Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

CFD study on prediction of vortex shedding in draft tube of Francis

turbine and vortex control techniques
Anup KC a, Young Ho Lee c, *, Bhola Thapa b
a
Flow Informatics Lab, Department of Mechanical & Energy System Engineering, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan, South Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal
c
Flow Informatics Lab, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Francis Turbine when operated at part load suffers flow instability due to swirl component of the velocity
Received 6 November 2014 attached with exiting flow downstream the runner. The swirling flow at runner outlet generates
Received in revised form corkscrew-shaped draft tube vortex invites undesirable flow features like pressure pulsation, fluctuation
16 September 2015
in torque, axial and radial forces and structure vibration causing the turbine. This paper presents the
Accepted 19 September 2015
results obtained from the numerical analysis regarding prediction of unsteady vortex behavior at the
draft tube and flow instabilities specific to Francis hydro turbines occurring at the part load operating
Keywords:
regime, using ANSYS CFX. The RNG k-ε turbulence model is adopted for turbulence treatment and better
Francis turbine
Part-load operation
prediction of the non-cavitating vortex core and its effects. A single part-load operating condition is
Vortex rope chosen to analyze the vortex breakdown. To minimize vortex shedding and flow instability, two vortex
Vortex control control techniques viz. Misaligned Guide Vanes (MGVs) and J-grooves in draft tube are evaluated
Misaligned guide vanes numerically. Two different MGV angles were selected and four different depths of J-grooves were
J-groove analyzed separately to see their effect on flow features. The use of MGV did not help much in minimizing
swirl intensity whereas the use of J-groove showed better swirl control and flow enhancement in the
draft tube.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction exiting flow contains swirl component of velocity that generates

