A Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for a Water Vortex Power Plant as Platform for Etho- and Ecohydraulic Research

Dennis Powalla, Stefan Hoerner, Olivier Cleynen, Nadine Müller, Jürgen Stamm and Dominique Thévenin
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Dennis Powalla: Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics and Technical Flows, University “Otto von Guericke” of Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Stefan Hoerner: Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics and Technical Flows, University “Otto von Guericke” of Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Olivier Cleynen: Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics and Technical Flows, University “Otto von Guericke” of Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Nadine Müller: Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Technical Hydromechanics, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Jürgen Stamm: Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Technical Hydromechanics, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Dominique Thévenin: Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics and Technical Flows, University “Otto von Guericke” of Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: The objective of the present paper is to develop a validated numerical model of a water vortex power plant that serves as a digital twin for further studies such as assessments of the ethohydraulic characteristics or the performance of such devices. The reference for the validation process is a large-scale hydraulic installation equipped with a full-scale water vortex power plant prototype installed in Dresden (Germany), where flow field measurements were carried out using three-dimensional Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry. The numerical model was implemented within the software package Star-CCM+. The unsteady, two-phase flow was solved with the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations in a Eulerian Multiphase approach, deploying a Volume of Fluid method to describe the free-surface flow. Water level and flow velocities were systematically compared in key areas of the device, demonstrating that the simulation is in good agreement with experimental observations. Relative differences are limited to at most 4% regarding water height in the system, and even the much more challenging velocity fields are reproduced with typical relative errors of roughly 10%. This validates the ability of the model to model the challenging flow conditions found in a water vortex power plant, enabling subsequent studies of the characteristics of this power plant concerning fish migration.

Keywords: water vortex power plant; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS); eulerian multiphase; volume of fluid (VOF) (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 (6)

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