International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems

Korean Society for Fluid machinery (한국유체기계학회)
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Validation of a CFD model for hydraulic seals

  • Roy, Vincent Le (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal) ;
  • Guibault, Francois (Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal) ;
  • Vu, Thi C. (Andritz Hydro Ltd.)
  • Accepted : 2009.05.27
  • Published : 2009.12.01
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Abstract

Optimization of seal geometries can reduce significantly the energetic losses in a hydraulic seal [1], especially for high head runner turbine. In the optimization process, a reliable prediction of the losses is needed and CFD is often used. This paper presents numerical experiments to determine an adequate CFD model for straight, labyrinth and stepped hydraulic seals used in Francis runners. The computation is performed with a finite volume commercial CFD code with a RANS low Reynolds turbulence model. As numerical computations in small radial clearances of hydraulic seals are not often encountered in the literature, the numerical results are validated with experimental data on straight seals and labyrinth seals. As the validation is satisfactory enough, geometrical optimization of hydraulic seals using CFD will be studied in future works.

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References

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