• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.286-294
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• 2009

Hydroelectric power plants are known for their ability to cover variations of the consumption in electrical power networks. In order to follow this changing demand, hydraulic machines are subject to off-design operation. In that case, the swirling flow leaving the runner of a Francis turbine may act under given conditions as an excitation source for the whole hydraulic system. In high load operating conditions, vortex rope behaves as an internal energy source which leads to the self excitation of the system. The aim of this paper is to identify the influence of the full load excitation source location with respect to the eigenmodes shapes on the system stability. For this, a new eigenanalysis tool, based on eigenvalues and eigenvectors computation of the nonlinear set of differential equations in SIMSEN, has been developed. First the modal analysis method and linearization of the set of the nonlinear differential equations are fully described. Then, nonlinear hydro-acoustic models of hydraulic components based on electrical equivalent schemes are presented and linearized. Finally, a hydro-acoustic SIMSEN model of a simple hydraulic power plant, is used to apply the modal analysis and to show the influence of the turbine location on system stability. Through this case study, it brings out that modeling of the pipe viscoelastic damping is decisive to find out stability limits and unstable eigenfrequencies.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.400-408
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• 2009

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.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.42-53
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• 2014

Phase resonance in Francis type hydraulic turbine is studied. The phase resonance is a phenomenon that the pressure fluctuation in the penstock of hydraulic turbine installation can become very large when the pressure waves from each guide vane caused by the interaction with the runner vane reach the penstock with the same phase. Experimental and numerical studies have been carried out using a centrifugal fan. In the present study, comparisons between the pump mode and the turbine mode operations are made. The experimental and numerical results show that the rotational direction of the rotor does not affect characteristics of the pressure fluctuation but the propagation direction of the rotorstator interaction mode plays an important role. Flow rate fluctuations through the stator are examined numerically. It has been found that the blade passing flow rate fluctuation component can be evaluated by the difference of the fluctuating pressure at the inlet and the outlet of the stator. The amplitude of the blade passage component of the pressure fluctuation is greater at the stator inlet than the one at the stator outlet. The rotor-stator interaction mode component is almost identical at the inlet and the outlet of the stator. It was demonstrated that the pressure fluctuation in the volute and connecting pipe normalized by the flow rate fluctuation becomes the same for pump and turbine mode operations, and depends on the rotational direction on the interaction mode.