Jintao Liu

Distribution of Pressure Fluctuations in a Prototype Pump Turbine at Pump Mode

Pressure fluctuations are very important characteristics in pump turbines operation. Many researches have focused on the characteristics (amplitude and frequencies) of pressure fluctuations at specific locations, but little researches mentioned the distribution of pressure fluctuations in a pump turbine. In this paper, 3D numerical simulations using SSTk − ω turbulence model were carried out to predict the pressure fluctuations distribution in a prototype pump turbine at pump mode. Three operating points with different mass flow rates and different guide vanes’ openings were simulated. The numerical results show how pressure fluctuations at blade passing frequency (BPF) and its harmonics vary along the whole flow path direction, as well as along the circumferential direction. BPF is the first dominant frequency in vaneless space. Pressure fluctuation component at this frequency rapidly decays towards upstream (to draft tube) and downstream (to spiral casing). In contrast, pressure fluctuations component at 3BPF spreads to upstream and downstream with almost constant amplitude. Amplitude and frequencies of pressure fluctuations also vary along different circumferential locations in vaneless space. When the mass flow and guide vanes’ opening are different, the distribution of pressure fluctuations along the two directions is different basically.

Instability Analysis of a Model Pump-Turbine with MGV Based on Nonlinear Partially Averaged Navier-Stokes Methods

Pump-turbines were always running at partial condition with the power grid changing. Flow separations and stall phenomena were obvious in the pump-turbine. Most of the RANS turbulence models solved the shear stress by linear difference scheme and isotropic models, so they could not capture all kinds of vortexes in the pump-turbine well. At present, partially-averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) model has been found to be better than LES in simulating flow regions especially those with less discretized grid. In this paper, a new nonlinear PANS turbulence model was proposed, which was modified from RNG k-ε turbulence model and the shear stresses were solved by Ehrhardts nonlinear methods. The nonlinear PANS model was used to study the instability of “S” region of a model pump-turbine with misaligned guide vanes (MGV). The opening of preopened guide vanes had great influence on the “S” characteristics. The optimal relative opening of the preopened guide vanes was 50% for the improvement of the “S” characteristics. Pressure fluctuations in the vaneless space were analyzed. It is found that the dominant frequency at the vaneless space was twice the blade passing frequency, while the second dominant frequency decreased as the preopening increased.

A Nonlinear k- Turbulence Model Applicable to High Pressure Gradient and Large Curvature Flow

Most of the RANS turbulence models solve the Reynolds stress by linear hypothesis with isotropic model. They can not capture all kinds of vortexes in the turbomachineries. In this paper, an improved nonlinear k-e turbulence model is proposed, which is modified from the RNG k-e turbulence model and Wilcoxs k-ω turbulence model. The Reynolds stresses are solved by nonlinear methods. The nonlinear k-e turbulence model can calculate the near wall region without the use of wall functions. The improved nonlinear k-e turbulence model is used to simulate the flow field in a curved rectangular duct. The results based on the improved nonlinear k-e turbulence model agree well with the experimental results. The calculation results prove that the nonlinear k-e turbulence model is available for high pressure gradient flows and large curvature flows, and it can be used to capture complex vortexes in a turbomachinery.