Performance of Kaplan Turbine Operating at Design Condition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhannad Altimemy ◽  
Saif Watheq ◽  
Justin Caspar ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin

Abstract Design and optimization using computational fluid dynamics to enhance the hydro turbine’s performance are becoming gradually more common because of its flexibility, minor detailed flow description, and cost-effectiveness. These features are not easily achievable in model testing. k–ω simulations conducted in OpenFOAM 7 characterize the flow structure inside an industrial-sized Kaplan turbine module operating at the peak design flowrate. The power signal, velocity, vorticity, and pressure field are presented over the blades and throughout the draft tube. Additionally, pressure fluctuations were probed along the draft tube wall. The simulation shows a tip vortex rope in the narrow gap between the blade tip and turbine casing. The strong influence of the swirl leaving the runner had a negative impact on the flow pressure fluctuation. Also, high vortical activity was presented near the draft tube wall, leading to turbine instability. It was demonstrated that the turbine generates 14.923 MW of average power. The power signal showed minor fluctuations induced by the vortical activity close to the runner region and the corresponding pressure fluctuations. The Fast Fourier Transform showed the system is dominated by low frequency, high amplitude fluctuations.

Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Khozaei ◽  
Arthur Favrel ◽  
Toshitake Masuko ◽  
Naoki Yamaguchi ◽  
Kazuyoshi Miyagawa

Abstract This paper focuses on the generation of twin vortex rope in the draft-tube elbow of a Francis turbine at deep part-load operation through analyzing the results of model tests along with numerical simulations. Model tests, including pressure fluctuations measurements, are conducted over 10 speed factors. By considering the frequency of the pressure fluctuations with respect to the swirl intensity at the runner outlet, the part-load operating range is divided into three regimes, with two clear transitions between each occurring at swirl numbers 0.4 and 1.7. For operating conditions with a swirl number S>0.4, a linear correlation between the frequency of the precessing vortex core and the swirl number is established. During deep part-load regime (S>1.7), low-frequency pressure fluctuations appear. Their frequency feature another linear correlation with the swirl number. Unsteady CFD simulation of the full domain is performed to elucidate the generation mechanisms of the low-frequency fluctuations. By tracking the center of the vortical structures along the draft-tube, generation of three vortices in the elbow responsible for the pressure fluctuations at the lowest frequency is highlighted: the main PVC hits the draft-tube wall in the elbow resulting in its break down into three vortices rotating with half the rotational speed of the PVC. Two of the vortices rotate with opposite angular position, constituting a structure of twin vortices. The periodic rotation of these three vortices in the elbow induces the low-frequency pressure fluctuations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 538-541 ◽  
pp. 610-615
Author(s):  
Jun Xu ◽  
Xing Xing Chen ◽  
Gui Lei Wang ◽  
Yao Dong Wei

The experiment is carried out in a 13-meter-high circulating fluidized bed(CFB) to investigate gas-solid two-phase flow by pressure sensor. The axial pressure and pressure fluctuation are measured in different solid mass fluxes. With the solid mass flux increasing, pressure gradually increases, and pressure gradually decreases along the riser upwards. The characteristic of pressure fluctuation in the riser is analyzed, which indicates that pressure fluctuation in the riser originates from the inlet. The intensity of the pressure fluctuation decreases along the riser upwards. This pressure fluctuation is composed of two types: one is of low frequency and high amplitude, which is resulted from unstable feeding to the riser and keeps coherent along the axial direction. And the other is of high frequency and low amplitude, which is the result of a variety of factors, such as cluster movement, gas-solid interaction and gas velocity fluctuation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhong Liu ◽  
Shengcai Li ◽  
Yulin Wu

