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CompRack® Trash Racks

 

Heavy features in a lightweight package!

 

The CompRack® system is developed in co- operation with leading industry and CompRack AB have supplied the hydropower industry with trash-racks in composite materials for more than 10 years. CompRack® has proven to be an excellent alternative to steel trash-racks since the first installation in 1995.

 

The collective experience of several years of service shows that CompRack is an extremely competitive alternative to conventional systems which will maintain its’ winning properties during a service life of, under normal conditions, over 30 years.

 

 

CompRack® Product benefits

 

The CompRack composite trash rack panels add value by their:

 

- Excellent mechanical properties

Flexural modulus = 47 GPa*

Tensile strength = 0,9 GPa*

*=according to test SS-EN ISO14125:1998 made by Sicomp (www.sicomp.se) in Sweden

 

- Corrosion resistant material

All parts made of glass-fiber composite material or stainless steel, A4 quality.

No need for surface treatment or other maintenance under normal conditions during the service life, >35 years, results in reduced maintenance costs.

 

- Reduction of ice problems

Reduced ice-problems gives higher availability and increased efficiency.

 

Fracile ice

 The optimized profile of the CompRack bars gives a laminar flow through the trash rack. The reduced obstruction of the flow reduces the risk of ice build-up at the front edge of the bars which is the point were fracile ice starts to grow when these conditions occur.

The composite material also has a low thermal conductivity and in combination with a very fine surface roughness Ra<1 um, the ice adhesion-forces are lower than to steel. If ice anyway would build up on the composite during extreme conditions, it is possible to take it away with a TRCM because of the lower adhesion forces between the ice/composite.

 As a comparison cold formed steel bars has normally a surface roughness of 5-10 um and hot formed 15-25 um. The stated surface roughness of steel is the initial roughness, when corrosion has started the roughness increases fast and also the adhesion forces between ice/steel.

 

Floating ice

The composite has excellent properties handling local impact-forces caused by floating ice. When the ice is stopped against the trash rack there is also a significantly lower risk that it freezes into the trash rack because of the low thermal conductivity of the composite. When the pressure between the ice and the composite profile is increased the melting temperature is decreased, which means that the trash rack bars will cut through the ice.

 

- Reduced risk of harmful vibrations

The profile has been optimized to get a minimum of obstruction of the flow, which results in a low energy Karman-vortex shedding. All CompRack solutions have to pass through a FEM-analysis were the natural frequency of the trash  rack is calculated, to ensure that no harmful vibrations will appear.

 

- Increased efficiency

The profile has been optimized to get a shape that gives a minimum of obstruction to the water flow. The form-factor that are used when calculating headloss is approx. only a 1/3 of a comparable flat bar steel profile. 

 

- Light weight properties

The installation of CompRack is simplified due to the racks’ weight being less than one third of a conventional system combined with it's delivery in sections that have been manufactured to sharp tolerances.

 

- Reduction of marine growth

As well as by ice-problems the surface roughness is important to reduce the risk of marine growth. The very fine surface with a roughness of <1 um helps reducing the risk.

 

- Modular system 

The CompRack system is fully modular and can be supplied in any width and any depth. Normally the trash rack is divided into customer specified sections.

The sections can be supplied pre-assembled, ready to install including all parts necessary, or as a kit to be assembled at site. The customer can choose between stainless- or mild-steel fittings.

The CompRack-system is built around the unique CompRack-profile and it consists of profiles, distance clutches and a variety of different fittings.

 

- Easy maintenance

As the material is linear elastic all the way up to break you get a trash rack that will recover its shape even if it has been temporary deformed locally by unexpected forces. This feature reduces the overall damages and in combination with a fully modular system, it makes it possible to replace individual parts of the trash rack in a very simple way.

 

- Environmental friendly properties

No need for sand-blasting or painting improves the environment.

Increased efficiency of renewable energy production has a positive environmental impact.

 

- Competitive life cycle cost

The combination of all these features gives an advantage when calculating the lifecycle cost.

Making an estimate of the valid cost benefits for each one of the above listed features helps you calculating the lifecycle cost.