BrutulTM
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No machine in history has ever run continuously for 20 years with no maintenance. I don't care what it is.
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pharmakos
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A hydroelectric turbine would just need some lubrication tho no? That's "front of the chain" shit
Hydromarty
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7 out of 10, not having seen the turbine/powerhouse from the gamei mean we actually have a dude
Hydromarty
on a scale of 1 to 10, how many foh that aren't you are needed to turn on and run a hydroplant? do they got some easy to read FAQ's?
mind you, we can do this w/o OSHA now
Depends on the plant honestly, the one I was just at for instance could be started by 1. There's a back up hand powered hydraulic pump to open the gates, allowing the water to flow.
There are some other things that would have to go just right. The generators I've worked on have an exciter on the top, basically a small generator that helps start the bigger one.
As far as thing working after being abandoned for 20 years, that's absolutely plausible. Many of the plants I've been to aren't even manned 24-7, some not even visited daily. These turbines will run for decades without issues, we do major refurbish/rebuilds after 60-100 years. Things break occasionally, bearings wear and need adjusted. But they are very reliable, aside from a log or something making it into system, they are all but bullet proof.
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BrutulTM
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I might buy that it was shut down and they powered it back up again but not that it ran continuously for all that time. Not being manned 24/7 (but presumably electronically monitored) is a far cry from no one has set foot in there for 20 years.
BrutulTM
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Parts wear out on all machines. I just googled an article about how Iceland's hydropower is the envy of the world with its 99% uptime but 99% still means it's down for 3 days a year on average and that's with all the proper maintenance being done.
Hydromarty
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The bearings vary, above water they are babbitt, like a cars camshaft, but not always forced oil like a cars. The bearings are tapered to drag the oil for the fluid film action. In the water we use wood, lignum vitae, an exotic wood.
Basically, there is no secondary systems to fail. As long as there is oil in the reservoir and water your good.. on most hydro plants
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Hydromarty
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There are many types of turbines, pretty sure Iceland is like Norway, lots of Pelton style, with high head and low flow, these require more maintenance
pharmakos
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That's about what I expected. So maybe they had to put some effort into getting the turbines spinning again if they were jammed. But once they get them turning then there's not much reason they couldn't just hook up to it like any other electricity generator? Assuming they knew where to splice?
Hydromarty
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Well, they out put 3 phase into switching and control boxes, and then dump to the grid or used locally on the site in some cases. As long as all that is working, you should be OK, otherwise you'd need an electrical wizard.
Here's one of 3 control boxes we pulled out for replacement, on a single turbine.
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pharmakos
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All it takes is one smart guy reading the manuals to figure it out tho yeah? Even if it takes *awhile*?
Kiroy
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they require lubrication, often, and it's pretty specialized oil that would go bad
so, WRONG
pharmakos
soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
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Yeah but once they stop... Just need lubrication and a kick to start them back up again?
BrutulTM
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Mechanical parts that aren't lubricated don't just stop. They destroy themselves. You can test this by draining the oil out of your car's engine and then running it until it stops.
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Kiroy
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just looking up some common industrial hydro turbine oils, the shelf life is 24 months. Even if you 5x that they still are out of lube for the last decade
must be using elk fat - i'm sure that could sustain at temp
Hydromarty
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Again, it depends on the turbine. And operating with peak efficiency and operating during post apocalypse are two different things.
But you're the expert, I see your Google Search PHD
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Hydromarty
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Some turbines have 1000 ft or more of head, being water above the level of the turbine, others have 10.
They type of turbine would be the main factor for success, are there any screen caps of the dam thing (pun intended)
They type of turbine would be the main factor for success, are there any screen caps of the dam thing (pun intended)
Lanx
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Kiroy
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does it really matter? my google fu tells me that it's still going to need oil lubricant, and when I look up some different brands of industrial oil lube the largest shelf live I see is 24 months, so even if the oil drain interval is 5 years or more (just quick google i'm seeing three years for hydro lube change interval), you're still fucked