Draft tube discharge fluctuation during self-sustained pressure surge: fluorescent particle image velocimetry in two-phase flow

Hydraulic machines play an increasingly important role in providing a secondary energy reserve for the integration of renewable energy sources in the existing power grid. This requires a significant extension of their usual operating range, involving the presence of cavitating flow regimes in the draft tube. At overload conditions, the self-sustained oscillation of a large cavity at the runner outlet, called vortex rope, generates violent periodic pressure pulsations. In an effort to better understand the nature of this unstable behavior and its interaction with the surrounding hydraulic and mechanical system, the flow leaving the runner is investigated by means of particle image velocimetry. The measurements are performed in the draft tube cone of a reduced scale model of a Francis turbine. A cost-effective method for the in-house production of fluorescent seeding material is developed and described, based on off-the-shelf polyamide particles and Rhodamine B dye. Velocity profiles are obtained at three streamwise positions in the draft tube cone, and the corresponding discharge variation in presence of the vortex rope is calculated. The results suggest that 5-10% of the discharge in the draft tube cone is passing inside the vortex rop

High Speed Flow Visualisation of an Impinging Jet on a Pelton Turbine Bucket

This paper deals with flow investigations using endoscopes in a single-injector reduced scale Pelton turbine performed with a CMOS high-speed camera. Both onboard and external visualizations techniques of the flow in a bucket are presented. The flow observations evidence the unsteadiness of the successive steps of jet/bucket interaction, free surface flow development and evolution throughout the bucket duty cycle

Modal behavior of a reduced scale pump-turbine impeller. Part 1: Experiments

An experimental investigation has been carried out to quantify the effects of surrounding fluid on the modal behavior of a reduced scale pump-turbine impeller. The modal properties of the fluid-structure system have been obtained by Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) with the impeller suspended in air and inside a water reservoir. The impeller has been excited with an instrumented hammer and the response has been measured by means of miniature accelerometers. The Frequency Response Functions (FRF’s) have been obtained from a large number of impacting positions in order to ensure the identification of the main mode shapes. As a result, the main modes of vibration have been well characterized both in air and in water in terms of natural frequency, damping ratio and mode shape. The first mode is the 2 Nodal Diameter (ND), the second one is the 0ND and the following ones are the 3ND coupled with the 1ND. The visual observation of the animated mode shapes and the level of the Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) have permitted to correlate the homologous modes of vibration of the fluid-structure system in air and in water. From this comparison the added mass effect on the natural frequencies and the fluid effect on the damping ratios have been quantified for the most significant modes. With the surrounding water, the natural frequencies decrease in average by 10%. On the other hand, the damping ratios increase in average by 0.5%. In any case, the damping ratio appears to decrease with the frequency value of the mode

How oblique trailing edge of a hydrofoil reduces the vortex-induced vibration

The effect of hydrofoil trailing edge shape on the wake dynamic and flow induced vibration is investigated at high Reynolds number, Re = 0.5 x 10(6)-2.9 x 10(6). Two NACA 0009 hydrofoils with blunt and oblique trailing edges are tested. The velocity field is surveyed with the help of Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), and Particle-Image-Velocimetry, (Ply). Proper-Orthogonal-Decomposition (POD) is used to extract coherent structures from PIV data. Besides, flow induced vibration measurements and highspeed visualization are also performed. A significant reduction of vortex induced vibration is obtained with the oblique trailing edge, in accordance with former reports. High speed videos clearly demonstrate that for both tested hydrofoils, the alternate vortices detach from upper and lower corners of the trailing edge. Due to the oblique truncation, the lower detachment location is shifted upstream with respect to the upper one. Therefore, as the upper vortex rolls up, it coincides with the passage of the lower vortex, leading to their collision. This strong interaction leads to a redistribution of the vorticity, which no more concentrates within the core of Karman vortices. The analysis of the phase locked average of velocity profiles reveals that the oblique truncation leads to a thickening of the core of upper and lower vortices as well as a disorganization of the alternate shedding in the near wake, recovers downstream. We strongly believe that the collision between upper and lower vortices and the resulting vorticity redistribution is the main reason of the vibration reduction obtained with oblique trailing edge. This result paves the way for further optimization of the trailing edge shape. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

On the upper part load vortex rope in Francis turbine: Experimental investigation

