Designing valve seals to renovate head seals while ensuring the safety of those involved: this was the challenge that PXL SEALS rose to on the site of the magnificent Punt dal Gall dam.

Project:

Valve seals for the Punt Dal Gall dam

Challenge:

The challenge that PXL SEALS rose to on the site of the magnificent Punt dal Gall dam was to design valve seals to renovate head seals while ensuring the safety of people involved.

PXL SEALS solution:

Since the seal was fitted directly on the dam cladding (on the concrete), there are some unevenennesses of up to 40 mm. Therefore, the seal must be able to make up for this clearance.

PXL SEALS therefore employed the following method to design and validate its seal profile:

Design of seals:

Upstream work with all the professional bodies has enabled us to define the specifications of the seals to produce: firstly, a bottom drain valve seal and, secondly, a supply seal, located upstream of the turbines.

For budgeting reasons, the team opted to produce a single seal for the two valves, given that both had identical issues.

To design a seal that can handle both major challenges and numerous constraints (required space, evenness, etc.), PXL SEALS has drawn upon its know-how in terms of ground experience and knowledge of the materials associated with hydro seals.

Digital simulation and tests:

Once the seal profiles had been designed, PXL SEALS simulated the sealing by means of 2D and 3D digital simulations followed by testing on a test bench. The ideal sealing solution was developed following validation of the assumptions by means of simulations and testing on a test bench.

Manufacture and installation of the seals

Once the seals had been made by extrusion, the parts were then assembled on-site by the PXL SEALS ON-SITE intervention team.

PXL SEALS successfully rose to the challenge, in that no leaks were detected on the two valves. The Punt dal Gall operation was a huge success both for PXL SEALS and the partners present.

photo punt dal gall joint étanchéité