See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/313748107

Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady

flow conditions

Article · August 2016

CITATIONS READS

0 73

3 authors, including:

Upendra Rajak Ruchi Khare

National Institute of Technology, Manipur 37 PUBLICATIONS   74 CITATIONS   
26 PUBLICATIONS   105 CITATIONS   
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Internal combustion engine using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) View project

Numerical simulation of Elbow Draft tube View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Upendra Rajak on 15 February 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN
TECHNOLOGY
Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction
Turbine under unsteady flow conditions
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Upendra Rajak1 , Ruchi Khare2,
Department of Civil Engineering
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal-462051,India
Abstract – The draft tube is an important part of hydraulic
reaction turbine and plays significant role in overall
performance of turbine. In reaction turbines, draft tube is
used to recover part of kinetic energy of water leaving the
runner. The performance of draft tube depends on geometry
of tube, flow conditions of water entering to tube and
turbine operating regime. The flow coming out of runner is
three dimensional unsteady and turbulent and therefore, the
design of draft tube based on detailed flow analysis will
provide efficient energy recovery. The elbow draft tube is
most commonly used in large hydro power plants because it
requires less space and depth and hence cost effective. In the
present paper, unsteady flow simulation of elbow draft tube
using CFD code STAR-CCM+ at three different guide vane
openings and four time steps has been carried out. The draft
tube performance parameters are computed from simulation
results and effect of turbine operating regimes and time step
on draft tube performance is studied by putting the results in
graphical and tabular form. The comparison of results for
steady and unsteady analysis is also made.
Keywords: Head recovery, Draft tube, Numerical simulation,
Hydraulic turbine, Efficiency, Head loss.
INTRODUCTION
In reaction hydraulic turbine, large part of energy goes out of
runner unutilized in the form of kinetic energy. The elbow
draft tube is mostly used to convey water from runner exit to
tail race and to recover part of kinetic energy. The energy
recovery depends on design of draft tube and magnitude of
velocity components at runner exit. In elbow draft tube, the
flow direction changes from vertical to horizontal in vertical
axis and horizontal to vertical in horizontal axis turbines. This
tube has three parts namely cone, elbow and diffuser. The
most of energy recovery occurs in the cone of draft tube and
104
Volume-6,Issue-1 (Aug-16)
ISSN (O) :- 2349-3585
little amount is recovered in elbow and diffuser [Zang et al
(2012), Henau et al (2010), Hellstron et al (2007)] . Most of
the investigation either experimental or numerical on draft
tube are carried out for steady state conditions but actual flow
in tube is unsteady turbulent. The formation of rope at inlet of
draft tube cause transient condition in flow [Yongzhong et al
(2012)]. The experimental evaluation of draft tube
performance for unsteady flow condition is difficult,
expensive and time consuming [Sylvain et al (2010)]. The
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has made possible to
investigate the unsteady flow analysis and also to evaluate
performance of draft tube at different operating conditions of
turbine [Xiaoqing Tian et al (2013)]. In the present work,
commercial software STAR-CCM+ is used to evaluate elbow
draft tube performance at three guide vane opening(GVO) for
steady and unsteady flow and the effect of time step is studied
on behaviour of unsteady flow by comparing results with
steady flow condition.
GEOMETRIC MODELING AND MESHING
The geometry input of flow domain is pre-requisite of
numerical simulation. In present case, the numerical simulation
has been carried out in an elbow draft tube having circular
inlet of 1.726m diameter, 11m length, 2.542m height and
rectangular outlet of width 4.84m and depth 2.74m. The
geometric modelling is done in modelling part of STAR-
CCM+. The modelled draft tube is shown in fig.1.
All rights reserved by www.ijrdt.org
Paper Title:- Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady flow conditions

Fig.1.Geometric model of draft tube 4. COMPUTATION OF PERFORMANCE

The unstructured tetrahedral volume meshing of the elbow PARAMETERS
draft tube flow domain is generated in STAR-CCM+ as The following formulae are used for calculation of head loss,
shown in fig.2. The size and shape of element of meshing head recovery, efficiency and relative head loss in draft tube
affects the accuracy of numerical flow simulation. There are [Khare et al (2012), Gubin (1983)]:
3318793 tetrahedral elements in flow domain. Head loss in draft tube
( Po1  Po 2 )
H LD 
 (1)

