Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis and Validation with Field Test of 1 MW Hydropower Turbine System

Ki-Ha Kim, Dong-Hyun Kim (), Suk-Jin Hong and Sang-Myung Lee
Additional contact information
Ki-Ha Kim: Graduate School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Republic of Korea
Dong-Hyun Kim: Graduate School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Republic of Korea
Suk-Jin Hong: Graduate School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Republic of Korea
Sang-Myung Lee: Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN), Jinju 52852, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: This study analyzed and validated a 1 MW hydropower turbine system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in conjunction with field test data. The fluid domain of the hydropower system includes the runner blade, vane, duct, and both inflow and outflow free surface flows. An implicit unsteady flow solver and the SST k-ω turbulence model were employed. The rotational motion of the rotor blade was simulated using the moving reference frame (MRF) method. To handle a non-conformal mesh among the intake, runner, and outlet domains, an internal interface boundary condition was applied. System performance was evaluated by adjusting the guide vane opening ratio and the runner blade pitch angle. A free surface model was also developed to accurately represent the water level. The results show that the CFD analysis predicted the turbine’s power output with a maximum deviation of 1.7% from field test measurements under different tide conditions. The numerical analysis also confirmed the influence of the runner blade pitch angle, with a 1° change in pitch angle leading to a 68 kW variation in power output. The accuracy of the CFD analysis was verified by comparing it to performance data from actual field tests.

Keywords: hydropower turbine; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); free surface; moving reference frame (MRF); runner blade; guide vane; field test (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: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/628/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/628/ (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:18:y:2025:i:3:p:628-:d:1579916

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 ().