Open Access

ARTICLE

A Study on the Unsteady Flow Characteristics and Energy Conversion in the Volute of a Pump-as-Turbine Device

Senchun Miao^1,2,*, Hongbiao Zhang¹, Wanglong Tian¹, Yinqiang Li²

1 School of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050, China
2 Jiangsu Shuangda Pump Valve Group Co., Ltd., Jingjiang, 214537, China

* Corresponding Author: Senchun Miao. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2021, 17(6), 1021-1036. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2021.016925

Received 10 April 2021; Accepted 11 June 2021; Issue published 08 September 2021

Abstract

To study the unsteady flow and related energy conversion process in the volute of a pump-as-turbine (PAT) device, six different working conditions have been considered. Through numerical calculation, the spatio-temporal variation of static pressure, dynamic pressure, total pressure and turbulent energy dissipation have been determined in each section of the volute. It is concluded that the reduction of the total power of two adjacent sections of the PAT volute is equal to the sum of the power lost by the fluid while moving from one section to the other and the power output from the two adjacent sections. For a fixed flow rate, the percentage of static pressure energy at the outlet of the PAT is roughly similar to that of the corresponding volute section, and both show a gradually increasing trend. The turbulent dissipation rate on each section of the PAT volute displays a similar a spatio-temporal behavior for different flow rates.

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Keywords

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