Analysis of the Flow Behavior and Pressure Fluctuation of a Pump Turbine with Splitter Blades in Part-Load Pump Mode

Wei Xiao, Shaocheng Ren, Liu Chen, Bin Yan, Yilin Zhu and Yexiang Xiao ()
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Wei Xiao: Pumped-Storage Technological & Economic Research Institute State Grid Xinyuan Company Ltd., Beijing 100053, China
Shaocheng Ren: China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100048, China
Liu Chen: China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100048, China
Bin Yan: Pumped-Storage Technological & Economic Research Institute State Grid Xinyuan Company Ltd., Beijing 100053, China
Yilin Zhu: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Yexiang Xiao: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: The internal flow of a pump turbine is unstable in part-load pump mode for small guide-vane openings, and the strong vibration caused by pressure pulsation is related to the safe and stable operation of the unit. A pump turbine with a six-splitter-blade runner was chosen for unsteady simulation analyses. A standard k-epsilon turbulence model was adopted to study the unsteady flow and pressure pulsation in part-load pump mode. The predicted results show that the flow in the draft tube and the runner with splitter blades was relatively stable and the flow of the blade-to-blade channel was symmetrical. When the inlet and outlet velocity distribution of the vanes was not uniform, a vortex began to form in the stay-vane domain. The reason for this vortex formation is explained, and it is pointed out that the existence of the vortex and backflow leads to uneven velocity distribution. The unsteady calculation results showed that the pressure-pulsation peak-to-peak amplitudes in the vaneless area and guide vanes were much higher than those of other monitor points because of rotor–stator interference between the rotating runner and the vanes. In addition, the pulsation characteristics of the monitor points at different circumferential positions in the vaneless region were quite different. In the vaneless area, the velocity gradient along the circumferential direction was very large, and there was a phenomenon of backflow. Also, the pressure pulsation was 0.2 times that of the runner rotational frequency, and the blade-passing frequency was a third-order frequency. At the outlet of the guide vane, the pressure pulsation was mainly of a low frequency with a complex vortex flow. Finally, the pressure pulsation began to decrease rapidly in the stay-vane region.

Keywords: pump turbine; splitter blades; pressure pulsation; part-load pump mode; numerical simulation (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: 2024
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