Author(s): Roman Klasinc; Markus Larcher; Andrej Predin; Ignacijo Bilus; Mitja Kastrevc
Linked Author(s): Roman Klasinc
Keywords: Pumped-storage schemes; Scale effect; Model measurements; CFD analysis
Abstract: Changing conditions in the European energy market have brought about a rising demand for peak energy. In the light of the general energy shortage and the problems faced in meeting peak loads there is a constant need for the construction of new pumped-storage schemes. Pumped storage has come to be the environmentally most compatible method of balancing sudden drops in demand or unexpected production increase from wind power stations. Present-day electricity generating plant is characterised by optimal utilisation of hydrostatic head and turbine efficiency. As the available numerical simulations of the complex hydraulic processes involved tend to be limited to one-dimensional analyses whose results are not sufficiently reliable, unsteady processes are studied in physical models. The particular case discussed in this article is a pumped-storage station equipped with three pressure surge tanks, for which the dynamic processes in the tailwater portion were studied. A pressure above atmospheric of 2 or 3 bar lowers the water level in order to ensure sufficient clearance for the Pelton turbine. Another problem is the surge waves caused by the increasing rapidity of the mode changes between the pumping and generation modes. The sophisticated design of the hydraulic scale model (equipped with process control) presented in this article has provided valuable general information on the complex behaviour of surge waves.
Year: 2005