Hydro Kennebec of the US has selected ASL AQFlow's Acoustic Scintillation Flow Meter (ASFM) for a series of flow measurements for its two, 4-blade Pit Kaplan turbines at its hydro dam on the Kennebec river in Winslow, Maine.
Hydro Kennebec says it selected the ASFM technology because it was desired to equate actual flow with plant output to determine the most efficient blade/wicket gate relationship under the usual operating conditions. The site is completely computerised and operates on a set of 3D cam curves that are resident in the controllers. The original curves were determined during the initial start up and index testing in 1989 and there was reason to believe that some optimisation was possible if actual unit flow was known.
ASL AQFlow worked with Hydro Kennebec site personnel to design and fabricate the frame to support the ASFM equipment and assisted in the measurement and interoperation of the data. The ASFM system is designed to be readily moved from one unit to another for measurements.