Hydraulic performance prediction of a prototype four-nozzle Pelton turbine by entire flow path simulation

This paper presents entire flow path simulations in a prototype four-nozzle Pelton turbine under three water heads, from pipe flow to nozzle jet water sheet flow on rotating bucket and drop from bucket brim on the air. Different type flows in the Pelton turbine are analyzed by adopting the three-dim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRenewable energy Vol. 125; pp. 270 - 282
Main Authors Zeng, Chongji, Xiao, Yexiang, Luo, Yongyao, Zhang, Jin, Wang, Zhengwei, Fan, Honggang, Ahn, Soo-Hwang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2018
Subjects
Entire flow path
Hydraulic performance
Multi-nozzle
Numerical simulation
Pelton turbine
Entire flow path
Hydraulic performance
Numerical simulation
Pelton turbine
Multi-nozzle
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Summary:This paper presents entire flow path simulations in a prototype four-nozzle Pelton turbine under three water heads, from pipe flow to nozzle jet water sheet flow on rotating bucket and drop from bucket brim on the air. Different type flows in the Pelton turbine are analyzed by adopting the three-dimensional transient air-water two-phase flow simulation method. Hydraulic performance of stationary parts and rotating runner are evaluated along the entire flow path. Flow analyses indicate that the pressure pulsation is very low and the water flow could be regarded as steady flow in the stationary parts. The hydraulic loss in these parts drops as the water head increases due to a reduction of the frictional loss. Afterwards, the interactions between the jets and buckets in the rotating runner are discussed. The pressure pulse on the bucket surface pulsates with the spreading of the water sheet flow and takes up 10%–25% water energy. The hydraulic performance of the bucket is highest at optimal water head and decreases as the water head varies. Unsteady flow analyses show that there is a potential for interference between the two adjacent jets if the water head or the angle between the two jets decreases. •Entire flow path simulations of a four-nozzle Pelton turbine was presented.•Hydraulic performance of the unit is validated with the model test.•There is a potential flow interference between the two adjacent jets.
ISSN:0960-1481
1879-0682
DOI:10.1016/j.renene.2018.02.075