German hydroelectric facility improves its efficiency

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October 2011 Flow Measurement & Control

Flexim technology measures the flow in large diameter headrace pipelines.

The Munich City Utilities, one of Germany’s largest energy and infrastructure companies, is pursuing an objective to create enough green electricity in its plants to supply 800 000 private households in Munich by 2015. This corresponds to about 2 billion kW hours per year. By 2025, it aims to fulfil Munich’s entire 7,5 billion kWh power requirements. To accomplish these ambitious goals, the utility has started its Renewable Energies Expansion Offensive.

Efficient energy storage

The basic difficulty in supplying electrical energy is generating the right amount of power required at a given time. With the growing number of renewable energies available, the difficulty of buffering between supply and demand becomes more significant as the amount of energy generated from wind and sun fluctuates considerably depending on weather conditions.

Using pumped-storage power plants, energy can be stored effectively and with a high degree of efficiency, since, when the amount of electricity generated exceeds demand the surplus can be used to pump water from a reservoir to a high-lying water storage basin. The potential energy of the stored water can then be reconverted into power quickly when required using the hydro-electric turbines of the power station.

Non-invasive flow measurement using clamp-on ultrasonic technology

The Leitzach hydroelectric plants, located 40 km south of Munich, include low lying basins capable of storing approximately 2 million cubic metres of water and connected to the Seehamer Lake via two pressure pipes, each measuring 4 m in diameter. Since the lake is 128 metres higher than the basins, it can be used as a source of ‘pendular’ water for the turbines.

In order to modernise the measurement and control technology, Munich City Utilities chose to fit flow measuring technology from Flexim for safety monitoring on the large headrace pipelines. Given the huge nominal widths, the ideal solution proved to be non-invasive, ultrasonic clamp-on flow measurement. Initially, the non-invasive technology was demonstrated in a test measurement using the FluxusF 601. The efficiency of the installation proved to be one of the most important factors and the two measuring points were fitted with stationary FluxusADM 7407 transmitters. The transmitter is paired with the Variofix mounting system to ensure optimal transmission of the measuring signal into the pipe and provide permanent protection. The Utility says that installing the non-invasive measurement solution has enabled it to improve efficiency and safety at the facility at relatively low cost and without the need for a great deal of construction work.

For more information contact Peter Jones Electronic Equipment, +27 (0)11 608 2944, [email protected], www.peterjones.co.za

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Flow Measurement & Control

German hydroelectric facility improves its efficiency

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