Effects of the Splitter Blade on the Performance of a Pump-Turbine in Pump Mode

The pumped hydro energy storage is the most effective way to store large-scale electricity and has been widely used in the world. As the key equipment in the pumped hydro energy storage, it is significant and urgent to improve the performance and operation stability of the pump-turbine. In this study, the effect of runners with and without splitter blade on the performances and inner flow characteristics of a pump-turbine in pump mode was analyzed by the method of numerical calculation. The results suggest that larger tangential velocity at runner outlet and higher pressure at the trailing edge of pressure side in splitter blade runner scheme contribute to higher head. The area of backflow at runner outlet, the highest values of entropy generation rate, and vorticity distribution in splitter blade runner scheme are well smaller than those in prototype runner without splitter blade, which is conducive to improving model performance.