NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF PRESSURE PULSATION IN FRANCIS HYDRAULIC TURBINE WITH AIR ADMISSION

In this article, the three-dimensional unsteady multiphase flow is simulated in the whole passage of Francis hydraulic turbine. The pressure pulsation is predicted and compared with experimental data at positions in the draft tube, in front of runner, guide vanes and at the inlet of the spiral case. The relationship between pressure pulsation in the whole passage and air admission is analyzed. The computational results show: air admission from spindle hole decreases the pressure difference in the horizontal section of draft tube, which in turn decreases the amplitude of low-frequency pressure pulsation in the draft tube; the rotor-stator interaction between the air inlet and the runner increases the blade-frequency pressure pulsation in front of the runner.     

Overview of SPH-ALE applications for hydraulic turbines in ANDRITZ Hydro

Over the past 13 years, ANDRITZ Hydro has developed an in-house tool based on the SPH-ALE method for applications in flow simulations in hydraulic turbines. The initial motivation is related to the challenging simulation of free surface flows in Pelton turbines, where highly dynamic water jets interact with rotating buckets, creating thin water jets traveling inside the housing and possibly causing disturbances on the runner. The present paper proposes an overview of industrial applications allowed by the developed tool, including design evaluation of Pelton runners and casings, transient operation of Pelton units and free surface flows in hydraulic structures.     

Numerical predictions of pressure pulses in a Francis pump turbine with misaligned guide vanes

Previous experimental and numerical analyses of the pressure pulse characteristics in a Francis turbine are extended here by using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the shear stress transport （SST） turbulence model to model the unsteady flow within the entire flow passage of a large Francis pump turbine with misaligned guide vanes at the rated rotational speed. The S-curve characteristics are analyzed by a combined use of the model test and the steady state simulation with the aligned guide vane firstly. Four misaligned guide vanes with two different openings are chosen to analyze the influence of pressure pulses in the turbine. The characteristics of the dominant unsteady flow frequencies in different parts of the pump turbine for various misaligned guide vane openings are investigated in detail. The predicted hydraulic performance and the pressure fluctuations show that the misaligned guide vanes reduce the relative pressure fluctuation amplitudes in the stationary part of the flow passage, but not the runner blades. The misaligned guide vanes have changed the low frequencies in the entire flow passage with the change of the pulse amplitudes mainly due to changes in the rotor-stator interaction and the low frequency vortex rope flow behavior.     

Master equation and runaway speed of the Francis turbine

The master equation of the Francis turbine is derived based on the combination of the angular momentum(Euler) and the energy laws. It relates the geometrical design of the impeller and the regulation settings(guide vane angle and rotational speed) to the discharge and the power output. The master equation, thus, enables the complete characteristics of a given Francis turbine to be easily computed. While applying the energy law, both the shock loss at the impeller inlet and the swirling loss at the impeller exit are taken into account. These are main losses which occur at both the partial load and the overloads and, thus, dominantly influence the characteristics of the Francis turbine. They also totally govern the discharge of the water through the impeller when the impeller is found in the standstill. The computations have been performed for the discharge, the hydraulic torque and the hydraulic efficiency. They were also compared with the available measurements on a model turbine. Excellent agreement has been achieved. The computations also enable the runaway speed of the Francis turbine and the related discharge to be determined as a function of the setting angle of the guide vanes.     

A FAST LAGRANGIAN SIMULATION METHOD FOR FLOW ANALYSIS AND RUNNER DESIGN IN PELTON TURBINES

In the present work,an alternative numerical methodology is developed for a fast and effective simulation and analysis of the complex flow and energy conversion in Pelton impulse hydro turbines.The algorithm is based on the Lagrangian approach and the unsteady free-surface flow during the jet-bucket interaction is simulated by tracking the trajectories of representative fluid particles at very low computer cost.Modern regression tools are implemented in a new parameterization technique of the inner bucket surface.Key-feature of the model is the introduction of additional terms into the particle motion equations to account for various hydraulic losses and the flow spreading,which are regulated and evaluated with the aid of experimental data in a Laboratory Pelton turbine.The model is applied to study the jet-runner interaction in various operation conditions and then to perform numerical design optimization of the bucket shape,using a stochastic optimizer based on evolutionary algorithms.The obtained optimum runner attains remarkably higher hydraulic efficiency in the entire load range.Finally,a new small Pelton turbine(150 kW) is designed,manufactured and tested in the Laboratory,and its performance and efficiency verify the model predictions.     