Hydropower plants operated to suffice the peaking power de-
mand at higher efficiency have more of a transient operation. When
these plants are operated away from design regime, the inevitable
flow related obstacles crop up. Flow in the draft tube of a Francis
turbine is one of the fascinating and, more often, challenging as-
pects of reaction type hydraulic turbine. The draft tube of Francis
turbine being a diffuser reduces the exit velocity of the flow as it
leaves the turbine set, to minimize the loss of kinetic energy and to
recover maximum energy at the outlet. When energy conversion
takes place in the runner, the decreasing angular momentum of the
flow results in decreasing swirling radius of the fluid and water
exits the runner with no swirl component and very less energy.
Under optimal operating condition, flow leaving the runner is
essentially axial with no rotational component of velocity and swirl.
However, in part load or over load operations of the turbine, the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lyh@kmou.ac.kr (Y.H. Lee).
vortex at the center of the flow downstream the runner. Swirl at
runner outlet may sometimes have beneficial effect on turbine draft
tube flow in terms of reducing the flow detachment generated at its
elbow but it also causes flow instabilities leading to pressure fluc-
tuations and eventually the draft tube surge. Draft tube surge refers
to this unsteady flow occurring in draft tube due to excessive swirl
in the flow that is leaving the turbine runner. The draft tube surge is
characterized by the presence of a helical vortex often referred to as
vortex rope rotating in the direction of rotation of the runner for
part load. The flow associated with draft tube surge is classified as
self-excited unsteadiness because the flow field within draft tube
varies with time while the discharge from draft tube may or may
not vary with time [1]. The consequences of the vortex rope in
motion are pressure pulsation, fluctuation in torque, axial and
radial forces. It is also the source of noise, vibration, shaft run-out
and wear in the bearing [2]. Thus, it becomes imperative to un-
derstand the occurrence of vortex rope, its ability to influence the
hydrodynamic features of the turbine, its effect on civil, mechanical
as well as electrical components over the turbine's range of oper-
ation and its mitigating measures.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.09.041
0960-1481/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
Swirl is essentially the flow that contains both axial and rota-
tional components of velocity. When the turbine runs in part load,
the flow exiting the runner incorporates the swirl. As the magni-
tude of swirl increases, the axial velocity distribution in draft tube
distorts and the flow is confined more in its outer wall. At a critical
level of swirl, the flow in the inner wall of draft tube reverses and
forms a helical vortex in the region of reversed flow, which char-
acterizes the genesis of draft tube surge. The flow phenomenon
associated with draft tube surging is termed as vortex breakdown
and its motion as precession of the vortex. The rope rotates in the
direction of rotation of the runner when the turbine is operating for
lower power output than optimum and the associated swirl is said
to be positive. The rope has a low rotational frequency of about
20e30% of that of the runner around a large recirculation zone
located at the center of draft tube just under the runner and
dominates the pressure fluctuation in the draft tube exciting the
components of the turbine [3]. If this exciting frequency matches
one of the eigen frequencies of the turbine, hydro-acoustic reso-
nance may transpire leading to component damage due to ampli-
fied unsteady fluctuations, narrowing the safe operating regime of
power plant. The occurrence of swirl at runner downstream and
corresponding hydrodynamic field is the direct outcome of runner
design and operating point [4]. The so formed vortex rope interacts
with the turbine components to produce low frequency pulsation
and the resulting hydraulic loss in draft tube is strongly affected by
the intensity of the swirl flow at the runner outlet [5]. A similar but
cavitating vortex appears when pressure inside the draft tube is low
enough and the corresponding pressure within vortex core falls
below the vapor pressure of the fluid. The cavitating volume in the
rope varies with under-pressure level. The non-cavitating vortex is
the result of air-filled hollow vortex core in low pressure zone at its
center.
2. Numerical methods for vortex shedding and turbulent
modeling
Several papers have complimented the unsteady flow analysis
numerically and experimentally, to predict the genesis of swirling
flow at turbine outlet and the resulting vortex rope, its nature and
effects on the fluid passage in Francis as well as Kaplan hydro tur-
bines and this is elucidated by adopting appropriate turbulence
models. Ciocanet. al [6]. and Houde et al. [3]. studied the rotating
vortex in draft tube numerically and complemented the result with
experiments using 3D Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and 2D
Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). Mangoli [7] studied the pressure
oscillation in Francis turbine runners numerically by adopting
different turbulence models to accurately reproduce flow charac-
teristics at full and part loads. Illescu et al. [8]. analyzed the cavi-
tating draft tube vortex using PIV. Jost et al. [9]. conducted a
numerical analysis with experimental validation for cavitating and
non cavitating vortex rope using different turbulence models.
Extensive experimental studies and numerical simulations are
done regarding the complex flow in the draft tube induced by the
swirling unsteady flow in Jost et al. [10], Ruprecht et al. [11], Ying
et al. [12], Li et al. [13], Ruprecht et al. [14]. These analyses were
carried out at diverse operating conditions of part load to runoff
load, changing the guide vane angles, with and without cavitation
model and choosing different turbulence models. It was inferred
from those study that the intensity of the vortex rope depends on
the shape of the runner, operating regime and specific speed of the
turbine. Other numerical studies were carried out to affirm the
ability of the CFD tools to accurately reproduce the flow behavior in
the components under investigation.
The CFD based analysis of unsteady fluid flow requires more
robust turbulence treatment as compared to that for steady state
1407
analysis. The numerically obtained shape of draft tube vortex and
accuracy of its prediction largely depend on the choice of the tur-
bulence model used for the simulation. Fig. 1 depicts the shapes of
vortex rope in draft tube taken at the central plane along x-z, as
influenced by the use of different turbulence models. The vortex
motion may be overly damped or may not be detected at all with
inappropriate turbulence model.
The swirling intensity downstream the runner largely affects
size and movement of the vortex rope and entails the use of
improved turbulence model to accurately capture it. Various au-
