Anyone know of any experts/resources on hydroelectric dams? Detailed stuff about operations and such. I need to break one.
Hydro dams
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What kind of detail? The details and procedures would vary considerably from plant to plant, because there would be difference in size and in the type of generators and the water flow. I have been in a couple for professional reasons, so I was looking at operations and machinery. What sort of flow? Age would also make a difference. There are hydro plants with generators that are more than 100 years old, unless they have been replaced recently.
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Break as in destroy the dam or break as in remove it from the power grid? And how big? Where? Have a friend in Vermont running a Pelton wheel generator on 2" pipe from his stream, does that count? I could break his with a rock.
Jeff
Jeff
Well, I haven't come up with a lot of specifics, because I'm trying to engineer the dam around what needs to happen for the plot. The stipulations so far: this is a dam below a medium sized recreational lake. The plant provides water for a small town around the lake (maybe 20-30000 people) and a reasonably high tech research lab. The dam needs to be at last 50 years old but probably not more than 75 or 80.
I want to break it in some way that would be catastrophic, but due at least partially to human error. Some things I have thought of are: the spillway fails to open and the dam overflows, construction error or damage to the wall causes it to break (pretty unlikely, I know), or some kind of malfunction with the turbines. Sabotage is a possibility as well.
I want to break it in some way that would be catastrophic, but due at least partially to human error. Some things I have thought of are: the spillway fails to open and the dam overflows, construction error or damage to the wall causes it to break (pretty unlikely, I know), or some kind of malfunction with the turbines. Sabotage is a possibility as well.
So one of the smaller TVA dams would work, or would it? How wide is the river, and how many turbines are involved? You mentioned "medium sized", but that it a very imprecise description.
There are options. You could take out the dam, or you could take out the turbo-genarators. I don't have any knowledge of a hydro plant blowing out a generator, but I know of a coal-fired steam plant that lost a turbine when something too large got through. Hydro units are tougher than that, but you could take out the generator instead of the turbine. Something that shorted it in a big way might work by causing it to overheat and bearing to melt. Yes, 50 KVA through the bearings should melt the bearings. Use your imagination.
If you want to take out the dam, then use the old-fashioned methods.
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