On the characterization of the cavity like flow upstream of the very low head water turbine
Date
2013-05-23
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Abstract
This thesis presents an experimental investigation into the influence of an upstream obstacle - a backward-facing step - on the performance of the very low head water turbine. Power measurements were used to compare the efficiencies of three different obstacle-turbine configurations. Particle image velocimetry was then used to measure the velocity field directly upstream of the turbine to characterize the loss in efficiency for the smallest obstacle-turbine case. It was found that the velocity profile is highly non-uniform when the obstacle is in close proximity to the turbine, resulting in an uneven and unsteady loading on the blades within the turbine. A second study focused on particle image velocimetry measurements coupled with common-base proper orthogonal decomposition to quantify the flowfield in an idealized cavity-like geometry representative of the obstacle-turbine interaction. These results revealed varying spatio-temporal flow character for increasing cavity aspect ratios.
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Fluid and Plasma, Engineering--Mechanical
Citation
Fernando, J. N. (2013). On the characterization of the cavity like flow upstream of the very low head water turbine (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27190