While larger and larger turbines are being developed, hydraulic stability has become one of the key issues for their performance assessments. An accurate prediction of their pressure fluctuations is vital to the success of new model development. In this paper, we briefly introduced the method, i.e., the three-dimensional unsteady turbulent flow simulation of the complete flow passage, which we used for predicting the pressure fluctuations of a model Kaplan turbine. In order to verify the prediction, the model turbine was tested on the test rig at the Harbin Electric Machinery Co., Ltd. (HEC), China, which meets all the international standards. Our main findings from this numerical prediction of pressure fluctuations for a model Kaplan turbine are as follows. (1) The approach by using 3D unsteady turbulent flow including rotor-stator interaction for the whole flow passage is a feasible way for predicting model turbine hydraulic instability. The predicted values at different points along its flow passage all agree well with the test data in terms of their frequencies and amplitudes. (2) The low-frequency pressure fluctuation originating from the draft tube is maximal and influences the stability of the turbine operation mostly. The whole flow passage analysis shows that the swirling vortex rope in the draft tube is the major source generating the pressure fluctuations in this model turbine. (3) The second harmonic of the rotational frequency 2fn is more dominant than the blade passing frequency Zfn in the draft tube. This prediction, including the turbulence model, computational methods, and the boundary conditions, is valid either for performance prediction at design stage and/or for operation optimization after commissioning.


Author(s):  
Muhannad Altimemy ◽  
Justin Caspar ◽  
Saif Watheq ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin

Abstract High-fidelity Large Eddy Simulations (LES) were conducted to characterize the spatial and temporal structure of turbulent flows in an industrial-sized Francis turbine running at 120% of the design flow rate. Injection at a 4% and 8% flow rate is applied and investigated as a mitigation method for pressure-induced fluctuations along the draft tube. Contours of velocity and vorticity in the draft tube are presented to examine the effects of water injection. Probes placed alongside the draft tube measure the pressure signal and compare both operational regimes to characterize the pressure fluctuations. The intensity of pressure fluctuations along the draft tube wall is an order of magnitude smaller compared to that at the center. As the injection is applied, the intensity of the pressure fluctuations along the draft tube wall is increased while the intensity of pressure fluctuations in the center of the draft tube is reduced. Pressure probes in the center of the draft tube measure an 86% to 57% reduction in amplitude for 4% to 8% flow rate injection, respectively. There is a 30% to 40% increase in fluctuations along the wall for 4% to 8% flow rate injection, respectively. These changes in flow structure are due to the dissipation of the vortex rope as the injection is applied.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Houde ◽  
Guy Dumas ◽  
Claire Deschênes

Hydraulic turbines are more frequently used for power regulation and thus spend more time providing spinning reserve for electrical grids. Spinning reserve requires the turbine to operate at its synchronous rotation speed, ready to be linked to the grid in what is termed the speed-no-load (SNL) condition. The turbine's runner flow in SNL is characterized by low discharge and high swirl leading to low-frequency high amplitude pressure fluctuations potentially leading to blade damage and more maintenance downtime. For low-head hydraulic turbines operating at SNL, the large pressure fluctuations in the runner are sometimes attributed to rotating stall. Using embedded pressure transducer measurements, mounted on runner blades of a model propeller turbine, and numerical flow simulations, this paper provides an insight into the inception mechanism associated with rotating stall in SNL conditions. The results offer evidence that the rotating stall is in fact associated with an unstable vorticity distribution not associated with the runner blades themselves.


Author(s):  
Muhannad Altimemy ◽  
Justin Caspar ◽  
Saif Watheq ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin

Abstract High-fidelity large eddy simulations (LES) were conducted to characterize the spatial and temporal structure of turbulent flows in an industrial-sized Francis turbine. The unit operated at 50% and 40% of the best efficiency design flowrate. Contours of vorticity, velocity, pressure, and iso-surfaces of Q-Criterion were presented to characterize the effects on the draft tube. Probes placed alongside the draft tube measure the pressure signal to investigate the flow-induced pressure fluctuations inside the turbine unit. The maximum intensity of pressure fluctuations at 50% partial load was 22.66% of the turbine head, while the strength of the pressure fluctuations was 26.36% at 40% partial load. A large number of unorganized smaller vortices observed in the draft tube contribute to the creation of pressure fluctuations. Two pressure modes can be easily recognized (1) high frequency with low amplitude pressure fluctuations and (2) low frequency with high amplitude fluctuations. These pressure fluctuations could be harmful to the structural integrity of the unit and also have undesirable influences on the operational stability of the hydro-turbines.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Eduardo Soares Ferreira ◽  
Milton José Porsani ◽  
Michelângelo G. Da Silva ◽  
Giovani Lopes Vasconcelos

