Determination of the optimal modes of filling and emptying the chamber of the navigational lock of a low-pressure hydroelectric complex

Abstract

The construction of the low-pressure Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric complex covered by the Strategy for the Development of Inland Water Transport of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 envisages a ship lock as part of the hydroelectric system to ensure ships passage. One of the options under consideration is a ship lock with a head power system, which uses short bypass water-circulating culvert for filling and emptying the chamber. At the same time, an important task is to select the optimal modes ensuring movement of the gates of the filling and emptying systems, in which the normative values of the hydrodynamic forces influencing the vessel in the chamber during the lock process would not be exceeded. The article describes the experience of performing laboratory hydraulic studies of the ship lock model and presents the results of determining the optimal modes of locks movement in the ship lock filling and emptying systems. The studies were carried out on a model located in the hydrotechnical laboratory named after Professor V.E. Timonov of the State University of Maritime and River Fleet named after Admiral S.O. Makarov. The article describes the experience of performing laboratory hydraulic studies of the ship lock model and presents the results of determining the optimal modes of gates movement in the ship lock filling and emptying systems. The studies were carried out on a model located in the hydrotechnical laboratory named after Professor V.E. Timonov of the State University of Maritime and River Fleet named after Admiral S.O. Makarov. The studies included three series of measurements taken at different speeds of gates movement. The speeds were assigned based on the following idea: the maximum hydrodynamic forces of one of the series were close to the permissible values, and of the other two – 30–50 % smaller and larger, respectively. The experimental results determined the optimal operating modes of the systems for filling and emptying the lock chamber. It is recommended to select of the optimal modes of gates movement in full-scale conditions on the newly built ship locks immediately after their construction.