Flow Characteristics of Preliminary Shutdown and Startup Sequences for a Model Counter-Rotating Pump-Turbine

Jonathan Fahlbeck, Håkan Nilsson and Saeed Salehi
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Jonathan Fahlbeck: Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Håkan Nilsson: Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Saeed Salehi: Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Pumped Hydropower Storage (PHS) is the maturest and most economically viable technology for storing energy and regulating the electrical grid on a large scale. Due to the growing amount of intermittent renewable energy sources, the necessity of maintaining grid stability increases. Most PHS facilities today require a geographical topology with large differences in elevation. The ALPHEUS H2020 EU project has the aim to develop PHS for flat geographical topologies. The present study was concerned with the initial design of a low-head model counter-rotating pump-turbine. The machine was numerically analysed during the shutdown and startup sequences using computational fluid dynamics. The rotational speed of the individual runners was decreased from the design point to stand-still and increased back to the design point, in both pump and turbine modes. As the rotational speeds were close to zero, the flow field was chaotic, and a large flow separation occurred by the blades of the runners. Rapid load variations on the runner blades and reverse flow were encountered in pump mode as the machine lost the ability to produce head. The loads were less severe in the turbine mode sequence. Frequency analyses revealed that the blade passing frequencies and their linear combinations yielded the strongest pulsations in the system.

Keywords: hydropower; pumped hydro storage; low-head; counter-rotating; pump-turbine; transient sequences; shutdown; startup; OpenFOAM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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