CFD simulation of pressure and discharge surge in Francis turbine at off-design conditions

A hybrid 1D-3D CFD model is developed for the numerical simulation of pressure and discharge surge in hydraulic power plants. The most essential part - the turbine itself - is simulated directly using 3D unsteady equations of turbulent motion of fluid-vapor mixture, while the rest of the hydraulic system is simulated in frames of 1D hydro-acoustic model. Thus the model accounts for the main factors responsible for excitation and propagation of pressure and discharge waves in hydraulic power plant. Boundary conditions at penstock inlet and draft tube outlet are discussed in detail. Then simulations of dynamic behavior at part load and full load operating points are performed. It is shown that the numerical model is able to capture self-excited oscillations in full load conditions. The influence of penstock length and flow structure behind the runner are investigated. The presented approach seems to be a promising tool for prediction and investigation the dynamic behavior in hydraulic power plants.