Hydro Alps Lab experimental and digital infrastructures
Our laboratory infrastructure and advanced digital resources guarantee high-precision research and rigorous field validation.
Cutting-edge tools for research
The Hydro Alps Lab boasts first-rate technical and digital resources that are essential to our applied research and the development of innovative hydroelectricity solutions.
These cutting-edge infrastructures, combined with the expertise of our team, guarantee the scientific relevance and experimental validation of all our research, providing our partners with reliable, high-performance solutions.
Equipment
Cutting-edge equipment to understand, test and improve Alpine hydroelectric systems.
Experimental infrastructures
Universal hydraulic test bench
This state-of-the-art facility enables in-depth assessment of the hydraulic performance and hydrodynamic behaviour of various axial and radial turbines, pumps, valves and other hydraulic system components.
- DN100« loop: Maximum pressure of 16 bar, maximum flow rate of 120 (136) m3/h.
- DN250 loop: maximum pressure 16 bar, maximum flow 520 (650) m3/h.
- Independent or coupled operation between the two test loops.
- Bi-directional flow with energy recovery in pump mode.
- Advanced control for rapid transient testing.
Degassing via a Venturi and a phase separation system integrated into the pressurisable downstream tank. - Built-in automatic control to maintain a constant head or flow rate in the test section.
Pelton test bench with 4 injectors
Demonstrator of a complete hydroelectric facility (dam, hydraulic machine, electrical machine, frequency converter and tailrace) equipped with a Pelton turbine with 4 injectors, enabling all aspects of its operation to be studied, including interactions between the impeller and the tailrace.
- Nominal flow rate: 5.9 l/s
- Nominal drop: 35 mWC
- Rated speed: 1’250 rpm
- Injection diameter: Φ195 mm
- Hydraulic power: 2 kW
Cavitation vein
Rectangular test section measuring 80mm x 80mm with a length of 500mm, enabling cavitation to be studied on any hydrodynamic profile. Equipped with a 6-axis force transducer and transparent windows, it enables complete characterisation of the profiles in a controlled environment.
- Geometric configuration: integral or Venturi section (40mm x 80mm).
- Flow speed: 0..25 (50) m/s.
- Static pressure: -1..5 bar.
- Angle of incidence: -180..180°.
- Face distance: 0..10mm.
Water hammer test bench
This unique test rig is dedicated to the experimental study of material damage to tubular specimens (e.g. crack initiation and propagation) due to pressure oscillations. It works on the principle of generating cyclic pressure oscillations, controlled in terms of frequency (17.5 Hz) and amplitude (0 to 30 bar), induced by the water hammer effect in a closed-loop circuit.
- Maximum flow rate: 15 m3/h.
- Maximum static pressure: 30 bar.
- Nominal diameter: 2”.
- Active length: 35m.
Main applications
Research into the performance, flexibility and ageing of hydroelectric power stations.
Working with industry to develop and validate new technologies.
Experimental research into hydrodynamic phenomena and energy optimisation.
Multi-physics expertise in understanding complex fluid circulation systems.
Digital infrastructure
Equipment
The digital infrastructure is dedicated to fluid (CFD) and structural (FEM) simulations and to the analysis of data from laboratory or on-site measurement campaigns using machine learning tools.
It consists of:
2 Dell PowerEdge R7625 HPC servers
Each blade server is equipped with 2 AMD EPYC 64-core processors with 384 GB of RAM, 28.8 TB of storage and 15.3 TB of scratch space. One blade is equipped with 2 NVIDIA L40S GPU cards (48 GB) and the second is equipped with 2 NVIDIA H100 GPU cards (94 GB).
1 Dell PowerEdge R760xs server
This blade server is equipped with 2 Intel Xeon Gold 24-core processors with 256 GB RAM and a total storage volume of 35 TB.
4 Dell Precision 7920 workstations
These workstations are equipped with 2 Intel Xeon processors with RAM ranging from 128 GB to 768 GB and NVIDIA RTX 5000 (16 GB) or 6000 (24 GB) graphics.
Main applications
Assessing the performance of hydraulic machines and components.
Development of advanced models for predicting wear and fatigue of hydraulic components.
Analysis of 3D turbulent and cavitating flows in hydraulic machines.
Concrete projects and strategic partnerships
We work closely with industry to turn research into innovative applications. Discover some of our projects that are shaping the hydropower of tomorrow.