thors have reported that k-ε is not an accurate model to predict
vortex shedding while rotating vortex rope was obtained using
extended k-ε model of Kim and Chen and realizable k-ε model.
Ruprecht et al. [11] used extended k-ε model and obtained draft
tube vortex rope but the result showed discrepancy with the
experimental measurement due to the damping effects of the tur-
bulence model on the swirl. Better results however can be obtained
by using Scale Adaptive Simulation- Shear State Transport (SAS-
SST), Reynolds Stress Models (RSM) and Large Eddy Simulation
(LES) which require more refined grid and relatively extended
computation time for both cavitating and non cavitating draft tube
vortex rope [9].
3. Numerical procedures
The turbine under the investigation has design head of 18 m,
design discharge of 0.5 m3/s, 35
guide vane angle, rotational speed
(N) of 900 rpm, and rotational frequency (fn) of 15 Hz. Under the
specification of design head and discharge, the turbine has an
output power of 69.8 kW at 88% efficiency. Owing to non-uniform
inflow from spiral casing and unequal pitching of guide vanes and
runner, the computational grid of entire turbine with all channels
of runner and of tandem cascade is considered, without applying
any periodicity in any components. The computation domain is
divided into 3 components-a spiral casing with 16 guide vanes & 8
stay vanes, a runner of 13 blades with crown and band and a single
channel draft tube as shown in Fig. 2. The 3D models of the com-
ponents are generated in Unigraphics NX6. An unstructured
tetrahedral mesh with 5e7 prism layers were used to discretize the
domains of runner and casing and hexahedral elements were used
for the draft tube (see Fig. 3). The suitability of the grids used was
checked by measuring the quality and minimum angle of the ele-
ments. The information about mesh quality is listed in Table 1.
A mesh independence test was conducted for the overall turbine
system. Fig. 4 shows the influence of grid size on the efficiency of
the turbine. With steady state analysis, the efficiency of the turbine
at full load at full load was evaluated by varying the number of
nodes. All meshes were allowed to converge till the residual target
of 1E-5. For simulations with mesh size beyond 3.6 million nodes,
there was no apparent improvement in the performance of the
turbine and this also slowed down the computation. With 4.2
million nodes, the efficiency was 86.9%, 1.25% lower than that with
3.6 million nodes. A single grid size is used for transient analyses of
the genesis of vortex rope and the application of mitigating mea-
sures- MGVs and J-Grooves, after conducting the grid independent
test on steady state analysis. Unsteady analyses by varying the node
numbers with finer grid size can be carried out to compare the
results among the time-dependent cases for the differences in
numerical results. For this study, the chosen computational grid is
comprised of 3.6 million grid nodes.
The commercial 3D Navier-Stokes CFD-solver ANSYS CFX v.13
was used to study the performance of the turbine under steady
state and vortex phenomenon under transient state. The entire
fluid domain of the turbine is formed by combining the compo-
nents with an interface between casing & runner and runner &
1408 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
Fig. 1. Effect of turbulence model on shape of vortex rope.
Fig. 2. Computational domain of 70 kW Francis turbine components.
draft tube, each, using general grid interface (GGI) method for mesh
connection. Spiral casing with guide vanes and stay vanes, and draft
tube are stationary component while runner is the rotating
component. The hydraulic head in terms of relative total pressure at
the inlet of spiral casing and a free outflow of total mass flow rate at
the outlet of the draft tube are given as inlet boundary condition
and outlet boundary condition respectively.
This paper is an extension of study on time dependent rotor-
stator interaction in Francis turbine discussed in Ref. [15] where
the time dependent analysis was carried out to study the rotor-
stator interaction of the turbine at 100% discharge and 72%
discharge. Before the time dependent analyses were carried out, a
steady state performance evaluation of the turbine was conducted
using k-u SST model for turbulence treatment to establish the best
operating point and the operational regimes of the turbine by
varying the discharge and the numerical results were compared
with the experimental values. The turbine's performance at part
load was then evaluated by varying the discharge. With 72%
discharge and 37.5
guide vane angle, the output power is 19.65 kW
at 58.5% efficiency.
The hydraulic power is the difference between pressure at inlet
and outlet while the shaft power is calculated with the equation
below:
Phydraulic ¼ ðPinlet  Poutlet ÞgHn
where P is the pressure, ‘g’ is the acceleration due to gravity and Hn’
is the net head.
2pNT
Pshaft ¼ (2)
60
where ‘N’ is the rotational speed of the turbine and ‘T’ is the sum
total of the individual torque of the runner blades.
The hydraulic efficiency is calculated by
Pshaft
hhydraulic ¼ (3)
Phydraulic
Fig. 5 compares the flow streamlines in the mid section of draft
tube along x-z plane and shows how the flow instability is induced
towards the part load operation of the turbine. For transient anal-
ysis, the time step of 2
rotation of runner is taken for 10 full ro-
tations of the runner. So the time step is 0.00037037 s,
corresponding to 1/180 of the runner rotational period and the total
computational time is 0.667 s of the runner. A second order back-
ward Euler is used as a transient scheme with a high-resolution
advection scheme. The maximum loop coefficient is taken as 3.
For accuracy of results, double precision was used with CFX Solver.
More sophisticated turbulence models like Renormalization
Group (RNG k-ε) are opted in Refs. [16,17] for capturing draft tube
vortex rope more accurately. Wang et al. [18]. carried out simula-
tion and measurements of pressure oscillation caused by vortex
ropes in a prototype Francis turbine using RNG k-ε turbulence
treatment. The model was able to predict the pressure fluctuations
that occur when operating at 72% of design discharge. In this study,
RNG k-ε model with second order upward scheme is used to predict
the occurrence and capture of the rope. RNG k-ε model is an
ensemble averaged Navier Stoke equation which is more respon-
sive to streamline curvature and higher strain rates than the stan-
dard k-ε model. It handles better the transitional flows and
different turbulent length scales. The main difference of RNG k-ε
from the standard k-ε model is that some coefficients that are
constants in the standard model are the functions of flow param-
eters in the RNG model. The effect of swirl is also accounted for in
the RNG model enhancing the accuracy of swirling flows [19]. The
transport equations for k and ε, neglecting buoyancy, can be
expressed as:
"  #
v v v vT vk
ðrkÞ þ ðrkui Þ ¼ vþ þ Pk  rε (4)
(1) vt vxi dxj sk vxj
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421 1409

