Numerical Analysis of Streamlines in Kaplan Turbine with Different Distributor Fins Design

Abstract

With each passing day companies are looking more and more in the initial phase of the project, to understand the phenomena arising, so that in the execution of the project there are no failures, much less when the project is in operation. For this, the numerical simulation has been shown an increasingly efficient tool to assist the engineers and designers of machines and equipment. The Kaplan turbine design requires a high level of engineering expertise combined with a high level of knowledge in fluid mechanics, as poor design of a diffuser fin can lead to disordered turbulent flow which, when mixed with a high pressure drop, can cavitate into turbine blades. The aim of this study is to evaluate different types of diffuser fin profiles in the inlet at Kaplan turbines. For this, numerical computer simulation was used with the aid of the Ansys Fluent software, in which simulations of water flow in a steady state occurred. The software works with the finite volume method for the discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations. The simulations have proved to be efficient in capturing current lines and pointing out the best flow profile in a project, avoiding more complex turbine blade problems.