Treatments on the Abnormalities following Capacity Expansion

After capacity expansion of some hydro turbines, such abnormalities as high temperature of the bearing, vibration of units, friction noise and so on, could be solved by qualified installation, removing the diversion cross added at the draft tube, and use of new runner, etc.     

Influence of upstream disturbance on the draft-tube flow of Francis turbine under part-load conditions

Owing to the part-load operations for the enhancement of grid flexibility, the Francis turbine often suffers from severe low-frequency and large-amplitude hydraulic instability, which is mostly pertinent to the highly unsteady swirling vortex rope in the draft tube. The influence of disturbances in the upstream(e.g., large-scale vortex structures in the spiral casing) on the draft-tube vortex flow is not well understood yet. In the present paper, the influence of the upstream disturbances on the vortical flow in the draft tube is studied based on the vortex identification method and the analysis of several important parameters(e.g., the swirl number and the velocity profile). For a small guide vane opening(representing the part-load condition), the vortices triggered in the spiral casing propagate downstream and significantly affect the swirling vortex-rope precession in the draft tube, leading to the changes of the intensity and the processional frequency of the swirling vortex rope. When the guide vane opening approaches the optimum one(representing the full-load condition), the upstream disturbance becomes weaker and thus its influences on the downstream flow are very limited.     

Design and development of guide vane cascade for a low speed number Francis turbine

Guide vane cascade of a low speed number Francis turbine is developed for the experimental investigations.The test setup is able to produce similar velocity distributions at the runner inlet as that of a reference prototype turbine.Standard analytical methods are used to design the reference turbine.Periodic walls of flow channel between guide vanes are identified as the starting profile for the boundary of the cascade.Two alternative designs with three guide vanes and two guide vanes,without runner,are studied.A new approach,for the hydraulic design and optimization of the cascade test setup layout,is proposed and investigated in details.CFD based optimization methods are used to define the final layout of the test setup.The optimum design is developed as a test setup and experimental validation is done with PIV methods.The optimized design of cascade with one guide vane between two flow channels is found to produce similar flow conditions to that in the runner inlet of a low speed number Francis turbine.     

LARGE-EDDY SIMULATION OF TURBULENT FLOW CONSIDERING INFLOW WAKES IN A FRANCIS TURBINE BLADE PASSAGE

Turbulent flow in a 3-D blade passage of a Francis hydro turbine was simulated with the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to investigate the spatial and temporal distributions of the turbulence when strongly distorted wakes in the inflow sweep over the passage. In a suitable consideration of the energy exchanging mechanism between the large and small scales in the complicated passage with a strong 3-D curvature,one-coefficient dynamic Sub-Grid-Scale (SGS) stress model was used in this article. The simulations show that the strong wakes in the inflow lead to a flow separation at the leading zone of the passage,and to form a primary vortex in the span-wise direction. The primary span-wise vortex evolves and splits into smaller vortex pairs due to the constraint of no-slip wall condition,which triggers losing stability of the flow in the passage. The computed pressures on the pressure and suction sides agree with the measured data for a working test turbine model.     

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF PELTON TURBINE

Different from the reaction turbines, the hydraulic performance of Pelton turbine is dynamic due to the unsteady flow in the rotating buckets in time and space. The dynamic energy efficiency of bucket ηEB and power efficiency of bucket ηPB within a short period can be predicted from the dynamic flow pattern of the free-surface sheet flow in the rotating bucket, whereas the dynamic discharge efficiency of bucket ηQB is defined as the resident discharge in the bucket at the respective moment. Under the operation of higher unit speed nDH than the optimum one, the power efficiency of bucket is deteriorated by the jet interference with the rear surface of bucket ?Prear at the first stage of the dynamic performance, as well as the loss power due to the spilt flow from the cutout of bucket at the later stage of performance. Based on the dynamic performance prediction presented, the future possibility of the quantitative investigation for the negative scale effect of Pelton turbines was discussed.     

