Synchronized PIV and pressure measurements on a model Francis turbine during start-up

Abstract

This paper presents the experiments performed on a high head model Francis turbine during start-up. Synchronized time dependent pressure and velocity measurements were performed to investigate the instabilities in the turbine. A total of four steady state operating points, namely synchronous load, part load, best efficiency point, and high load are considered to perform the turbine start-up. The runner angular speed was observed to increase almost exponentially during the guide vane positions from completely closed to no load condition. The frequency of wave propagation due to the interaction between runner blades and guide vanes was observed to follow the trend of increase of runner angular speed. A vortex rope frequency was captured in the draft tube during synchronous load to part load of the start-up. Two different mechanisms, namely, the development of stagnation point and the available recirculation regions were observed to cause the formation of vortex rope in the draft tube. © 2019, © 2019 International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research.