Mitigating cavitation effects on Francis turbine performance: A two-phase flow analysis

Abstract

Due to their ability to operate over a wide range of flow rates and generate high power, Francis turbines are the most widely used of hydroturbine type. Hydraulic turbines, are designed for specific flow and head conditions tailored to site conditions. However, Francis turbines can also be operated outside of design conditions due to varying flow and head values. Operation outside of design conditions can lead to cavitation. In this study, single-phase steady-state an alyses were conducted initially to examine cavitation in detail, followed by two-phase transient analyses. The results obtained from these analyses were compared to determine the cavitation characteristics of the designed turbine. The steady-state simulation results indicate the occurrence of cavitation, including traveling bubble and draft tube cavitation, under overload operating conditions. However, these cavitation characteristics are not observed in the two-phase transient simulation results under the same operating conditions. Additionally, the turbine efficiency is predicted to be higher in the transient simulation results. This is attributed to the frozen rotor interface used in the steady-state simulations, which over predicts flow irregularities. The reduced flow irregularities in the transient results have resulted in lower cavitation and losses, leading to higher predicted turbine efficiency.