Friesland | Kingdom of the Netherlands | Europe

Wouda pumping station

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ABOUT Wouda pumping station


The D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station (ir. D.F. Woudagemaal) is a pumping station in the Netherlands, and the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world. On October 7, 1920 Queen Wilhelmina opened the pumping station. It was built to pump excess water out of Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands.
In 1967, after running on coal for 47 years, the boilers were converted to run on heavy fuel oil. It has a pumping capacity of 4,000 m3/min (1,100,000 U.S. gal/min). The pumping station is currently used to supplement the existing pumping capacity of the J.L. Hooglandgemaal in Stavoren in case of exceptionally high water levels in Friesland; this usually happens a few days per year.
-4 tandem compound, reciprocating steam engines, with poppet valves:

Single acting high pressure cylinder, 0.5 m diameter.Double acting low pressure cylinder, uni-flow exhaust, 0.85 m diameter.Stroke: 1.0 m500 Horsepower, 373 kilowatt-8 horizontal, double suction, fabricated, centrifugal pumps: 500 m³ per minute, 125,000 GPM, 180 MGD:

rotational speed: 95 to 115 rpm, impeller diameter 1.70 m.Since 1998 the ir. D.F. Woudagemaal has been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
The station is open for visitors and tours are given regularly.

The Best Pictures of Wouda pumping station