Influence of Guide Vane Setting in Pump Mode on Performance Characteristics of a Pump-Turbine

Abstract

Performance characteristics in pump mode of pump-turbines are vital for the safe and effective operation of pumped storage power plants. They are resultant of Euler head (power input) and hydraulic losses (power dissipation). In this paper, 3-D steady simulations were performed under 13mm, 19mm and 25mm guide vane openings (GVOs). Three groups of operating points under the three GVOs were chosen based on experimental validation to investigate the influence of guide vane setting on flow patterns upstream and downstream. Analysed results show that, the guide vane setting will obviously change the flow pattern downstream, which in turn influences the flow upstream. It shows a strong effect on hydraulic losses in guide and stay vanes. In addition, at the large part load conditions, the change of GVO will increase the relative flow angle at the runner outlet. As a consequence, it decreases the Euler head. However, at other operating conditions, it only has a little influence on Euler head. Flow patterns in pump mode are very dependent on the GVO and discharge.