Comparison on Hydraulic Characteristics of Vertical and Horizontal Air-Cushion Surge Chambers in the Hydropower Station under Load Disturbances

Tingyu Xu, Sheng Chen, Jian Zhang (), Xiaodong Yu (), Jiawen Lyu and Haibin Yan
Additional contact information
Tingyu Xu: College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Sheng Chen: College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Jian Zhang: College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Xiaodong Yu: College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Jiawen Lyu: College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Haibin Yan: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Hydroelectric energy is an increasingly vital and effective renewable energy for modern society. The protective effect on the water hammer in the pipeline, the operational stability of the hydropower system, and the flow regime in the air-cushion surge chamber (ACSC) are three main problems during the design of the hydropower station with an ACSC. Comprehensively comparing the above issues between the horizontal and vertical ACSCs is meaningful. This study established the one-dimensional (1D) model based on the Method of Characteristics (MOC) under large load disturbances (LLD) and the rigid water column theory under small load disturbances (SLD). At the same time, the three-dimensional (3D) model was built based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) to obtain a more detailed flow regime in the ACSC under the load acceptance condition. The results showed that the vertical ACSC was superior to the horizontal one for its large safe water depth, smaller maximum air pressure, and more stable flow under LLD. In contrast, the horizontal one was better than the vertical one for its extensive water area to calm the SLD during the transient process and smaller fluctuation of the surge under SLD. This study will provide a reference for a future project on selecting the structure of the ACSC.

Keywords: air-cushion surge chamber; flow regime; load disturbances; pressure variation; surge fluctuation (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1501/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1501/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:3:p:1501-:d:1056205

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().