Head recovery in draft tube

(V12  V22 )
H RD   H LD
2g (2)
Draft tube efficiency
Fig.2.Mesh model of draft tube 2 gH RD
D   100
3. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS V22 (3)
The flow at the inlet of draft tube comes from runner having
axial, circumferential and radial components of velocity and
Relative loss in draft tube
hence application of inlet boundary condition is difficult in
2 gH LD
individual draft tube alone. In present case, average H RL D   100
V22 (4)
components of velocity at outlet of runner are obtained from
steady state numerical simulation of complete turbine at three
guide vane opening are taken as inlet boundary condition and 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
given in Table-1. As the water from draft tube is discharged The numerical flow simulation in draft tube has been carried
into tail race open to atmosphere and hence the static pressure out for three guide vane opening(GVO) of 20.5, 23.8, 28.0º
at outlet of draft tube is taken as 1atm at outlet boundary and 4 time steps of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 seconds. The best
condition. The wall of draft tube are assumed to be smooth operating zone of turbine is at 23.8 º GVO. The pressure
with no slip condition. The turbulence model are used for contours on a plane normal to flow at just downstream of
proper resolution of all the turbulence scales and to predict the elbow has been generated for steady and unsteady flow at
turbulence flow behaviour. The selection of model depends on different time steps as shown in fig.3 to fig.7. It is seen from
nature of boundaries and Reynolds number. The standard κ-ω these pressure contours that pressure distribution across the
turbulence model in STAR-CCM+ has been considered in this plane is very uneven. There is slight change in maximum and
case for turbulent flow simulation. The implicit unsteady minimum pressure values and their location in steady and
model which updates the computed data at each time step is unsteady flow as seen in fig.3 and fig.4 and fig.5 at constant
used for simulation. guide vane opening. The pressure distribution is also affected
Table - 1 due to change in time step as seen from fig.4 and fig.5 for time
Guide vane Velocity Components (m/s) step 1.0 sec and 1.5 sec respectively. In unsteady flow, area of
opening Radial Tangential Axial low pressure zone is more as compared to steady flow. It is
20.5º 0.357 6.981 7.689 observed from fig.5, fig.6 and fig.7 that in unsteady flow

23.8º 0.982 4.669 7.816 conditions, the maximum pressure zone shifts to one side and

28.0º 1.242 1.808 8.981

105
ISSN:-2349-3585 |www.ijrdt.org
Paper Title:- Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady flow conditions
large area comes under low pressure zone as the GVO is
increased.
Fig.3 Pressure contour for 23.8º at steady state
Fig.4 Pressure contour for 23.8º at1.0s
Fig.5 Pressure contour for 23.8º for 1.5s
Fig.6 Pressure contour for 20.5º for 1.0s
Fig.7 Pressure contour for 28.0º at 1.0s
106
Fig.8 Pressure variation at 23.8º for steady state
Similarly pressure contours and stream lines are also
generated on a longitudinal plane created from inlet to outlet
of draft tube, for all GVO for steady and unsteady flow. The
pressure contours are shown in fig.8 to fig.12. The slight
change in pressure contour is observed due to unsteadiness in
fig.8, fig.9 and fig.10 at constant GVO of 23.8º. In unsteady
flow, as the guide vane opening is increased, the minimum
pressure zone shifts towards downstream and pressure
variation becomes more smooth at 28.0º GVO as seen in
fig.9, fig.10, fig.11 and fig. 12.
Fig.9 Pressure variation for 23.8 º at 1.0s
Fig.10 Pressure variation for 23.8º at 1.5s
ISSN:-2349-3585 |www.ijrdt.org
Paper Title:- Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady flow conditions

Fig.11 Pressure variation for 20.5º at 1.0s

Fig.16 Stream lines for 20.5º at 1.0s

Fig.12 Pressure variation for 28.0º at 1.0s

It is depicted from stream line pattern shown in fig. 13 to
fig.17 that there is lot of turbulence in flow inside the draft
tube. The eddies formation is seen more in unsteady flow and
also increases as GVO is increased but flow become more
uniform at outlet.
Fig.17 Stream lines for 28.0º GVO at 1.0s
The mass average values of total pressure and velocity are
computed at inlet and out of draft tube to calculate the
performance parameters. The variations of performance
parameters are shown in fig.18 to fig.20. It is observed from
fig.15 that minimum head loss occurs at 23.8º GVO which is
the best operating zone of turbine in both steady and unsteady.
The head loss is found to be minimum in steady state at the
best operating regime.

