Gear solution for hydro- electric power plant

A consortium, consisting of several European companies, was commissioned to modernize a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant in Central Europe. The new machine group, consisting of a 12 MW Kaplan turbine and generator, required a speed increasing gearbox with an integrated turbine thrust bearing. Installation space was limited – a conventional single-stage planetary gearbox with approx. 3.6 meters and 70 tons would have become too big and too heavy.

Novagear developed a gearbox solution with an outer diameter of 2.0 meters and a weight of 42 tons. The gearbox design is characterized by the following key features:

• Application of a power split concept, in this case a compound planetary gear train.
• Load distribution over as many planet gears as possible, in this case 7 and 5 planet gears.
• Support of all planetary gears on Flexpins in order to achieve an even load distribution

The plant was put into operation in April 2021 to the customer’s full satisfaction.