Fig. 3. Grid Discretization of the flow domains, spiral case, runner, inlet pipe and draft tube.

Table 1
Mesh quality.

S. No. Domain Mesh type No. of nodes (in millions) Quality, with prism layers Min. Angle

1 Runner Tetrahedral 1.3 0.3 9

2 Casing with guide vanes and stay vanes Tetrahedral 1.1 0.3 >9
3 Draft Tube Hexahedral without J-grooves 0.8 0.4 >18
Hexahedral with J-grooves 0.3 >18
4 Inlet Pipe Tetra 0.4 0.4 >18

also non-cavitating. The study is focused on mitigating measures of

"  # vortex shedding. Since the turbine's performance was evaluated on
v v v vT vε ε 2
* ε 4 different flow rates and considering the genesis of vortex rope at
ðrεÞ þ ðrεui Þ ¼ vþ þ C1ε Pk  C2ε r (5)
vt vxi vxj sε vxj k k part load operation of the turbine, a part load operation at 72% of
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi design discharge and guide vane angle of 37.5
was chosen arbi-
* ¼ C þ Cv h ð1h=h0 Þ , h ¼ Sk and S ¼
3
where C2ε 2ε 1þbh3 ε 2Sij Sij trarily to be acquire proper vortex core, analyze it and apply the
The values of the model constants are. proposed remedial measures. Due to prolonged CPU time for
C1ε ¼ 1:42, C2ε ¼ 1:68, Cv ¼ 0:0845 calculation and extensive processing capacity, vortex core at only
sk ¼ 0:7194, sε ¼ 0:7194, 72% part load operation condition was considered and endeavors
a ¼ 1:39, b ¼ 0:012 and.h0 ¼ 4:38 were made to apply the proposed remedial techniques. For tran-
A homogeneous multiphase model with Rayleigh Plesset cavi- sient analysis, the hydraulic head in terms of relative total pressure
tation model was incorporated for presence of cavitation, if any. As at the inlet of spiral casing and a free outflow of 72% of total mass
the turbine operated free of cavitation in the taken operating flow rate at the outlet of the draft tube are given as inlet boundary
discharge (72% of total discharge), the vortex core so obtained was condition and outlet boundary condition respectively.
1410 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421

100

90

80

Efficiency (%)
70

60

50

40

30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Number of Nodes (in million)

Fig. 4. Influence of grid size on efficiency.

Fig. 5. Flow streamlines in draft tube at different low rates and flow separation at part load.

Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) was carried out to analyze the Further decrease in flow rate distorts the vortex core and induces
pressure fluctuations, its dominant frequency and amplitude for more instability and turbulence in the draft tube. At smaller part
the signals obtained at the measurement points. The so formed loads, the vortex rope breaks and pressure field is more affected by
vortex rope in draft tube expands as the flow rate is reduced. small-scale turbulence [20].
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
4. Results of vortex shedding
The vorticity at a given point in vortex rope is comprised of
tangential component and axial component as seen in Fig. 6. The
profile and the angle of helical rope depend on the ratio of
tangential component and axial component of the vortices and
changes with the change in the ratio of the two components. The
vortex rope will have more twist for larger flow rates and/or wider
guide vane opening.
A mature shape of the vortex rope as obtained from the tran-
sient analysis with chosen timestep and turbulence model at 10th
runner rotation is shown in Fig. 21(a) at mid vertical plane along x-z
axis. A distinct vortex rope was obtained which was the obvious
outcome of swirling flow in the draft tube. The distribution of
pressure in mid section of draft tube cone at different instance of
runner rotation is shown in Fig. 7. The low pressure regions which
represent the vortex center reveal the rotation of the vortex causing
pressure fluctuation. For 3 complete rotation of the runner, the rope
made a single rotation.
Vortex rope is the major contributor of low-frequency pressure
fluctuations in draft tube. The time varying pressures were recor-
ded at 5 locations of the draft tube as shown in Fig. 8 and the
corresponding amplitude spectra at the designated locations are
shown in Fig. 9. The pressure amplitudes in the outer section were
relatively larger than that at the center of the flow domain in draft
tube. The pressure point dt0 (Fig. 9 a) being located at the center
has low influence of vortex core and thus has relatively small
fluctuations while the recording points near walls and downstream
the draft tube have fluctuations according to the varying strength of
cortex core. The pressure amplitudes in the wall of draft tube cone
are higher than that at the center because the regions in the draft
tube wall are in close influence of the vortex rope (Fig. 9 b, c). Point
dt4 in the inner surface of the draft tube elbow has highest
magnitude of fluctuation among the points lying in this plane due
to the influence of elbow (Fig. 9 d). The pressure amplitude de-
creases gradually along the draft tube going towards the outlet.
These pressure fluctuations in the draft tube transmit upstream due
to the result of which the same characteristic low frequency pul-
sation can be traced in spiral case near the guide vanes.
The amplitude spectra of pressure fluctuations at pressure side
and suction side of a single runner blade are presented in Fig. 10.
The dominating frequency on the blade was 12.5 Hz for the pres-
sure side and 12.18 Hz for the suction side, corresponding to 0.81fn
and 0.812fn respectively while the rotational frequency of the
vortex rope as 0.19fn, the sum of which was the rotational fre-
quency of the runner, fn. Also, the amplitudes on the suction side for
Fig. 6. Flow vector at central plane of draft tube along z-axis and section A-A.
1411
both 1st and 2nd harmonics were larger than those on the pressure
side.
5. Remedial attempts for vortex shedding
Due to the mismatch between the swirl generated by the wicket
gates and the angular momentum extracted by the runner, Francis
turbine with fixed pitch blades have a high level of residual swirl at
draft tube inlet [21]. The decelerating flow in draft tube with
swirling component of velocity results in the genesis of vortex rope.
The vortex breakdown causes pressure fluctuation and perfor-
mance hindrance in part load operation of Francis turbine. Addi-
tionally, this self induced unsteadiness from swirling flow at part
load causes severe flow separation on the blade's suction side. The
pressure fluctuations are caused by the transformation of an axi-
symmetrically swirling flow into one or more precessing helical
vortices as the operating condition shifts towards part load [22]. A
pressure balanced runner with skewed outlet design also known as
X-blade runner also helps provide some improvement by reducing
peak-to-peak amplitude of pressure fluctuation without actually
suppressing the phenomenon of vortex shedding. However, with
no freedom of adjustable blades in Francis runner, the vortex
breakdown bound to occur at partial discharge results in hydro
acoustic vibration and power fluctuation.
Several ideas have been tried and tested to at least minimize, if
not suppress completely, the vortex shedding in draft tube without
compromising operational efficiency. Air supplied just below the
runner, at the draft tube inlet is a widely used and common surge
suppression solution. This air admission measure in the recircula-
tion region around the vortex rope was also a first attempt tried out
in reducing the draft tube surging problems. The air admission al-
ters the spiral breakdown of flow into bubbles and projects the flow
axially. Papillon et al. have discussed the results of three different
types of runner cone for air admission and peripheral aeration by
the discharge ring [23]. Use of J-groove is one of the common
structural modifications of draft tube. It is a flow straightener
installed at the draft tube cone that serves to break the vortex.
Other typical devices are the fins attached to the draft tube wall,
concentric cylinders in the draft tube that are supposed to suppress
the vortex breakdown in partial discharges. Extension of runner
cone in the form of snorkel, either attached to the runner or fixed
within the draft tube, sometimes in tandem with air injection, can
also alter the reverse flow region to reduce flow instabilities.
A novel idea of jet control of vortex breakdown in Francis tur-
bine is discussed in Ref. [22]. Resiga et al. applied a highly energetic
jet of water from the tip of the crown cone were able to change the
1412 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421

Fig. 7. Secondary motion and low-pressure region in mid section of draft tube cone.

