Suppression of cavitation in the draft tube of Francis turbine model by J-Groove

Abstract

Cavitation is recognized as a phenomenon that can cause serious damage to a hydro turbine and can reduce its performance when operating at off-design point. This is an undesired phenomenon, which needs to be improved. In order to suppress the cavitation in the Francis turbine draft tube, a technology with grooved draft tube named J-Groove is introduced in the Francis turbine. The Francis turbine performance and the internal flow characteristic are investigated both with and without J-Groove installation by the experimental method and numerical simulation. Visualization was used to capture the cavitation rope in the Francis turbine draft tube to compare with the computational fluid dynamics analysis result. The results show that the turbine performance both with and without J-Groove installation is quite similar. Regardless of impact on performance of Francis turbine by J-Groove, it suppresses the cavitation vortex rope and pressure fluctuation in the Francis turbine draft tube efficiently.