The variable demand of the energy market requires that hydraulic turbines operate at variable conditions, which includes regimes far from the best efficiency point. The vortex rope developed at partial discharges in the conical diffuser is responsible for large pressure pulsations, runner blades breakdowns and may lead to power swing phenomena. A novel method introduced by Resiga et al. (2006, “Jet Control of the Draft Tube in Francis Turbines at Partial Discharge,” Proceedings of the 23rd IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems, Yokohama, Japan, Paper No. F192) injects an axial water jet from the runner crown downstream in the draft tube cone to mitigate the vortex rope and its consequences. A special test rig was developed at “Politehnica” University of Timisoara in order to investigate different flow control techniques. Consequently, a vortex rope similar to the one developed in a Francis turbine cone at 70% partial discharge is generated in the rig’s test section. In order to investigate the new jet control method an auxiliary hydraulic circuit was designed in order to supply the jet. The experimental investigations presented in this paper are concerned with pressure measurements at the wall of the conical diffuser. The pressure fluctuations’ Fourier spectra are analyzed in order to assess how the amplitude and dominating frequency are modified by the water injection. It is shown that the water jet injection significantly reduces both the amplitude and the frequency of pressure fluctuations, while improving the pressure recovery in the conical diffuser.

We perform a numerical analysis of the decelerated swirling flow into the discharge cone of a model Francis turbine operated at variable discharge and constant head, using an axisymmetric turbulent swirling flow model and a corresponding simplified computational domain. Inlet boundary conditions correspond to velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles measured downstream the Francis runner. Our numerical results are validated against experimental data on a survey section further downstream in the cone, showing that the Reynolds stress turbulence model with a quadratic pressure-strain term correctly captures the flow field. It is shown that the diffuser performance quickly deteriorates as the turbine discharge decreases, due to the occurrence and development of vortex breakdown, with a central quasistagnant region. We investigate a novel flow control technique, which uses a water jet injected from the runner crown tip along the axis. It is shown that the jet discharge can be optimized for minimum overall losses, while the vortex breakdown is eliminated. This flow control method is useful for mitigating the Francis turbine flow instabilities when operating at partial discharge.

When reaction hydraulic turbines are operated far from the design operating regime, particularly at partial discharge, swirling flow instability is developed downstream of the runner, in the discharge cone, with a precessing helical vortex and its associated severe pressure fluctuations. Bosioc et al. (2012, “Unsteady Pressure Analysis of a Swirling Flow With Vortex Rope and Axial Water Injection in a Discharge Cone,” ASME J. Fluids Eng., 134(8), p. 081104) showed that this instability can be successfully mitigated by injecting a water jet along the axis. However, the jet discharge is too large to be supplied with high pressure water bypassing the runner, since this discharge is associated with the volumetric loss. In the present paper we demonstrate that the control jet injected at the inlet of the conical diffuser can actually be supplied with water collected from the discharge cone outlet, thus introducing a new concept of flow feedback. In this case, the jet is driven by the pressure difference between the cone wall, where the feedback spiral case is located, and the pressure at the jet nozzle outlet. In order to reach the required threshold value of the jet discharge, we also introduce ejector pumps to partially compensate for the hydraulic losses in the return pipes. Extensive experimental investigations show that the wall pressure fluctuations are successfully mitigated when the jet reaches 12% of the main flow discharge for a typical part load turbine operating regime. About 10% of the jet discharge is supplied by the plain flow feedback, and only 2% boost is insured by the ejector pumps. As a result, this new approach paves the way towards practical applications in real hydraulic turbines.