Influence of blade leaning on hydraulic excitation and structural response of a reversible pump turbine

Blade leaning is commonly seen in the runner design of reversible pump turbines which operate under varying conditions. However, there is no certain law in determine the leaning mode and level. Considering performance, hydraulic excitation and structural response, five runners with strong rotational (RL+), rotational (RL), strong counter-rotational (CL+), counter-rotational (CL) and without (NL) blade leaning are compared under high-efficiency condition in pump mode and turbine mode. The head, efficiency, internal flow pressure pulsation and runner stress are comparatively studied. Among the five runners, CL+ runner is found has the highest efficiency as pump when RL+ runner has the highest efficiency as turbine. Pressure pulsation results show that the rotor-stator interaction region is the strongest pulsation source especially for runner and blade frequencies. In pump mode, pressure pulsation intensity decreases when blade leaning mode gradually changes from rotational to counter-rotational. In turbine mode, the NL runner has the strongest pressure pulsation intensity in runner and guide vane. Both rotational and counter-rotational leaning will reduce pressure pulsation. Velocity contours indicate that blade leaning will affect the velocity uniformity especially along rotational direction and cause stronger or weaker local hydraulic excitation. Under hydraulic excitation, RL+ runner suffers the highest equivalent stress as pump while CL runner suffers the highest equivalent stress as turbine. From rotational to counter-rotational blade leaning, the maximum stress moves on the crown from low pressure side to high pressure side. Considering hydraulic excitation and structural response, the strong counter-rotational leaning blade is found better in reversible runner design.

Characteristic Curve Prediction of a Commercial Centrifugal Pump Operating as a Turbine Through Numerical Simulations

In this work, we seek to predict the characteristic curve of a commercial centrifugal radial flow pump operating as a turbine, applying a novel methodology based on the state of the art. Initially, the characteristic curve in pump mode is validated through numerical simulations. The results obtained are approximate to the points awarded by the manufacturer, with an error of less than 7% at the best efficiency point. Subsequently, the characteristic curve is generated in turbine mode, obtaining an error of less than 10% respect to mathematical model. Then, velocity and pressure contours are evaluated to validate the fluid dynamic behavior. Finally, the site operating conditions for electricity generation are obtained. With this, it is proposing a methodology for the selection of these turbomachines, applying an economic technology for zones that do not have access to the electrical energy, since it was not found a method that is being applied for its correct election in the hydroelectric generation at low scale.

Effect of the Speed Factor On the Amplitude of the Blade Passing Frequency in the Vaneless Space of a Pump Turbine in Turbine Mode

An exponential expression describing the relationship between the amplitude of the blade passing frequency in the vaneless space of a pump turbine operating in the turbine mode and the speed factor is proposed based on statistical analysis. This mathematical relationship was discovered through signal processing of the data recorded during the emergency load rejection process of a prototype pump turbine. Subsequently, based on the pumped-storage test rig at Wuhan University, an experimental investigation was conducted to verify this mathematical relationship. The results indicated that, under the optimal guide vane opening of the model pump turbine, the goodness of fit of this mathematical relationship was quite high. As for the Francis pump turbine, the speed factor corresponds to the Strouhal number. Therefore, for this correlation, the underlying physical mechanism is the influence of the Strouhal number. This relation could inform the design and operation of pump turbines to control the intensity of pressure pulsations in the vaneless space. In addition, based on this mathematical relationship, the intensity of the rotor-stator interaction for different pump turbines can be compared quantitively.