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1 Trashrack Cleaners: Types, Overview
1 Trashrack Cleaners: Types, Overview
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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Kohleben Power Station Wire rope trashrack cleaner: rake width ~9.0 m
Gssnitz Power Station Chain driven trashrack cleaner (chain guides in serviceposition)
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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b) The hydraulic jib trashrack cleaner This type has been available in the size discussed here for only a few years. The machine consists of the following main components: Baseframe with travelling device Pivoted machine house with booms and grab rake Debris storage and/or debris disposal The collected debris usually is dropped temporarily into a concrete pit or a container to be disposed of later. The grab rake is also designed to pick up larger objects and to drift floating debris.
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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During cleaning, the toothed cleaning plate of the rake fits between the rack bars. The operating sequences are as follows: Trashrack cleaner in home position Rake in home position (standard: rake lifted, rake open) Rake is lowered to the bottom of the rack Rake is closed Rake is lifted and collects the debris from the rack Rake drops the debris into the container, Rake returns to home position Trashrack cleaner moves to the next cleaning position Container: as soon as the container is full, it will be replaced or emptied. Flushing conduit: debris is flushed to the downstream area. The trashrack cleaner returns to the home position only when the container is being changed or emptied. An average cycle can take less than five minutes. The lifting velocity of the rake is limited only by the power of the winch. The lowering velocity depends on the weight and shape (flow resistance!) of the rake. A lowering speed of the rake causing slack ropes is possible but not useful. Surface rake operation The surface rake is lowered until its teeth are deep enough in the water to move the floating debris. The trashrack cleaner drives to the weir, pushing the debris with it. The floating debris is then drifted downstream over a slightly opened weir gate.
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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Crane operation Debris such as large trees and logs is collected by a timber grab or orange peel bucket.
Trashrack cleaner Feistritz Power Station Crane with orange peel bucket (no tree available for the picture)
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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The operating sequences are as follows: Trashrack cleaner in home position Boom with grab rake in home position Boom with open grab rake is lowered to the bottom of the rack Boom with grab rake moves towards the rack bars Grab rake is lifted sliding on the rack bars and collects the debris from the rack Trashrack cleaner moves to the debris deposit The debris is dropped into the debris deposit (concrete pit or container or other) Grab rake returns to home position Trashrack cleaner moves to the next cleaning position The trashrack cleaner returns to the debris deposit after each cleaning cycle. In the case of wide racks, the travel time between the cleaning position and debris deposit is considerable. It would be difficult to complete an average cycle in under ten minutes. Surface rake operation The floating debris is pushed by the grab rake to the weir (same procedure as with the surface rake of the wire rope trashrack cleaner). For this procedure, the grab rake can be equipped with a hydraulic turning unit which can rotate the rake as much as 90 degrees in order to push more efficiently.
Trashrack cleaner Leoben Power Station Floating debris can also be collected during the trashrack cleaning operation
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006
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5 Summary
Proven designs are available for both types of trashrack cleaners. The classic wire rope trashrack cleaner most likely will continue to be used in large hydropower plants as well as for racks which require a long cleaning length. The hydraulic jib trashrack cleaner, an "all-in-one"-machine, the dream of all plant managers, will continue to be used for small and medium hydropower plants with racks with limited cleaning lengths.
6 Author
Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Radhuber Consulting Engineer/Ziviltechniker Kranzmayerstrae 12 A-9020 Klagenfurt Telefon: +43 463 23395 Telefax: +43 463 23395 4 email: wolfgang@radhuber.com http://www.radhuber.com
14th Intern. Seminar on Hydropower Plants Copyright: Institute for Waterpower and Pumps Vienna 2006