Norcan Barber Support Includes:
- OEM parts from Barber drawings with Norcan improvements
- On-site repair work
- Runner blades, wicket-gates, hub, shaft repair, or OEM part replacement for improved performance
- New turbine runner upgrades for Francis and Kaplans for higher efficiencies
- New Francis, S-Type Kaplan turbine designs with higher efficiencies and output while using the same foot-print to avoid civil work
Pelican, Alaska
Barber Turbine Francis 600 kW unit repair and refurbishment. The turbine was having recurring problems with several bearing failures that finally damaged the turbine shaft. As a result, the generating unit was out of operation for several months, forcing the small community of 76 inhabitants to use their standby diesel generator at an excessively high cost. The root cause of the failure of the bearings was quickly identified and corrected by Norcan with a new shaft and new engineered bearing frame to support the new bearings. Despite COVID-19 restrictions and supply issues, Norcan executed the repair and refurbishment in record time to help the people of Pelican. Norcan's work also included refurbishing the complete distributor, wicket gates, wicket gates ring, runner, new flywheel, and a new lubrication unit.
Bracebridge, Ontario
The Bracebridge hydropower station was originally built in 1902 with 300 kW of output. In 1905, in order to meet growing demand, a second 300 kW turbine was added to the building. The most recent upgrade saw the replacement of the two existing Barber turbines with one Kaplan S-Type turbine from Norcan. There are two aspects to this project that really stand out. The first one is that in order to maintain the history, the heritage look of the powerhouse. The exterior of the building was maintained, while the insides were removed by the contractor to make way for a new layout and modern equipment. The second noteworthy detail is that before the project, the total capacity of the station was only 600 kW. We supplied a generator, engineered, manufactured, installed and commissioned a Kaplan S-Type turbine with a runner size of 83 in., 2108 mm. The total capacity of the plant went from 600 kW to over 2400 kW. Norcan provides innovative turbine solutions.
