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OIL & GAS POWER & INDUSTRIAL WEIRBULLETIN | FEBRUARY 2013


The Twin Falls Generating Station in Ontario, Canada


Upgraded hydro runner being installed on site


Weir American Hydro delivers efficiency gains through upgrade project


An additional five megawatts of power is the expected outcome of a


significant Canadian upgrade project awarded to Weir American Hydro. The Twin Falls Generating Station,


located on the Abitibi River near the town of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada has five vertical Francis turbine generating units nominally rated at 4.5MW each and is one of eight generating stations owned by H2O Power in the province. H2O Power LP and Weir American Hydro are working to upgrade all five units with new custom design of Francis runners to provide substantial increases in generation efficiency and capacity. The upgrades include reconditioning of all critical components as well as field machining of embedded components. This re-establishes the precise geometry that is required to ensure proper alignment for stable and efficient operation. The upgrade of Unit 1 was completed in September 2012 and the rehabilitation of the four remaining units is expected by the end of 2014. A high degree of cooperation


and schedule integration between H20 Power and Weir American Hydro ensures that the project will be completed on a timely basis. Following the upgrade of all five units, the station is expected to reach a total plant output of 28MW. The project has featured extensive


use of computational fluid dynamics to analyse the existing water passages and


optimise the design of the new runners to maximise power and efficiency of the upgraded machines without scale model testing. Absolute performance testing – completed by an independent party both before and after the upgrade of Unit 1 – has demonstrated that the efficiency and capacity expectations have been met or exceeded.


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