Fig. 8. Pressure recording locations in draft tube and 4 layers of draft tube cone.

precession frequency and eventually avoided the vortex rope
development by eliminating the quasi-stagnant central region due
to flow acceleration in the crown neighborhood due to jet injection.
6. Use of misaligned guide vanes (MGVs)
Pressure pulsations are the primary reason for unstable opera-
tion of any hydro machinery. Misaligned guide vanes have been
keenly incorporated in pump turbine system to improve flow
stability and minimize pressure pulsations. A series of model tests
were first carried out by KVAERNER using pre-opened wicket gates
named as misaligned guide vanes (MGVs) in pump turbines in
1993. It was implemented in Tianhuangping pump storage plant
[24] in China and was found helpful in eliminating machine vi-
bration in the reversible pump turbines. MGV has so far been
exclusively tested and implemented in pump storage system to
control the stability in the S-region and improve the unstable
operation of pump turbines at no load conditions Ref. [25,26] have
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
Fig. 9. Amplitude spectra at draft tube.
studied and presented the results of the use of MGV to improve the
stability of the pump turbine correlating the numerical results with
the experiments. Likewise [27], have mentioned that MGVs
improve the S-characteristics of the pump turbine but demon-
strated the increased pressure fluctuations in the draft tube causing
unstable operation of the unit. Nonetheless, MGVs in Francis hydro
turbine system have not been implemented so far in terms of
controlling the draft tube surge. Qain et al. have analyzed the in-
fluence of MGV on a 3D unsteady turbulent flow in the entire model
of a Francis turbine by using two MGV with 5 different opening
angles the results of which are elucidated in Ref. [28]. Use of MGV
can be a feasible and effective measure to improve turbines stability
and to reduce pressure pulsations. In this study, two different an-
gles of MGV were chosen and their effect on the flow in the draft
tube is analyzed numerically.
The guide vane angle of the turbine under study is 37.5
and two
different opening angle of 35
and 40
were chosen for the nu-
merical analysis As shown in Fig. 11, the circumferential position of
the first MGV is kept above 45
from the vertical axis to minimize
the influence of the inlet boundary of the spiral case and the
location of the MGVs is symmetrical to avoid the oscillation caused
by the resonant coupling. The time dependent numerical analysis
1413
was conducted followed by steady state simulation with the same
timestep setting of 2
for 10 full rotation of the runner. SST tur-
bulence treatment was used for steady state while RNG k-ε model
of turbulence was used for transient analysis.
7. Results with misaligned guide vanes (MGVs)
The effect of MGV in controlling vortex in the draft tube was not
so substantial in both 35
and 40
MGVs. Strong vortex exists for
both opening angles of MGVs and the magnitude of vortex rope as
depicted in Fig. 12 is also not diminished with respect to the one
obtained from the base model setup, indicating that MGV did not
influence the vortex shedding. The pressure distribution in the
central plane of draft tube as in for both the MGV angles are similar
with low-pressure zones pertaining to the existence of vortex rope.
The shape and intensity of the vortex rope remains unchanged
despite different MGV openings. The average circumferential ve-
locity taken at 4 different planes of the draft tube cone reveals
almost no change in the swirl intensity with 35
MGV. Rather a very
small amount of increment in swirl velocity can observed at the
core of the draft tube flow with 40
MGV. The swirl intensities in
the outer section towards the draft tube wall are similar in both the
1414 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421

10000
blade pressure side, bp2
8000

Amplitude/ Pa 6000

1st harmonics
4000

2000
2nd harmonics

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Frequency (Hz)
(a) Blade pressure side (bp2)

10000
blade suction side, bs2

8000
1st harmonics
Amplitude/Pa

6000

4000

2nd harmonics
2000

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Frequency (Hz)
(b) Blade suction side (bs2)
Fig. 10. Amplitude spectra in runner blade.

Fig. 11. Position of misaligned guide vanes in casing.

cases as seen in Figs. 13 and 14 as MGV could not effectively in-
fluence swirling flow in runner downstream as it moved past the
runner cone for both the chosen MGV angles.
These aside, the pressure distribution in the runner blades as in
Fig. 15 also have similar trend as with the one from the base model
without MGV. In both the cases of MGVs, the Cp graphs at 50%
runner blade for a single blade bear the same pattern as that with
base model indicating that the flow pattern in the runner is also
unaltered and so is the blade loading.
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421 1415

Fig. 12. Shape of vortex rope with MGV at 0.555s a. vortex rope with 35
MGV and b. vortex rope with 40
MGV and corresponding pressure contour.

Fig. 13. Average circumferential velocity in draft tube with 35
MGV.

8. Application of J-grooves in draft tube
J-grooves are simple structure modification in draft tube cone of
Francis hydro turbine that helps to minimize draft tube surge. A
number of shallow grooves are mounted parallel to the pressure
gradient on the wall of conical diffuser that minimizes vortex
breakdown downstream the runner by reducing the tangential
velocity of the swirling flow. J-groove contributes to suppressing
the anomalous flow phenomena commonly by controlling the
angular momentum of the main fluid flow. Kurokawa et al. [29].
have discussed the benefit of J-grooves in minimizing the swirl
intensity not only in Francis hydro turbines, but also mixed flow
1416 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421

Fig. 14. Average circumferential velocity in draft tube with 40
MGV.

