Experimental and numerical simulations predictions comparison of power and efficiency in hydraulic turbine

Abstract

On-site power and mass flow rate measurements were conducted in a hydroelectric power plant (Mexico). Mass flow rate was obtained using Gibson’s water hammer-based method. A numerical counterpart was carried out by using the commercial CFD software, and flow simulations were performed to principal components of a hydraulic turbine: runner and draft tube. Inlet boundary conditions for the runner were obtained from a previous simulation conducted in the spiral case. The computed results at the runner’s outlet were used to conduct the subsequent draft tube simulation. The numerical results from the runner’s flow simulation provided data to compute the torque and the turbine’s power. Power-versus-efficiency curves were built, and very good agreement was found between experimental and numerical data.