三维非定常湍流尾水管涡带计算研究

混流式水轮机弯肘型尾水管在部分负荷工况下产生带气泡的尾水涡流, 涡流在离心力的作用下形成与水流共同旋的涡带，由此产生的低频压力脉动是混流式水轮机面临的一个普遍性问题。水轮机中存在的水力压力脉动现象将诱发转轮叶片疲劳破坏。更有甚者对整个机组、厂房构成威胁, 严重影响了机组的安全稳定运行。本文采用全流道三维非定常流动数值模拟方法, 研究三峡混流式水轮机在部分负荷工况运行时，由尾水管涡带以低频的周期在尾水管内旋进引起的压力脉动现象。采用全流道非定常流动粘性湍流计算，计算结果表明在各记录点都捕捉到了涡带低频压力脉动：频率为0.333Hz, 是转频1.25Hz的3.75分之一，相近工况模型试验实测涡带频率为5.31Hz, 是转频18.62Hz的3.51分之一，从涡带频率看计算结果与试验测量结果一致。     

混流式水轮机卡门涡致振机理探讨与分析

水轮机出现卡门涡后易引起振动等问题。许多安装混流式水轮机的水电站发生卡门涡频率的强烈振动，严重时甚至造成转轮叶片裂纹破坏，学界多认为这是由卡门涡共振引起。本研究通过比较卡门涡频率和固有频率的巨大差异、大朝山电站转轮叶片减薄修型后强振工况向大负荷转移等事实，提出新观点：大多数卡门涡强振及其破坏并非由共振引起。本研究进行了模型水轮机卡门涡观测试验，比较了流量、空化系数对可见卡门涡的影响，发现可见卡门涡多发生于大流量工况或低空化系数导致的涡心压力较低时，指出卡门涡由其涡心空化造成。通过电站消除卡门涡危害的措施等进一步说明：卡门涡共振存在于小流量工况，但共振能量低，没有显著破坏性;大流量工况的卡门涡强振并非共振，而源于卡门涡空化空腔溃灭产生的巨大冲击力。     

Numerical analyses of pressure fluctuations induced by interblade vortices in a model Francis turbine

Interblade vortices can greatly influence the stable operations of Francis turbines. As visible interblade vortices are essentially cavitating flows, i.e., the ones to cause interblade vortex cavitations, an unsteady simulation with a method using the RNG k- ? turbulence model and the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri(ZGB) cavitation model is carried out to predict the pressure fluctuations induced. Modifications of the turbulence viscosity are made to improve the resolutions. The interblade vortices of two different appearances are observed from the numerical results, namely, the columnar and streamwise vortices, as is consistent with the experimental results. The pressure fluctuations of different frequencies are found to be induced by the interblade vortices on incipient and developed interblade vortex lines, respectively, on the Hill diagram of the model runner's parameters. From the centrifugal Rayleigh instability criterion, it follows that the columnar interblade vortices are stable and the streamwise interblade vortices are unstable in the model Francis turbine.     

混流式水轮机压力脉动特性研究

为探究不同长短叶片比例对混流式水轮机压力脉动特性的影响,基于流场数值模拟的计算方法,对不同长短叶片比例的混流式水轮机进行全流道三维非定常湍流计算。计算结果表明,混流式水轮机内部的压力脉动主要由转轮和导叶的动静干扰以及尾水管的低频压力脉动所致;当短叶片出口离转轮旋转轴最近点处与长叶片直径之比为0.6时,混流式水轮机效率最高,为92.66%,且该混流式水轮机各过流部件对应的压力脉动幅值以及振动幅值也最小,水力稳定性最好。对研究背景、计算方法与步骤,以及计算结果的分析等情况均作了较为详细的介绍。     

混流式水轮机尾水管非定常流动模拟及不规则压力脉动预测

混流式水轮机尾水管内螺旋形涡带引起的压力脉动是造成混流式水轮机组振动的主要根源之一,严重威胁机组的安全运行.本文基于CFD技术对一大型混流式水轮机尾水管压力脉动进行了数字化预测,文中首先对该水轮机在典型偏工况下尾水管的内流进行了长时间非定常计算,然后详细讨论该工况下尾水管内死水域与涡带的运动规律,并预测了尾水管的不规则压力脉动,最后对压力脉动预测值进行了分析,结果表明其波形、频率、相位与实际基本一致,证明文中压力脉动的预测方法是可行的.     