65
∆t= 0.5 ∆t= 1
Relative loss in draft tube(%)

Fig.13 Stream lines for 23.8º at steady state

55 ∆t= 1.5s ∆t= 2

45 ∆t= 0.0

35

25

15
20 22 24 26 28
GVO ( in Degrees)
Fig.14 Stream lines for 23.8º GVO at 1.0s

Fig.18 Head loss variation with GVO at different time step

107
ISSN:-2349-3585 |www.ijrdt.org
Paper Title:- Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady flow conditions

It is seen from fig.18 and fig.20 that head recovery and
efficiency are found to be more at the best operating zone i.e.
23.8º GVO for both steady and unsteady flow. It is observed
from fig.19 and fig.20 that the highest recovery and efficiency
occur for the time step of 1.0 sec at all guide vane opening.
3.1
2.9
2.7
Head recovery(m)
performance of draft tube is achieved in unsteady flow
condition at time step of 1.0 sec for all guide vane opening
leading to conclusion that flow within the draft tube is
unsteady. The head recovery and efficiency is found to be
nearly same at the best operating regime at GVO 23.8⁰ for
steady and unsteady flow and independent of time step.
Further pressure and velocity variations across and along the
draft tube are affected by both time step and operating regime
of turbine.

2.5 NOMENCLATURE

∆t= 0.5s D Inlet diameter of draft tube (m)

2.3
∆t= 1s g Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
2.1 ∆t= 1.5s Po1 Total pressure at inlet (kPa)
1.9 ∆t= 2s Po2 Total pressure at outlet (kPa)
∆t= 0.0
1.7 V1 Average inlet velocity (m/s)
V2 Average outlet velocity (m/s)
1.5
γ Specific weight of water (N/m3)
20 22 24 26 28
GVO (Degree)
∆t Time step (sec)

Fig.19 Head recovery variation with GVO at different time REFERENCES

step [1] Xiaoqing Tian , Yuan Zheng , Huachen Pan and Bin
75 Sun {2013)." Numerical and Experimental Study on a
70 Model Draft Tube with Vortex Generators" . Advances
Draft tube efficiency(%)

65 in Mechanical Engineering Volume 2013, Article ID

509314, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/509314
60
[2] Yongzhong Zeng, Xiaobing Liu, Huiyan Wang (2012),
55 ∆t= 0.5s "Prediction and experimental Verification of Vortex
∆t= 1s
50 Flow in Draft Tube of Turbine Based on CFD".
∆t= 1.5s
45 ∆t= 2s International Conference on Advances in
∆t= 0.0 Computational Modeling and Simulation.
40
PROCEDIA Engineering,Vol.-31, pp.196-205.
35
[3] Khare Ruchi, Prasad Vishnu, Mittal Sushil Kumar
30 (2012), "Effect of Runner Solidity On Performance Of
20 22 24 26 28 Elbow Draft Tube".Energy Procedia 14, pp 2054-
GVO (Degree)
2059. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2011.12.1189
[4] Zang Yangzhong, Liu Xiaobing and Wang Hulyan
Fig.20 Efficiency variation with GVO at different time step
(2012), "Prediction and experimental verification of
6. CONCLUSION
vortex flow in draft tube of Francis turbine based on
It is found from the numerical flow simulation results in draft
CFD"
tube for steady and unsteady flow in draft tube that the
[5] Procedia Engineering, Volume 31, 2012, Pages 196–
variation of performance parameters with guide vane opening
205. International Conference on Advances in
is parabolic and independent of time step. The best

108
ISSN:-2349-3585 |www.ijrdt.org
Paper Title:- Numerical Simulation of Elbow Draft tube of Reaction Turbine under unsteady flow conditions

Computational Modeling and Simulation. DOI:

10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.1012
[6] Henau V De , Payette F.A, ,Sabourin M. ,Deschênes C.
, Gagnon J.M., Gouin P (2010).
[7] " Computational study of a low head draft tube and
validation with experimental data Alstom Power
Systems" . 25th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic
Machinery and Systems IOP Publishing IOP Conf.
Series: Earth and Environmental Science 12 012084
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/12/1/012084
[8] Sylvain Tridon, StephaneBarre, Gabriel Dan Ciocan,
Laurent Tomas (2010) "Experimental Analysis of the
Swirling Flow in a Francis Turbine Draft Tube: Focus
on Radial Velocity Component Determination".
European Journal of Mechanics B/Fluids, Vol.-29,
pp.321-335. . DOI: 10.1016/j.euromechflu.2010.02.
[9] Hellstron J.G.I , Marjavaara B.D. , Lundstron T.S.
(2007). "Parallel CFD Simulations of an Original and
Redesigned Hydraulic Turbine Draft Tube". Advances
In Engineering Software ,Vol.-38, pp-338-344. DOI:
org/10.1016/j.advengesoft 2006.08.013
[10] Gubin M.F. (1983), "Draft Tubes of Hydro-Electric
Stations", Amarind Publishing Company Private Ltd,
New Delhi.

109
View publication stats
ISSN:-2349-3585 |www.ijrdt.org