Computer Simulation of Turbulent Flow through a Hydraulic Turbine Draft Tube

Based on the Navier-Stokes equations and the standard k-ε turbulence model, this paper presents the derivation of the governing equations for the turbulent flow field in a draft tube. The mathematical model for the turbulent flow through a draft tube is set up when the boundary conditions, including the inlet boundary conditions, the outlet boundary conditions and the wall boundary conditions, have been implemented. The governing equations are formulated in a discrete form on a staggered grid system by the finite volume method. The second-order central difference approximation and hybrid scheme are used for discretization. The computation and analysis on internal flow through a draft tube have been carried out by using the simplec algorithm and cfx-tasc flow software so as to obtain the simulated flow fields. The calculation results at the design operating condition for the draft tube are presented in this paper. Thereby, an effective method for simulating the internal flow field in a draft tube has been explored.