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The Buildings
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Admiralty Test House (307)
Built: 1951
Decommissioned: ????
The first of the specialized test cells at Pyestock, the Admiralty Test House, was
dedicated to the study and endurance testing of gas turbines under marine conditions.
It's been said that every gas turbine type used by the Royal Navy was first put through rigorous testing
in this building at Pyestock.
The environment was carefully controlled, resembling conditions at sea: marine
diesel fuel oils were used (being handily stored in the adjacent tank farm) and salty, corrosive
water. The turbine was then left to run, and the effects of the salt
contamination, along with the corrosive effects in the combustion chamber of the marine
diesel fuel were later studied. The net results were greater understanding of the effects
of salt water and diesel fuels on the turbine.
Other engines were simply brought in for endurance testing and were issued with certificates upon a successful run.
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The flat western aspect of the Admiralty Test House as seen
from the front of the Battle Test House. 21|04|07 © Simon Cornwell 2007
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Therefore the building, erected in 1951 on the east side of the Fairways Transformer Park,
required little custom architecture and contained no custom machinery. It was basically a
steel framed brick building, the most space devoted to the turbine hall, where the turbine
under test would be moved in (winched by the crane on the overhead gantry) and connected
to fuel and water feeds. Offices and a control room (which overlooked the turbine hall)
occupied the windowed western side of the building ,whilst switchgear, fuel tanks
and water pumps were installed in the eastern side.
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The turbine hall, looking north, towards the large access doors. 23|05|07 © Simon Cornwell 2007
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Like many of the test cells at Pyestock, Admiralty Test House
also had its own cooling tower, water and fuel pumping house.
As turbines were simply left in here to chug away for days, there were no specialized testing
equipment. So, after the last turbine was removed, it simply left the empty cell, which is
what can be found today.
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The stripped control room looking east towards the observation window into the turbine hall. 23|05|07 © Simon Cornwell 2007
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Admiralty Test House Walkthrough...
Further Reading
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