Fig. 15. Comparison of Cp with base model and MGVs.

Fig. 16. Performance of turbine with different J-groove and MGVs.

and axial flow pumps without compromising their maximum ef-
ficiency. Moreover, J-grooves too have demonstrated positive re-
sults in improving cavitation performance [30] and reduced axial
thrust [31]. Active control method like air injection and passive
control technique like fins installed at the inlet cone of the draft
tube [32] are commonly accepted techniques to lessen the flow
instability in the draft tube; however these apparatus have to be
adjusted as per the operating point and reliability of these addi-
tional parts are bound to decrease eventually.
For the numerical analyses of the performance of the Francis
turbine with J-grooves, 2 aspects were considered-the number of J-
grooves to be installed in the draft tube and its depth. The number
of the J-grooves is chosen as 13 and 16 pertaining to the number of
runner vanes and guide vanes respectively and their depth is varied
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421 1417

Fig. 17. Pressure distribution in central plane of draft tube with J-grooves.

Fig. 18. Average circumferential velocity at 4 layers by radius ratio, base model dt vs 13G-10 mm.

by 5 mm from 5 mm to 15 mm. Steady state simulations with
sufficient iteration were considered till satisfactory convergence for
all the cases to evaluate the performance of the turbine at 72% load.
Compared to the power output performance of the turbine with
base model having 37.5
guide vane angle, the efficiency of the
turbine and its shaft power for all the cases did not change much
(Fig. 16).
9. Results with J-grooves
The number of J-grooves and their depth has a little influence on
the turbine's performance. With 5 mm deep groove, the efficiency
of the turbine was the same as of base model for both 13 grooves
and 16 grooves. However, the efficiency of the turbine dropped by
0.7% percentage when the depth of the groove was increased to
10 mm. With declining trend in efficiency curve, the depth of
groove beyond 10 mm resulted in flow recirculation in cone region
and backflow downward the outlet without any contribution to
vortex control. Since low in draft tube is more influence by the flow
exiting from runner, the draft tube with 13 grooves 10 mm deep
performed well in controlling the vortex pertaining to the number
of runner blades.
A comparative pressure contour in Fig. 17 shows the pressure
distribution in the central plane of the draft tube with the base
model and 4 aforementioned J-groove cases. The pressure contour
of base model draft tube has a low-pressure zone at the central flow
field that is the outcome of the swirling flow and thus contributes
to the genesis of vortex rope. With the use of J-groove, the central
low-pressure zone is minimized indicating that the swirling flow at
the dead water zone is relatively streamlined to the axial flow to
minimize effect of swirl. However, a 13 groove diffuser bears a
better pressure distribution map as compared to the one with 16
grooves. Among the tested cases of grooved draft tube, the one with
13 grooves having 10 mm depth has comparatively better results
with flow stability and minimized swirl intensity. The results with
13G-10 mm draft tube is compared and analyzed quantitatively
1418 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
Fig. 19. Average axial velocity (velocity z) at 4 layers by radius ratio, base model vs 13G-10 mm.
with the base model draft tube for the circumferential velocity,
axial velocity, vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). These
parameters are quantified at 0.15 m distance from the draft tube
inlet, along the horizontal axes.
The average circumferential velocity in J-grooved draft tube is
compared with that in base model draft tube in Fig. 18. Magnitude
of velocity decreased along the wall of the draft tube (r/R > 0.8)
more prominently due to the presence of J-grooves. The swirling
velocity has decreased noticeably in all the 4 different layers of the
draft tube cone along the vertical locations, particularly near the
region of J-grooves. Along plane #1, there is minor difference in
circumferential velocity. Similarly, in the inner section of the flow,
there is a small difference in circumferential velocity but along the
wall of the cone with grooves, the velocity decreased conspicuously
indicating the minimized swirling flow.
Similarly, the axial velocity in the central flow region of the
grooved draft tube has improved significantly. The axial component
of the flow velocity in the core has increased as well as in its vicinity
for first 3 layers/planes increased (Ref. Fig. 19) resulting in the
decrease of swirl strength. As the radius ratio increases and
approaches the draft tube wall, small difference in axial flow is
observed with J-grooves. The vorticity distribution in the draft tube
and turbulence kinetic energy of the flow are examined quantita-
tively for the 2 cases- 13G-10 mm and 16G-10 mm draft tube. The
graph reveals that in 13G-10 mm, the vorticity at the center of the
flow is narrowed (Ref. Fig. 20) and exhibited lowest magnitude of
turbulence kinetic energy along both the axes. The parameters are
taken at 0.15 m below the draft tube inlet.
The intensity of turbulence and magnitude of vorticity both
have been controlled with 13G-10 mm. Compared to the base
model draft tube, the vorticity was confined along the centerline
narrowing the dead water region and confining it more along the
central flow. The vortex rope so formed was straightened with
negligible twist. As the rope rotated, the flow around its periphery
were less disturbed which otherwise would be subjected to face
turbulence due to changing shape of the vortex rope. This was
supported by the reduced turbulence kinetic level in draft tube core
with the use of J-grooves. Fig. 21 b shows the reduced size of the
vortex rope due to J-grooves in the draft tube. With minimized
vortex size and reduced turbulence, the pressure pulsation and
 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421 1419

