German mechanical engineering company Voith and Iceland-based energy group Landsvirkjun are jointly developing technology for monitoring cavitation in hydropower plants.

According to reports, the system, an add-on function for its OnCare.Health conditioning monitoring, will be used at the Budarhals hydropower plant in Iceland.

The technology will reportedly quantify the effects of cavitation — which is the formation of vapor bubbles caused by localized areas of low pressure — to reduce operating and maintenance costs and machine downtimes.

When the vapor bubbles collapse, they create high pressure peaks that damage turbine runner surfaces over time. Cavitation is usually avoidable through effective design and is not generally typical during standard operating.

Due to the increasing requirements to make existing plants more flexible in conjunction with other renewable energies such as wind power, it is becoming worthwhile for operators to extend their existing operating range, even though this can cause cavitation to occur. With the help of the monitoring system, the incidence of cavitation in the event of an extended operating range can be evaluated against the additional benefit provided.