RESEARCH ON THE CONDITION TO SET A TAILRACE SURGE TANK

When using the draft-tube vacuum to be less than 8.0 m as the rule to set atailrace surge tank, a mixing function that describes the process of water-hammer vacuum andvelocity-head vacuum varied with time is proposed, on the assumption that the guide vane of thehydraulic turbine and the turbine discharge were all changed linearly. An exact maximum of thedraft-tube vacuum for the first-phase water-hammer and the last-phase water-hammer is obtained.Finally a much more reasonable formula of critical tailrace length is derived. The results of twocases show that the formula proposed can determine correctly and reasonably whether a tail-racesurge tank is needed or not, and are more suitable for project design than the formula suggested bythe specification.

Numerical study of flow fluctuation attenuation performance of a surge tank

The surge tank plays an important role in ensuring the stability of a water flow standard device. To study the influence of the structure and the working conditions on the regulator performance of a surge tank, a three-dimensional model, including a surge tank, the pipeline and the water tank is built, and the VOF model in the Fluent software is used to simulate the two-phase pulsatile flow in the surge tank. The inlet flow pulsation is defined by the User Defined Functions （UDF）, and the outlet flow is set to be a free jet. By calculating the flow fluctuation coefficient of the variation uader different flow conditions, the influences of the pulse frequency, the initial water level height and the baffle plate structure on the flow stability are analyzed. It is shown that the surge tank has a good attenuation effect on high-frequency pulsations, there is an optimal initial water level to suppress the fluctuations, the round holes of the baffle should ensure a certain circulation area with the bore diameter small enough to have the necessary damping effect.

Influence of flow field on stability of throttled surge tanks with standpipe

The steady-state flow field characteristics have important effects on the stability of the throttled surge tank with the standpipe. This paper analyzes these effects on the basis of the numerical simulation of the flow field by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics （CFD） method. It is shown that the anticlockwise recirculation zone is formed in the standpipe, which affects the local head loss at the junction of the standpipe with the pipeline. The variation of the head loss coefficient at the junction is linearly related with the diameter ratio of the standpipe to the pipeline. The dimensionless recirculation flow rate is proportional to the square of the diameter ratio. Considering the effects of the recirculation zone, an empirical expression of the critical stability area is obtained. Comparing with the Thoma critical area, the area obtained by the present method is smaller, and the reduction depends on the diameter ratio and the ratio of the velocity head to the head losses in the tunnel. words：

Mechanism of air-trapped vertical vortices in long-corridor-shaped surge tank of hydropower station and their elimination

The air-trapped vertical vortices（ATVVs） are easy to form above the throttled orifices in the widely used long-corridor-shaped surge tanks（LCSSTs）, when the tank water level decreases rapidly during hydraulic transients. These ATVVs may jeopardize the operation safety of the hydropower stations and should be avoided. This study elucidates the formation mechanism of the ATVVs and proposes some simple measures to eliminate them. The 3-D CFD model for predicting the ATVVs is validated first by physical model tests in a model tailrace LCSST, and then the formation mechanism is analyzed based on the numerical results. It is shown that the main influence factor for the ATVVs is the critical submergence, which can be reduced by minimizing the velocity circulation around the throttled orifices. Two practical ATVV elimination measures through suppressing the velocity circulation are compared and verified, and the optimized one is recommended.

Water hammer protection for diversion systems in front of pumps in long-distance water supply projects

For a water supply system with long-distance diversion pipelines, in addition to the water hammer problems that occur beyond pumps, the safety of the water diversion pipeline in front of pumps also deserves attention. In this study, a water hammer protection scheme combined with an overflow surge tank and a regulating valve was developed. A mathematical model of the overflow surge tank was developed, and an analytical formula for the height of the overflow surge tank was derived. Furthermore, a practical water supply project was used to evaluate the feasibility of the combined protection scheme and analyze the sensitivity of valve regulation rules. The results showed that the combined protection scheme effectively reduced the height of the surge tank, lessened the difficulties related to construction, and reduced the necessary financial investment for the project. The two-stage closing rule articulated as fast first and then slow could minimize the overflow volume of the surge tank when the power failure occurred, while the two-stage opening rule articulated as slow first and then fast could be more conducive to the safety of the water supply system when the pump started up.

SCALE OPTIMIZATION FOR DISTORTED MODEL ON DIVERSION SYSTEM OF HYDROPOWER STATION

Long diversion system of hydropower station, including surge tank, inlet tunnel and penstock, is an inseparable whole system. Scale effects of distorted model on the diversion system are studied in the present paper. Based on the concept of model scale correlation and the method of parameter expression of model scale, the model scale optimization can be realized. Furthermore, a quantitative criterion for the choice of distorted model or normal model is presented. The study shows that distorted model can simultaneously satisfy the similarity conditions derived from surge wave equations, water hammer equations and wave speed equation for the diversion system. In addition, an example for the design of a practical distorted model is provided.