Flow and waves in a common tailrace channel of two pump-storage plants - physical and numerical simulation

Pump and turbine operations lead to head losses in the tailrace channel. Pumping discharge may be limited due to potential air entrainment into the pump shaft when the downstream reservoir is at its lowest level and the head losses are high. Regarding turbine operations, the limit is given by the maximum level in the Pelton turbine chamber due to high water level in the downstream reservoir and head losses. For the extended Hongrin-Léman pumped-storage scheme in Switzerland, the rapid operations of turbines and pumps lead to highly unsteady flow in the tailrace channel system of the two connected hydropower plants. Negative and positive surges may lead to similar consequences as for stationary operations such as sudden air entrainment into the pump shaft and submerging of the Pelton runner under operation. Therefore flow and head losses tests were performed on a physical model at 1:30 scale together with numerical simulations using the FLOW-3D software. On site measurement of the existing power plant allowed validation of the results. Representative and extreme operational scenarios have been simulated; the main results are discussed and presented.