FLOW ANALYSIS IN PENSTOCK

Abstract

Flow of water in penstock is a complex phenomena, which depends on different parameters such as- velocity of water, base material properties, orientation of penstock and the slope of alignment. The output from of the hydraulic turbine decreases as hydraulic losses increase in the penstock. Very limited study and research has been done in this area. With advanced computation techniques, flow analysis in penstock and its peripherals can be carried out more conveniently. Present work is an effort to study mismatch of penstock alignment on velocity profile and hydraulic losses. Experiments were conducted for investigating the effect of mismatch on flow conditions of penstock at 5 different Reynolds number ranging from 534 x 103 to 622 x 103. Mismatch was created from 2 mm to 10 mm with a step of 2 mm. It was observed that there was steep loss of pressure head after the mismatching point in all cases at all Reynolds numbers. Hydraulic gradient line and total energy line were drawn at all Reynolds numbers. The results are also compared with that obtained by CFD using Ansys 12.1. The results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental results