Intervention in Seyssel (01) following damage to a vertical Kaplan unit

Our client CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône) was unable to dismantle the leaking turbine and asked the PXL team to replace the blade seals.

The damage to the blade trunnions was extremely severe, and the significant variations in the cross-section of the housings were greater than we were used to seeing.

The challenges of this project were to find a sealing solution capable of meeting all these requirements and sufficiently reliable until the next refurbishment of the unit.

In response to our customer's request, PXL SEALS developed a new technique for reworking the housings and eccentricities, carried out directly on site and without machining.  The work was then able to proceed as usual, with on-site moulding of its U150-XI DE solution using its MD Way device, and fitting of the additional compensation rings.

The oil requalification and the watering of the turbine proceeded normally.

Selected photos

Caption:

• Very heavy damage to the trunnions :
• Restoration of the trunnion surface:
• Blank positioning of the one-piece seal and the retaining rings in the housing:
• Vulcanisation of the U150-XIDE seals using the MD-Way device:
• Fitting the shimming rings and gasket covers: