Overcoming The Limit of Manufacturing! Full-scale Runner Forgings for 500MW Hydro Turbines

On June 19th, the "500MW Impulse Turbine Runner High-Strength and High-Ductility Manufacturing Technology and Equipment" project under the "High-Performance Manufacturing Technology and Major Equipment" key special program of the National Key Research and Development Plan achieved a significant phased success. The core project led by China First Heavy Industry Corporation - "Integrated Strong and Ductile Manufacturing Technology for Ultra-Large and Ultra-Thick Runner Forgings" - successfully passed the "milestone" node acceptance.

A 7-member inspection team consisting of experts from Beijing Satellite Manufacturing Factory (Han Jianchao) and Beijing Institute of Mechanical Research of China Machinery General Design Bureau (Jiang Peng) attended the meeting on site. Representatives from Tibet Datang Zala Hydropower Development Co., Ltd., Datang Tibet Energy Development Co., Ltd., Harbin Electric Machinery Factory Co., Ltd., and Tsinghua University also participated in the meeting.

The attending experts listened to the report on the development of forged components by China First Heavy Industries, as well as the user evaluations. Through on-site inspections, inquiries, and discussions, they unanimously agreed that the full-scale forged and welded structure turbine wheel forgings developed by China First Heavy Industries possess outstanding and stable high-performance reserves, as well as extremely high uniformity and consistency in structure. These features not only represent the current international top-level manufacturing standards in this field, but also verify the mature capability of its high-quality and stable mass production.

As the "heart" of the impulse-type hydroelectric generator, the 500MW forged and welded structure impulse turbine runner is composed of the hub and the water chamber forgings, which are welded together. Its extremely long service life and high reliability impose extreme requirements on the high strength and high toughness of the forgings. Achieving the high-quality and stable mass production of full-size forged components for ultra-large, irregular, and high-performance runner bodies is a world-class engineering challenge.

The project R&D team bravely undertook the national mission, focused on the core difficulties, carried out in-depth collaborative research and development, and innovatively constructed an integrated and complete strong and tough manufacturing system covering material composition optimization design, precise forging control, efficient coordination of processing resources, and precise regulation of heat treatment processes. They not only successfully solved the bottleneck problems restricting the manufacturing of super-large impact-type rotors, but also established the core capability of high-quality and stable manufacturing of full-scale forgings, successfully achieving the project's node goals, and paving the way for future engineering applications.

This achievement marks that not only has China mastered the extreme manufacturing capability for 500MW-sized full-scale impulse turbine runner forgings, but also has made significant breakthroughs in key technologies such as high quality, high stability, and batch production. It has provided a solid core equipment guarantee for the construction of major hydropower projects and energy security of the country. On June 19th, the key project of the National Key Research and Development Program "High Performance Manufacturing Technology and Major Equipment", "High-strength and High-toughness Manufacturing Technology and Equipment for 500MW Impulse Turbine Runner", led by China First Heavy Industry, achieved a major phased success. The core subject - "Integrated Heat-Melting-Molding-Forging Technology for Ultra-Large and Ultra-Thick Runner Forgings" - successfully passed the "milestone" node acceptance.

A 7-member inspection team consisting of experts from Beijing Satellite Manufacturing Factory (Han Jianchao) and Beijing Institute of Mechanical Research of China Machinery General Design Bureau (Jiang Peng) attended the meeting on site. Representatives from Tibet Datang Zala Hydropower Development Co., Ltd., Datang Tibet Energy Development Co., Ltd., Harbin Electric Machinery Factory Co., Ltd., and Tsinghua University also participated in the meeting.

The attending experts listened to the report on the development of forged components by China First Heavy Industries, as well as the user evaluations. Through on-site inspections, inquiries, and discussions, they unanimously agreed that the full-scale forged and welded structure turbine wheel forgings developed by China First Heavy Industries possess outstanding and stable high-performance reserves, as well as extremely high uniformity and consistency in their microstructure. These features not only represent the current international top-level manufacturing standards in this field, but also verify the mature capability of their high-quality and stable mass production.

As the "heart" of the impulse-type hydroelectric generator, the 500MW forged and welded structure impulse turbine runner is composed of the hub and the water chamber forgings, which are welded together. Its extremely long service life and high reliability impose extreme requirements on the high strength and high toughness of the forgings. Achieving the high-quality and stable mass production of full-size forged components for ultra-large, irregular, and high-performance runner bodies is a world-class engineering challenge.

The project R&D team bravely took on the national mission, focused on the core difficulties, carried out in-depth collaborative research and development, and innovatively constructed an integrated and complete strong and tough manufacturing system covering material composition optimization design, precise forging control, efficient coordination of processing resources, and precise regulation of heat treatment processes. They not only successfully solved the bottleneck problems restricting the manufacturing of super-large impact-type rotors, but also established the core capability of high-quality and stable manufacturing of full-scale forgings, successfully achieving the project's node goals, and paving the way for future engineering applications.

This achievement indicates that not only has China mastered the extreme manufacturing capability for 500MW-sized full-scale impulse turbine runner forgings, but it has also made significant breakthroughs in key technologies such as high quality, high stability, and batch production, providing a solid core equipment guarantee for major hydropower projects and energy security of the country.