Development of a portable data acquisition system for Kaplan Turbine bank

This research addresses the design of a portable data acquisition system for a Kaplan turbine bank installed in the Hydraulics laboratory of the School of Civil Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Carabobo. It is a contribution to a FONACIT project N degrees 2013001499. From this research, a laboratory practice will be implemented to construct characteristic curves that allow the user to graphically observe the influence of changes in variables such as: flow, speed and torque in the Kaplan turbine. The methodology used included the implementation of a data acquisition system that facilitates measurements and speeds up the process of generating the characteristic curve; using a system based on protoboard mounting sensors, which works in parallel with the existing analog indicators in the bank, the data acquisition system performs measurements in the field, adapts the signals, and through the serial communication protocol sends the information obtained to a data storage and processing unit that corresponds to a computer where through MATLAB software a graphical interface will be made that facilitates the user the visualization and manipulation of the data obtained.