非定常流弯肘型尾水管不规则压力脉动预测

尾水管内螺旋状涡带引起的压力脉动是造成混流式水轮机机组振动的主要原因之一,直接威胁机组的安全运行。为此,提出一种基于CFD数值计算的水轮机尾水管压力脉动数字化预测法,并利用此法对一大型混流式水轮机偏工况下尾水管内水流流动进行了长时间非定常流计算,讨论该工况下尾水管内死水域与涡带的运动规律,预测了尾水管的不规则压力脉动,压力脉动分析结果表明,其波形、频率、相位与实际基本一致。     

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CHARACTERISTIC FREQUENCY IN UNSTEADY HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOUR OF A LARGE HYDRAULIC TURBINE

The features of unsteady flow such as pressure variation and fluctuation in a large hydraulic turbine usually lead to the instability of operation.This article reports the recent in site investigation concerning the characteristic frequencies in pressure fluctuation,shaft torsional oscillation and structural vibration of a prototype 700 MW Francis turbine unit.The investigation was carried out for a wide load range of 200 MW-700 MW in the condition of water head 57 m-90 m.An extensive analysis of both time-history and frequency data of these unsteady hydraulic behaviours was conducted.It was observed that the pressure fluctuation in a draft tube is stronger than that in upstream flow passage.The low frequency with about one third of rotation frequency is dominative for the pressure fluctuation in part load range.Also the unsteady features of vibration of head cover and torsional oscillation of shaft exhibited the similar features.Numerical analysis showed that the vibration and oscillation are caused by vortex rope in the draft tube.In addition,a strong vibration with special characteristic frequency was observed for the head cover in middle load range.The pressure fluctuation in the draft tube with the same frequency was also recorded.Because this special vibration has appeared in the designed normal running condition,it should be avoided by carefully allocating power load in the future operation.     

三峡电站混流式水轮机水力稳定性研究

三峡电站水轮机是目前世界上运行水头变幅最大的巨型混流式水轮机之一 ,其运行稳定性是设计、研究、制造和使用部门关注的首要课题。在左岸电站机组招标文件和合同执行过程中 ,明确提出水力稳定性是首要考虑的问题 ,并具体规定了模型和真机的稳定性指标。在水轮机模型验收试验中 ,发现一些现象与众所周知的部分负荷的压力脉动不同 ,表现为在运行水头范围内存在压力脉动峰值带 ,频率较高 ,且从蜗壳进口至尾水管的几个部位均同时出现较大的压力脉动幅值。根据模型试验的结果 ,分析了空蚀系数和补气对压力脉动的影响 ,提出了改善三峡电站水轮机水力稳定性的几点措施     

大型水轮机不稳定流体与结构耦合特性研究Ⅱ：结构动应力与疲劳可靠性分析

水轮机疲劳寿命问题直接关系到电站安全和工程效益的发挥。本文以国内某大型水电站安装的混流式水轮机为研究对象,通过引入新的耦合界面模型,实现了不稳定压力场与结构场的耦合特性分析。耦合计算采用有限元方法,得到了转轮在不同工况下的压力脉动载荷的时间历程。通过雨流计数法处理,获得了应力幅值及均值的概率密度函数。依据材料疲劳特性预测了转轮叶片的寿命。文中还分析了X形叶片转轮在运行稳定性方面所具有的特征。所取得的研究结果为大型水轮机的稳定运行和优化设计提供了依据。     

混流式水轮机叶片疲劳裂纹分析及其改进方案

近年来,国内外一系列大型混流式水轮发电机组频繁发生转轮叶片的疲劳裂纹问题,对电站机组的安全稳定运行构成了严重威胁。本文以混流式水轮机为研究对象,通过全流道CFD计算及基于顺序流固耦合的转轮结构应力场计算,分析该转轮产生疲劳裂纹的原因。随后提出在叶片出水边和上冠连接处加装应力释放三角块的方案,以降低叶片最大有效应力值、改善叶片应力分布。计算结果表明该方案可以明显降低叶片最大有效应力、改善叶片应力分布。计算结果也可为其它水轮机转轮的疲劳裂纹及其应力特性分析提供参考。