The swirling flow developing in Francis turbine draft tube under part load operation leads to pressure fluctuations usually in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the runner rotational frequency resulting from the so-called vortex breakdown. For low cavitation number, the flow features a cavitation vortex rope animated with precession motion. Under given conditions, these pressure fluctuations may lead to undesirable pressure fluctuations in the entire hydraulic system and also produce active power oscillations. For the upper part load range, between 0.7 and 0.85 times the best efficiency discharge, pressure fluctuations may appear in a higher frequency range of 2 to 4 times the runner rotational speed and feature modulations with vortex rope precession. It has been pointed out that for this particular operating point, the vortex rope features elliptical cross section and is animated of a self-rotation. This paper presents an experimental investigation focusing on this peculiar phenomenon, defined as the upper part load vortex rope. The experimental investigation is carried out on a high specific speed Francis turbine scale model installed on a test rig of the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines. The selected operating point corresponds to a discharge of 0.83 times the best efficiency discharge. Observations of the cavitation vortex carried out with high speed camera have been recorded and synchronized with pressure fluctuations measurements at the draft tube cone. First, the vortex rope self rotation frequency is evidenced and the related frequency is deduced. Then, the influence of the sigma cavitation number on vortex rope shape and pressure fluctuations is presented. The waterfall diagram of the pressure fluctuations evidences resonance effects with the hydraulic circuit. The time evolution of the vortex rope volume is compared with pressure fluctuations time evolution using image processing. Finally, the influence of the Froude number on the vortex rope shape and the associated pressure fluctuations is analyzed by varying the rotational speed

Detection of cavitation in hydraulic turbines

An experimental investigation has been carried out in order to evaluate the detection of cavitation in actual hydraulic turbines. The methodology is based on the analysis of structural vibrations, acoustic emissions and hydrodynamic pressures measured in the machine. The proposed techniques have been checked in real prototypes suffering from different types of cavitation. In particular, one Kaplan, two Francis and one Pump-Turbine have been investigated in the field. Additionally, one Francis located in a laboratory has also been tested. First, a brief description of the general features of cavitation phenomenon is given as well as of the main types of cavitation occurring in hydraulic turbines. The work presented here is focused on the most important ones which are the leading edge cavitation due to its erosive power, the bubble cavitation because it affects the machine performance and the draft tube swirl that limits the operation stability. Cavitation detection is based on the previous understanding of the cavity dynamics and its location inside the machine. This knowledge has been gained from flow visualisations and measurements in laboratory devices such as a high-speed cavitation tunnel and a reduced scale turbine test rig. The main techniques are the study of the high frequency spectral content of the signals and of their amplitude demodulation for a given frequency band. Moreover, low frequency spectral content can also be used in certain cases. The results obtained for the various types of cavitation found in the selected machines are presented and discussed in detail in the paper. Conclusions are drawn about the best sensor, measuring location, signal processing and analysis for each type of cavitation, which serve to validate and to improve the detection techniques

Variable speed operation of centrifugal pumps running as turbines. Experimental investigation

Pumps running as turbines are pointed out as a cost-effective solution for energy recovery in pressurised water supply systems. However, these hydraulic machines feature low efficiency under variable discharge operation due to the lack of an inlet flow control component. Variable speed operation is an approach for controlling the discharge at the pump as turbine inlet aiming at increasing the operational efficiency. This research work presents the experimental investigation for measuring the variable speed characteristic curves of pumps running as turbines, focusing on the turbine and on the extended operation modes. Three single-stage end-suction closed-impeller centrifugal pumps with different unit specific speed values are tested. Turbine mode test results show that the discharge-specific energy operating range is broadened with increasing efficiency if the machines are operated with variable speed. Extended operation results show that these hydraulic machines do not feature the instability region near the runaway conditions, the so-called the “s-curve”. Outcomes of this experimental investigation provide the required insights for establishing the design technical specifications of micro hydropower plants with variable speed pumps running as turbines, aiming at maximizing the energy recovered in pressurised water supply systems

Hill chart modelling using the Hermite polynomial chaos expansion for the performance prediction of pumps running as turbines

Pumps running as turbines are suitable hydraulic machines for micro hydropower applications. The selection of the proper pumps to install in a given site still remains a major challenge, as pump manufacturers do not provide the characteristic curves data in the turbine mode. Also, the accurate prediction and modelling of the pumps running as turbines characteristic curves still remain a major difficulty as existing methodologies still lack ac-curacy, especially in the part load and full load operating regions. This paper proposes a new two-step methodology based on the Hermite polynomial chaos expansion for predicting the characteristic curves of pumps running as turbines and modelling their variable speed operation, aiming at improving the prediction accuracy. Firstly, bivariate continuous surrogate functions are established for predicting the turbine mode and the ex-tended operation mode characteristic curves inside a closed interval of unit specific speed values. These surrogate functions are developed by calibrating empirical coefficients based on collected experimental data. Secondly, a hill chart model is determined for describing the variable speed operation of a given pump running as a turbine. This hill chart model allows identifying the discharge and the rotational speed set points for maximising efficiency for a given operating condition. The proposed prediction surrogate functions and the variable speed hill chart model are useful engineering tools for improving the design of pump as turbine hydropower plants and for optimising the pump running as turbine control settings to maximise the produced energy