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Numerical Study of a Francis Turbine over Wide Operating Range: Some Practical Aspects of Verification

Author

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  • Chirag Trivedi

    (Waterpower Laboratory, NTNU—Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
    Current address: Design Engineer, Rainpower Norge AS, Norway.)

  • Igor Iliev

    (Waterpower Laboratory, NTNU—Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

  • Ole Gunnar Dahlhaug

    (Waterpower Laboratory, NTNU—Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

Abstract

Hydropower plays an essential role in maintaining energy flexibility. Modern designs focus on sustainability and robustness using different numerical tools. Automatic optimization of the turbines is widely used, including low, mini and micro head turbines. The numerical techniques are not always foolproof in the absence of experimental data, and hence accurate verification is a key component of automatic optimization processes. This work aims to investigate the newly designed Francis runner for flexible operation. Unsteady simulations at 80 operating points of the turbine were conducted. The numerical model consisted of 16 million nodes of hexahedral mesh. A SAS-SST (scale adaptive simulation-shear stress transport) model was enabled for resolving/modeling the turbulent flow. The selected time-step size was equivalent to one-degree angular rotation of the runner. Global parameters, such as efficiency, torque, head and flow rate were considered for proper verification and validation. (1) A complete hill diagram of the turbine was prepared and verified with the reference case. (2) The relative error in hydraulic efficiency was computed and the over trend was studied. This allowed us to investigate the consistency of the numerical model under extreme operating conditions, far away from the best efficiency point. (3) Unsteady fluctuations of runner output torque were studied to identify unstable regions and magnitude of torque oscillations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chirag Trivedi & Igor Iliev & Ole Gunnar Dahlhaug, 2020. "Numerical Study of a Francis Turbine over Wide Operating Range: Some Practical Aspects of Verification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4301-:d:362465
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Iliev, Igor & Trivedi, Chirag & Dahlhaug, Ole Gunnar, 2019. "Variable-speed operation of Francis turbines: A review of the perspectives and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 109-121.
    2. Chirag Trivedi & Michel J. Cervantes & Ole G. Dahlhaug, 2016. "Experimental and Numerical Studies of a High-Head Francis Turbine: A Review of the Francis-99 Test Case," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Trivedi, Chirag & Cervantes, Michel J., 2017. "Fluid-structure interactions in Francis turbines: A perspective review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 87-101.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wen-Tao Su & Wei Zhao & Maxime Binama & Yue Zhao & Jian-Ying Huang & Xue-Ren Chen, 2022. "Experimental Francis Turbine Cavitation Performances of a Hydro-Energy Plant," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Leonardo Nibbi & Paolo Sospiro & Maurizio De Lucia & Cheng-Cheng Wu, 2022. "Improving Pumped Hydro Storage Flexibility in China: Scenarios for Advanced Solutions Adoption and Policy Recommendations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Krzemianowski, Zbigniew & Steller, Janusz, 2021. "High specific speed Francis turbine for small hydro purposes - Design methodology based on solving the inverse problem in fluid mechanics and the cavitation test experience," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1210-1228.

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