Go Back > Internal Turbine Needle Valve Inspection

In this project, the customer suspected that incorrect operation of the needle valve and deflector plates in their Pelton turbine were causing a scenario where upon shut down, the turbine had the potential to reverse direction. Hibbard Inshore was able to mount the same underwater cameras that we use on our ROVs to be placed in the turbine during start up. The cameras were mounted in such a way as to be able to visually confirm the behavior of the needle valve and deflector plates, and upon turbine shutdown it was seen that indeed the deflector plates were deflecting some of the water in the opposite direction as intended. This allowed the customer to engineer a retrofit to the system so that the turbine would not reverse in fast shutdown scenarios.

Click on the images below for a closer view.

Turbine needle valve prior to operation.	Entry shaft for turbine needle valve inspection.
Cameras mounted for needle valve inspection.	Entry shaft for turbine needle valve inspection, top view.
Internal turbine needle valve inspection video capture.