2017 Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 154-163
Performance characteristics in pump mode of pump-turbines are vital for the safe and effective operation of pumped storage power plants. However, the head characteristics are different under different guide vane openings. In this paper, 3-D steady simulations were performed under 13mm, 19mm and 25mm guide vane openings. Three groups of operating points under the three GVOs were chosen based on experimental validation to investigate the influence of guide vane setting on flow patterns upstream and downstream. The results reveal that, the guide vane setting will obviously change the flow pattern downstream, which in turn influences the flow upstream. It shows a strong effect on hydraulic loss (power dissipation) in the guide and stay vanes. It is also found that the hydraulic loss mainly comes from the flow separation and vortices. In addition, in some operating conditions, the change of guide vane opening will change the flow angle at the runner inlet and outlet, which will change the Euler momentum (power input). The joint action of Euler momentum and hydraulic loss results in the change of the head characteristics.
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