500
draft tube centreline
base model dt
13G-10mm
400 16G-10mm

Vorticity (1/s)
300

200

100

-0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15

X direction length (m)

500
draft tube centreline base model dt
16G-10mm
400 13G-10mm

300
Vorticity (1/s)

200

100

-0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15

Y-direction length (m)

Fig. 20. Vorticity along x and y direction, base model vs J-groove cases.

vibration level brought about by the vortex shedding is also bound with MGVs, in both opening angles, than the core vortex
to decrease. The draft tube with 13 J-grooves, 10 mm depth obtained from the base model.
enhanced the flow in draft tube by minimizing the swirling flow iii. The intensity of turbulence and magnitude of vorticity both
and improving the axial flow along the core flow region. are controlled with 13 J-grooves having a depth of 10 mm.
Compared to the base model draft tube, the vorticity is
confined along the centerline narrowing the dead water re-
gion and confining it more along the central flow. The vortex
10. Conclusion
rope so formed acquires straightened shape with minimal
twist. As it rotates, flow around its periphery will no more be
The pressure oscillation inside a Francis turbine due to vortex
disturbed, which otherwise would be subjected to face tur-
shedding at part load operation of the turbine can be numerically
bulence with changing shape of the vortex rope that mani-
analyzed by using RANS equation with an appropriate turbulence
fests a distinct twist. This is supported by the reduced
model. RNG k-ε model of turbulence is utilized to accurately predict
turbulence kinetic level in draft tube core with the use of J-
the occurrence of vortex rope downstream the runner, its rotating
grooves. With minimized vortex and reduced turbulence, the
frequency and amplitude at 72% part load operation of the turbine.
pressure pulsation and vibration level brought about by the
The summary of the study is as follows:
vortex shedding is also bound to decrease. The J-grooves
enhanced the flow in draft tube by minimizing the swirling
i. Vortex breakdown occurred in the draft tube at part load
flow and improving the axial flow along the core flow region.
operation of the turbine. The rotational frequency of the
vortex was 19% of the rotational frequency of the runner.
The techniques essayed in this research are applied to a micro
ii. The use of MGVs did not considerably influence the flow in
class Francis turbine. With small-size turbine, the level of vortex
the runner and runner downstream, in the draft tube, to
shedding is small and the results obtained with vortex control
affect the flow instability occurring at part load operations.
techniques also showed moderate improvement. However, the
The size of the vortex rope and its intensity both were larger
1420 A. KC et al. / Renewable Energy 86 (2016) 1406e1421
Fig. 21. Shape of Vortex rope with base model draft tube and 13G-10 mm J-grooves, from transient analysis.
distinct effect of these techniques can be observed when applied for
bigger Francis turbines that are designed for higher output power.
The effect of vortex shedding in bigger turbine is more severe and
the with these positive results from the control techniques dis-
cussed in this study, they are bound to give more distinct and better
level of control over swirl and decrement in vortex intensity for
bigger turbines.
Also, a grid size of 3.6 million was considered for steady-state
simulation followed by transient simulation after considering grid
independent test where degree of computational precision was
satisfied. However, for similar sized turbine system and bigger
ones, finer grid system having more number of nodes is required
and results can be compared among the grids with different
number of nodes in order to corroborate the numerical results.
Owing to the computational cost and prolonged duration of
simulation, only one grid size was considered for the transient
simulations for genesis of vortex rope and mitigating measures and
analyzed.
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