REPORTER 39

More energy thanks to DISTO
3-D model for Ladce hydro-electric power station turbine
Slovakia´s first hydroelectric
power station is
now sixty years old. It is
situated at Ladce on the
central reaches of the Vah,
Slovakia´s longest river and
a tributary of the Danube.
In order to meet the rising
demand for energy of this
prospering central
European region in the
southern foothills of the
Carpathians, near the
border to the Czech
Republic, an increase in the
output of this old hydroelectric
power station was
necessary.
How exactly does this
turbine room appear after
six decades? What structural
changes are necessary
to the spatial proportions
and what quantities of flow,
flow rates and degree of
efficiency are possible by
re-building, using today’s
turbine technology? To
determine dimensions and
for the computer-aided
simulation, the Leica DISTO
hand-held laser meter
served them admirably.
The existing intake and
discharge buildings were
not to be altered for this
increase in performance,
but only the turbine room
itself. The Department of
Surveying at the University
of Technology Bratislava
was awarded the contract
from the Waterpower
’Station Ltd, Tencin, to
ascertain the shape and
volume of the existing
turbine room. An optimal
re-construction of the
turbine was to be based on
this data. The surveyor,
With the Leica DISTO the
dimensions of the turbine room
was quickly determined by
distance measurement.
Isometric view of the 3-D model
of the Ladce turbine
Dr Alojz Kopác˘ik, employed
for this demanding task in
the dark turbine room, a
small, hand-held and simple
to operate measuring
instrument, which with the
most modern laser technology,
determined distances
to the millimetre exactly.
With sections and profiles as
well as a few polar points
Dr. Alojz Kopác˘ik from the
University of Technology
Bratislava described his
surveying method to the
”Leica Reporter” as follows:
”The objects to be
measured had the form of a
space spiral from above
and from below that of a
paraboloid, with a
maximum height of eight
and a half metres and a
width of ten metres. The
walls consisted of smoothly
layered concrete which
readily allowed the use of
the Leica DISTO. With it a
polygon with a standard
deviation of ±2mm could be
determined. The particular
conditions such as darkness
and closed spatial areas
lead to the use of a measuring
method with sections
and profiles long familiar in
mining surveying. Those
portions of the turbine
room which could not be
determined in this way
were recorded in the form
of sets of polar points.”
Shape and volumes for the
3-D model
Based on this grid measurement
data, a 3-D model was
compiled on a PC with a
Pentium processor and CAD
software. The surfaces were
formed as B spline surfaces
with a tolerance of ten
millimetres, which, for the
surface points, represents
an accuracy of 10-20 millimetres.
Versatile calculations and
views
This model was used in
various ways for calculating
and 3-D visualising. Part of
the available data set is, for
example:
- a set of the spatial coordinates
of all measured
points,
- a set of the sections and
profiles,
- the digital shape of the
three dimensional model
with B spline surface
covering,
- the views of the model
from different directions.
As a result of this information,
the optimal shape for
the new turbine room could
be determined exactly,
quickly and reliably. The
environmentally friendly
“White Force” of the River
Vah will be better used with
a considerably degree of
efficiency, without changes
having to be made to the
landscape.
- Stf -
7