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Pumped storage is an important component of electrified wire netting. The safe and stable operation of pump turbines is extremely important. Among them, pressure pulsation is one of the main causes of pump turbine vibration. The characteristics of pressure pulsation are relatively complex, and it is difficult to directly observe their temporal changes using commonly used FFT methods. The division of frequency characteristics is often vague. Meanwhile, it is difficult to explain some phenomena such as frequency doubling. This article focuses on a certain model of pump turbine and uses SST model to numerically simulate the runaway condition of the pump turbine. And the Hilbert Huang transform method is used to analyze the pressure pulsation in the vaneless region and draft tube. The results show that the main characteristic frequencies of the vaneless region are blade passing frequency 112.5 Hz and rotational frequency 12.5 Hz. The main characteristic frequencies of the draft tube are vortex rope frequency near 3 Hz which energy ratio is up to 50%, rotational frequency, and blade passing frequency. The pressure pulsation characteristics in the vaneless region have changed from a complex composition of double blade passing frequency and rotational frequency to a distribution dominated by blade passing frequency. In the passage of the guide vane, the pressure pulsation is almost only characterized by blade passing frequency. The frequency characteristics of the vaneless region between the runner and the guide vane become complex again. Meanwhile, the results show that the characteristic frequencies of the vaneless region and the draft tube propagate upstream and downstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pumped storage is an important component of electrified wire netting. The safe and stable operation of pump turbines is extremely important. Among them, pressure pulsation is one of the main causes of pump turbine vibration. The characteristics of pressure pulsation are relatively complex, and it is difficult to directly observe their temporal changes using commonly used FFT methods. The division of frequency characteristics is often vague. Meanwhile, it is difficult to explain some phenomena such as frequency doubling. This article focuses on a certain model of pump turbine and uses SST model to numerically simulate the runaway condition of the pump turbine. And the Hilbert Huang transform method is used to analyze the pressure pulsation in the vaneless region and draft tube. The results show that the main characteristic frequencies of the vaneless region are blade passing frequency 112.5 Hz and rotational frequency 12.5 Hz. The main characteristic frequencies of the draft tube are vortex rope frequency near 3 Hz which energy ratio is up to 50%, rotational frequency, and blade passing frequency. The pressure pulsation characteristics in the vaneless region have changed from a complex composition of double blade passing frequency and rotational frequency to a distribution dominated by blade passing frequency. In the passage of the guide vane, the pressure pulsation is almost only characterized by blade passing frequency. The frequency characteristics of the vaneless region between the runner and the guide vane become complex again. Meanwhile, the results show that the characteristic frequencies of the vaneless region and the draft tube propagate upstream and downstream.

The nuclear reactor coolant pump transferring heat energy inherently brings with it the unsteady flow and inevitably threatens to the safe operation of the pump unit, especially with the pressure pulsation induced by the rotor-stator interaction. In this paper, the characteristics of pressure pulsation of the diffuser in a nuclear reactor coolant pump were investigated by the numerical simulation with experimental validation. Pressure pulsation signals measured synchronously from sensors mounted on the radial diffuser of a model pump were analyzed via Welch’s method. Frequency components induced by the rotor-stator interaction can be revealed by the diameter mode analysis method. The pressure pulsation of the diffuser is dominated by the blade passing frequency and its harmonics, which are free from the effect of flow rate and rotational speed while the corresponding amplitudes are easily affected by different operational conditions and measuring positions. The non-uniformity is much more affected by the rotational speed than the flow rate. This research is helpful for further work to reduce the pressure pulsation for the reactor coolant pump.

A clearance gap (CG) between guide vanes (GVs) and facing plates exists at both ends of a Francis turbine and allows the opening angle to be adjusted for varying operating conditions. Leakage flow is induced through this gap due to the pressure difference between the two sides of the guide vanes. While some research works have used qualitative approaches to visualize and predict the strength of a leakage vortex (LV), this paper presents a method for quantifying vortices along a trajectory. In this paper, a prototype high-head Francis runner with specific speed of 85.4 is considered as a reference case. A systematic investigation across both space and time is carried out, i.e., analysis of the spatial temporal progression of LV for three operating conditions. While travelling from the CG to runner leading edge, LV evolution and trajectory data are observed and the values of vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy are calculated for the LV trajectory. Frequency spectrum analyses of pressure oscillations in the vaneless space, runner blade, and draft tube are also performed to observe the peak pressure pulsation and its harmonics. Unsteady fluctuations of the runner output torque are finally studied to identify the patterns and magnitudes of torque oscillations.

