enhanced the original design, installing greaseable back to back seals to avoid shaft wear and ensure seals have additional safety factors. The shaft was also upgraded to a duplex stainless steel to reduce shaft wear.

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The completion of this work included on-site fitment and testing to ensure the turbine was restored to full functionality for power generation.