Investigation of the unstable flow phenomenon in a pump turbine

Instability of pump turbine with S-shaped curve is characterized by large fluctuations of rotational speed during the transient processes.For investigating this phenomenon,a numerical model based on the dynamic sliding mesh method(DSSM)is presented and used to numerically solve the 3D transient flow which is characterized by the variable rotation speed of runner.The method is validated by comparison with measured data for a load rejection process in a prototype pump turbine.The results show that the calculated rotation speed agrees well with the experimental data.Based on the validated model,simulations were performed for the runaway process using an artificially assumed operating condition under which the unstable rotation speed is expected to appear.The results confirm that the instability of runner rotational speed can be effectively captured with the proposed method.Presented results include the time history profiles of unit flow rate and unit rotating speed.The internal flow characteristics in a typical unstable period are discussed in detail and the mechanism of the unstable hydraulic phenomenon is explained.Overall,the results suggest that the method presented here can be a viable alternative to predict the dynamic characteristics of pump turbines during transient processes.