ABSTRACT. Seismic processing aims to provide an adequate image of the subsurface geology. During seismic processing, the filtering of signals considered noise is of utmost importance. Among these signals is the surface rolling noise, better known as ground-roll. Ground-roll occurs mainly in land seismic data, masking reflections, and this roll has the following main features: high amplitude, low frequency and low speed. The attenuation of this noise is generally performed through so-called conventional methods using 1-D or 2-D frequency filters in the fk domain. This study uses the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method for ground-roll attenuation. The EMD method was implemented in the programming language FORTRAN 90 and applied in the time and frequency domains. The application of this method to the processing of land seismic line 204-RL-247 in Tacutu Basin resulted in stacked seismic sections that were of similar or sometimes better quality compared with those obtained using the fk and high-pass filtering methods.Keywords: seismic processing, empirical mode decomposition, seismic data filtering, ground-roll. RESUMO. O processamento sísmico tem como principal objetivo fornecer uma imagem adequada da geologia da subsuperfície. Nas etapas do processamento sísmico a filtragem de sinais considerados como ruídos é de fundamental importância. Dentre esses ruídos encontramos o ruído de rolamento superficial, mais conhecido como ground-roll . O ground-roll ocorre principalmente em dados sísmicos terrestres, mascarando as reflexões e possui como principais características: alta amplitude, baixa frequência e baixa velocidade. A atenuação desse ruído é geralmente realizada através de métodos de filtragem ditos convencionais, que utilizam filtros de frequência 1D ou filtro 2D no domínio fk. Este trabalho utiliza o método de Decomposição em Modos Empíricos (DME) para a atenuação do ground-roll. O método DME foi implementado em linguagem de programação FORTRAN 90, e foi aplicado no domínio do tempo e da frequência. Sua aplicação no processamento da linha sísmica terrestre 204-RL-247 da Bacia do Tacutu gerou como resultados, seções sísmicas empilhadas de qualidade semelhante e por vezes melhor, quando comparadas as obtidas com os métodos de filtragem fk e passa-alta.Palavras-chave: processamento sísmico, decomposição em modos empíricos, filtragem dados sísmicos, atenuação do ground-roll.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1182
Author(s):  
Seung-Jun Kim ◽  
Yong Cho ◽  
Jin-Hyuk Kim

Under low flow-rate conditions, a Francis turbine exhibits precession of a vortex rope with pressure fluctuations in the draft tube. These undesirable flow phenomena can lead to deterioration of the turbine performance as manifested by torque and power output fluctuations. In order to suppress the rope with precession and a swirl component in the tube, the use of anti-swirl fins was investigated in a previous study. However, vortex rope generation still occurred near the cone of the tube. In this study, unsteady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes analyses were conducted with a scale-adaptive simulation shear stress transport turbulence model. This model was used to observe the effects of the injection in the draft tube on the unsteady internal flow and pressure phenomena considering both active and passive suppression methods. The air injection affected the generation and suppression of the vortex rope and swirl component depending on the flow rate of the air. In addition, an injection level of 0.5%Q led to a reduction in the maximum unsteady pressure characteristics.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Mareike Eschweiler ◽  
Lara Bohr ◽  
Josef Kessler ◽  
Gereon R. Fink ◽  
Elke Kalbe ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: The negative impact of cognitive dysfunction on motor rehabilitation as a relearning-process is well known in stroke patients. However, evidence for combined cognitive and motor training (CMT) is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of combined CMT in early stroke rehabilitation. METHODS: In a controlled pilot study, 29 moderately affected stroke patients with low-level motor performance and cognitive impairment received motor therapy plus either cognitive (experimental group, EG) or low-frequency ergometer training (control group, CG) for eight days. RESULTS: Both groups improved their motor functioning significantly. After training, between-group comparison revealed significant differences for cognitive flexibility and trends for set-shifting, working memory, and reaction control in favor of the EG. Within-group effects showed improvement across all cognitive domains in the EG, which correlated with gains in bed-mobility, while the CG showed no significant improvement in cognition. Rather, a trend towards reaction control decline was observed, which correlated with less functional progression and recovery. Furthermore, a decline in cognitive flexibility, set-shifting, and working memory was descriptively observed. CONCLUSIONS: Combined CMT may enhance cognition and motor relearning early after stroke and is superior to single motor training. Further studies are needed to replicate these results and investigate long-term benefits.


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