Numerical simulation of a pump-turbine transient load following process in pump mode

This paper presents the simulation of the dynamic behaviour of variable speed pump-turbine. A power reduction scenario at constant wicket gate opening was numerically analysed from 100% to 93% rpm corresponding to a power reduction from full load to about 70% with a ramp rate of 1.5% per second. The flow field analysis led to the onset and development of unsteady phenomena progressively evolving in an organized rotating partial stall during the pump power reduction. These phenomena were characterized by frequency and time-frequency analyses of several numerical signals (pressure, blade torque, flow rate in blade passages). The unsteady pattern in return channel strengthened emphasizing its characteristic frequency with the rotational velocity decreasing reaching a maximum and then disappearing. At lower rotational speed, the flow field into the wickets gates channel start to manifest a full three-dimensional flow structure. This disturbance was related to the boundary layer separation and stall and it was noticed by a specific frequency.