In hydroelectric power plants, generators are essential components and, like all machines, generate heat due to losses. The most common way to evacuate this heat is by circulating a cooling fluid (generally air) through the generator’s components. Due to the geometrical complexity, it is quite challenging to simulate the flow to predict the cooling in a generator, and in-situ measurements are costly and difficult to perform due to the limited access. For this reason, a 1:4 scale model of a hydroelectric generator was built at the research institute of Hydro-Québec (IREQ). In this paper, particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the flow in the opening of the generator scale model pit, in the space between the enclosure wall and the cooler exit, at the cooler exit, in the covers, in the air gap and in the interpole region are presented. Experimental aspects pertaining to the seeding of the flow, calibration targets, and experimental method are also discussed. Furthermore, a comparison of the experimental data with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation results using ANSYS-CFX is given.

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