Influence of the vortex rope location of a Francis Turbine on the hydraulic system stability

Hydroelectric power plants are known for their ability to cover variations of the consumption in electrical power networks. In order to follow this changing demand, hydraulic machines are subject to off-design operation. In that case, the swirling flow leaving the runner of a Francis turbine may act under given conditions as an excitation source for the whole hydraulic system. In high load operating conditions, vortex rope behaves as an internal energy source which leads to the self excitation of the system. The aim of this paper is to identify the influence of the full load excitation source location with respect to the eigenmodes shapes on the system stability. For this, a new eigenanalysis tool, based on eigenvalues and eigenvectors computation of the nonlinear set of differential equations in SIMSEN, has been developed. First the modal analysis method and linearization of the set of the nonlinear differential equations are fully described. Then, nonlinear hydro-acoustic models of hydraulic components based on electrical equivalent schemes are presented and linearized. Finally, a hydro-acoustic SIMSEN model of a simple hydraulic power plant, is used to apply the modal analysis and to show the influence of the turbine location on system stability. Through this case study, it brings out that modeling of the pipe viscoelastic damping is decisive to find out stability limits and unstable eigenfrequencies.

Influence of the Francis turbine location under vortex rope excitation on the hydraulic system stability

Philippe Allenbach, Sébastien Alligné, François Avellan, Basile Kawkabani, Christophe Nicolet, Jean-Jacques Simond

2009

Physical Mechanisms governing Self-Excited Pressure Oscillations in Francis Turbines

Andres Müller

The importance of renewable energy sources for the electrical power supply has grown rapidly in the past decades. Their often unpredictable nature however poses a threat to the stability of the existing electric grid. Hydroelectric powerplants play an important role in regulating the integration of renewable energy sources into the network by supplying on-demand load balancing as well as primary and secondary power network control. Therefore, the operating ranges of hydraulic machines has to be continuously extended, which potentially produces undesirable flow phenomena involving cavitation. An example is the formation of a gaseous volume in the swirling flow leaving a Francis turbine runner at off-design operating conditions. At high load, this so called vortex rope is shaped axisymmetrically and may enter a self-excited oscillation, measurable through significant fluctuations of the pressure throughout the system and the mechanical torque transferred to the generator. The main objective of the present work is the identification of the physical mechanisms governing this self-sustained, unstable behavior by measurement. Furthermore, the key parameters of numerical approaches using one-dimensional hydroacoustic flowmodels or CFD require experimental validation. For this purpose, the measurements provide a comprehensive data base of various flow and system parameters at varying operating conditions. Two test cases are studied, a small scale hydraulic circuit with a micro-turbine as well as a reduced scale physical model of an existing Francis turbine. On the first test case, the study of the flow rate fluctuations up- and downstream of the oscillating vortex rope in the draft tube, together with the volume of the cavity, revealed the destabilizing effect of the flow swirl in the draft tube inlet. The second test case accurately simulates the behavior of an actual hydraulic power plant. Investigations range from a local study of the flow field in the draft tube cone bymeans of LDV, PIV, high speed visualization and wall pressure measurements to a global analysis, considering the response of the hydraulic and mechanical system to the excitation by the vortex rope oscillation. Among the main observations is a periodical variation of the flow swirl in the draft tube, synchronized with the pressure oscillations. This is likely to be caused by a cyclically appearing volume of cavitation on the runner blades, modifying the relative flow angle at the outlet. The interaction of the blade cavitation and the vortex rope oscillation via the flow swirl is found to play a crucial role in the occurrence of self-excited pressure oscillations in Francis turbines.

EPFL2014

Physical Mechanisms governing Self-Excited Pressure Oscillations in Francis Turbines

Andres Müller

EPFL2014