Rotor stator interaction (RSI) is an important phenomenon influencing performances in the pump, turbine, and compressor. In this paper, the correlation-based transition model is used to study the RSI phenomenon between a translational cascade of airfoils and a flat plat. A comparison was made between computational results and experimental results. The computational boundary layer velocity is in reasonable agreement with the experimental velocity. The thickness of boundary layer decreases as the RSI frequency increases and it increases as the fluid flows downstream. The spectral plots of velocity fluctuations at leading edge x/c = 2 under RSI partial flow condition f = 20 Hz and f = 30 Hz are dominated by a narrowband component. RSI frequency mainly affects the turbulence intensity in the freestream region. However, it has little influence on the turbulence intensity of boundary layer near the wall. A secondary vortex is induced by the wake–boundary layer interaction and it leads to the formation of a thickened laminar boundary layer. The negative-vorticity wake also facilitates the formation of a thickened boundary layer while the positive-vorticity wake has a similar effect, like a calmed region which makes the boundary layer thinner.

Hydraulic turbines are operating at part load conditions depending on availability of hydraulic energy or to meet the grid requirements. The turbine experiences more fatigue during the part load operating conditions due to flow phenomena such as vortex breakdown in the draft tube and flow instability in the runner. The present paper focuses on the investigation of a high head model Francis turbine operating at 50% load. Pressure measurements have been carried out experimentally on a model Francis turbine. Total six pressure sensors were mounted inside the turbine and other two pressure sensors were mounted at the turbine inlet pipe. It is observed that the turbine experiences significant pressure fluctuations at the vaneless space and the runner. Moreover, a standing wave is observed between the pressure tank outlet and the turbine inlet. Analysis of the data acquired by the pressure sensors mounted in the draft tube showed the presence of vortex breakdown co-rotating with the runner. The detailed analysis showed the rotating and plunging components of the vortex breakdown. The influence of the rotating component was observed in the entire hydraulic circuit including distributor and turbine inlet but not the plunging one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous experimental and numerical analyses of the pressure pulse characteristics in a Francis turbine are extended here by using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model to model the unsteady flow within the entire flow passage of a large Francis pump turbine with misaligned guide vanes at the rated rotational speed. The S-curve characteristics are analyzed by a combined use of the model test and the steady state simulation with the aligned guide vane firstly. Four misaligned guide vanes with two different openings are chosen to analyze the influence of pressure pulses in the turbine. The characteristics of the dominant unsteady flow frequencies in different parts of the pump turbine for various misaligned guide vane openings are investigated in detail. The predicted hydraulic performance and the pressure fluctuations show that the misaligned guide vanes reduce the relative pressure fluctuation amplitudes in the stationary part of the flow passage, but not the runner blades. The misaligned guide vanes have changed the low frequencies in the entire flow passage with the change of the pulse amplitudes mainly due to changes in the rotor-stator interaction and the low frequency vortex rope flow behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental and numerical studies on a high head model Francis turbine were carried out over the entire range of turbine operation. A complete Hill diagram was constructed and pressure-time measurements were performed at several operating conditions over the entire range of power generation by installing pressure sensors in the rotating and stationary domains of the turbine. Unsteady numerical simulations were performed at five operating conditions using two turbulent models, shear stress transport (SST) k-ω and standard k-ε and two advection schemes, high resolution and second order upwind. There was a very small difference (0.85%) between the experimental and numerical hydraulic efficiencies at the best efficiency point (BEP); the maximum difference (14%) between the experimental and numerical efficiencies was found at lower discharge turbine operation. Investigation of both the numerical and experimental pressure-time signals showed that the complex interaction between the rotor and stator caused an output torque oscillation over a particular power generation range. The pressure oscillations that developed due to guide vanes and runnel blades interaction propagate up to the trailing edge of the blades. Fourier analysis of the signals revealed the presence of a vortex rope in the draft tube during turbine operation away from the BEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Proper Orthogonal Decomposition method is applied to the instantaneous velocity field within the rotor-stator inter-row region of a high-speed high-pressure centrifugal compressor. The processed data come from experiments and numerical simulations. In comparison with a Fourier transform, the POD gives the best modal approximation for both initial fields, in terms of the energy expressed on any given number of modes to be taken into account: to reach 98% of the total energy of the velocity field, the required number of POD modes is up to nine times lower than the number of Fourier harmonics. The individual POD modes are given and show that the unsteady rotor-stator interaction is already present in the very first modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blade row interaction can alter the time-mean flow and therefore be of interest for aerodynamic design analysis. Whereas results within low subsonic turbomachines are quite numerous in the literature, there have been far fewer works which give results of blade row interaction within high speed cases. Two cases are related in this paper. First, the effects of an incoming wake on the rotor flow field of a transonic compressor are analyzed. The blade row interaction proved to be positive regarding the total pressure ratio, but negative regarding the losses. The second case concerns a transonic turbine. Particular emphasis is placed on the assessment of the deterministic correlations included in the Averaged Passage Equation System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a detailed flow investigation within a centrifugal pump equipped with a vaned diffuser. The measurements were made with a laser Doppler velocimeter and were carried out at different operating points. The flow was investigated for different rotor-stator relative positions. Unsteady velocity measurements, obtained in phase with the rotor angular position, gave access to the flow inside the impeller channels where three sections were explored. In the diffuser, five sections were studied. Thus, time resolved details of the flow were examined for a better understanding of the complex unsteady flow existing between the two interacting blade rows. Results obtained at different operating conditions show that the rotor-stator interaction is affected by the diffuser position and the flow rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical methodology developed for predicting off-design performance of diffuser pumps. In off-design conditions, the effects of rotor/stator interaction and the pump system characteristics become significant, and both need to be taken into account. The pump computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and the system characteristic equation were incorporated to allow for flow dynamics in the duct. Flow analysis was applied to an entire circumference to capture the asymmetric flow feature at part-flow caused by rotating stall. An arbitrary sliding interface was exploited to consider the influence of rotor/stator interaction. The methodology was applied to a diffuser pump stage which includes a suction pipe, impeller, diffuser, U-bend, return channel and discharge pipe. Predicted results of the head-flow curve, pressure field and impeller radial forces were validated by the experimental data over the entire flow range. Back flow in the shroud region at small flowrates (from 0 to 40 per cent of design flow) was realistically exhibited. Flow in the region of 81 per cent of design flow displayed unstable features being caused by the occurrence of rotating stall in the impeller, such unsteady phenomena manifest themselves as a drop in the pump head rise, and larger fluctuations in impeller inlet pressure and radial forces. The present study has demonstrated that incorporation of the pump system characteristic equation and the pump CFD model produces a good prediction of pump off-design performance. The developed methodology can provide an alternative to dealing with pump off-design performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A clearance gap (CG) between guide vanes (GVs) and facing plates exists at both ends of a Francis turbine and allows the opening angle to be adjusted for varying operating conditions. Leakage flow is induced through this gap due to the pressure difference between the two sides of the guide vanes. While some research works have used qualitative approaches to visualize and predict the strength of a leakage vortex (LV), this paper presents a method for quantifying vortices along a trajectory. In this paper, a prototype high-head Francis runner with specific speed of 85.4 is considered as a reference case. A systematic investigation across both space and time is carried out, i.e., analysis of the spatial temporal progression of LV for three operating conditions. While travelling from the CG to runner leading edge, LV evolution and trajectory data are observed and the values of vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy are calculated for the LV trajectory. Frequency spectrum analyses of pressure oscillations in the vaneless space, runner blade, and draft tube are also performed to observe the peak pressure pulsation and its harmonics. Unsteady fluctuations of the runner output torque are finally studied to identify the patterns and magnitudes of torque oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotor stator interaction (RSI) is an important phenomenon influencing performances in the pump, turbine, and compressor. In this paper, the correlation-based transition model is used to study the RSI phenomenon between a translational cascade of airfoils and a flat plat. A comparison was made between computational results and experimental results. The computational boundary layer velocity is in reasonable agreement with the experimental velocity. The thickness of boundary layer decreases as the RSI frequency increases and it increases as the fluid flows downstream. The spectral plots of velocity fluctuations at leading edge x/c = 2 under RSI partial flow condition f = 20 Hz and f = 30 Hz are dominated by a narrowband component. RSI frequency mainly affects the turbulence intensity in the freestream region. However, it has little influence on the turbulence intensity of boundary layer near the wall. A secondary vortex is induced by the wake–boundary layer interaction and it leads to the formation of a thickened laminar boundary layer. The negative-vorticity wake also facilitates the formation of a thickened boundary layer while the positive-vorticity wake has a similar effect, like a calmed region which makes the boundary layer thinner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]