Independent Turbine Testing and Research

The St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory (SAFHL) is presently upgrading their Turbine Test Facility. Completion of the upgrade, including checkout tests, is scheduled for Fall 1987. This paper will discuss the improvements being made to the Facility. The upgrades include enclosure of the upper portion of the test loop (head tank, tail tank, and dynamometer), to enable year-around operation. A temperature control system is being constructed and installed in the test loop which will provide temperature stability, necessary for cavitation testing, and required by IEC model test codes. Installation of additional instrumentation will provide for simpler, more efficient, data acquisition. The Facility is being connected to the Laboratory compressed air and vacuum facilities for pressure control. The existing Laboratory deaeration equipment will be incorporated to allow accurate dissolved gas content control not generally available in turbine test facilities. The SAFHL Turbine Test Facility will be available to undertake specific projects for the hydropower community funded by a variety of industries, agencies, and organizations. Projects might include performing model tests for small manufactures, prototype tests of micro-turbine units, model acceptance tests, comparative model tests, as well as a wide range of basic research experiments. The Facility will also be used as a demonstration tool in the instruction of students and hydropower engineers as part of SAFHL's active hydropower education program.