Development of WHED Method to Study Operational Stability of Typical Transitions in a Hydropower Plant and a Pumped Storage Plant

Xiuli Mao (), Guoqing Wen, Yuchuan Wang, Jiaren Hu, Xuetao Gan and Pengju Zhong
Additional contact information
Xiuli Mao: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Guoqing Wen: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Yuchuan Wang: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jiaren Hu: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xuetao Gan: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Pengju Zhong: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-28

Abstract: This study proposes the water hammer energy difference (WHED) method based on unsteady flow energy and continuity equations, as well as the propagation laws of water hammer in closed pipes, and verifies its accuracy. Additionally, the parameter evolution patterns of typical transient conditions in pumped storage power plants are investigated based on WHED. The application of WHED in the transient processes of hydropower plants (HPs) is validated by experiments, showing a maximum error of about 7% between numerical and experimental results under conditions of initial load increase followed by decrease ( H R = 184 m). Additionally, WHED was validated under two critical conditions in pumped storage plants (PSPs): 90% load rejection in generating mode and emergency power-off in pumping mode. In PSPs, the results of WHED are consistent with those obtained using the method of characteristics (MOC), with a maximum fault tolerance rate Δ < 3%. Notably, WHED offers superior time efficiency when analyzing hydraulic transitions in complex pipe networks, as it directly considers boundary conditions at both ends of the pipeline and hydraulic machinery, whereas MOC requires dividing the pipeline into multiple segments with a series of boundary points. Lastly, WHED’s energy parameters are used to describe flow stability from a physics perspective, explaining the causes of pressure fluctuations during transient periods in HPs and PSPs. These findings offer valuable references and guidance for the safe operation of PSPs and HPs.

Keywords: hydropower plant; pumped storage plant; typical transient conditions; method of water hammer energy difference; method of characteristics (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: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/6/1549/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/6/1549/ (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:6:p:1549-:d:1616618

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 ().