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Improved frictional modeling for the pressure-time method
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3349-601x
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics. School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Hydraulic Machinery Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7599-0895
2019 (English)In: Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, ISSN 0955-5986, E-ISSN 1873-6998, Vol. 69, article id 101604Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The pressure-time method is classified as a primary method for measuring discharge in hydraulic machinery. The uncertainty in the discharge determined using the pressure-time method is typically around ±1.5 %; however, despite dating back almost one hundred years in time, there still exists potential to reduce this uncertainty. In this paper, an improvement of the pressure-time method is suggested by implementing a novel formulation to model the frictional losses arising in the evaluation procedure. By analyzing previously obtained data from CFD, laboratory and full-scale pressure-time measurements it is shown that the new friction model improves the accuracy of the flow rate calculation by approximately 0.1–0.2% points, compared to currently utilized friction models. Despite being a small absolute improvement, the new friction model presents an important development of the pressure-time method because the relative improvement is significant.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2019. Vol. 69, article id 101604
Keywords [en]
Pressure-time method, Transient friction modeling, Pipe flow
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Research subject
Fluid Mechanics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-75599DOI: 10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2019.101604ISI: 000496341600005Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85070506497OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-75599DiVA, id: diva2:1344263
Note

Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-08-20 (svasva)

Available from: 2019-08-20 Created: 2019-08-20 Last updated: 2025-02-09Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Development of the Pressure-Time Method for Flow Rate Measurement in Hydropower Plants by Numerical Simulation
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Development of the Pressure-Time Method for Flow Rate Measurement in Hydropower Plants by Numerical Simulation
2019 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Hydropower is a clean and sustainable energy resource developed since the late 19th century. To specify the hydraulic performance characteristics of hydraulic turbines, the volumetric flow rate as one of the few basic quantities should be determined. Discharge represents the most difficult quantity to measure. A good measurement accuracy and estimation is difficult to estimate compared to the power and head, especially in low head machines. Despite the developments in discharge measurement techniques, this part of the hydraulic machine performance tests is often a major challenge. The pressure-time method is one of the discharge measurement techniques, which is studied in this PhD thesis. Most of the researches, to improve the accuracy of this method, are performed experimentally, whilst limited one-dimensional numerical simulations are done on this method. Therefore, detailed investigation of this method has been difficult. The studies conducted in this thesis are divided in two experimental and numerical parts. Because the flow physics in the pressure-time method is a combination of decelerating flow with variable rate and water hammer phenomenon, at the first experimental studies are performed considering unsteady constant rate decelerating and accelerating flows. The results helped to better understanding the studies in the second part concerned with numerical simulations. In the second part, the physical phenomenon behind the water hammer and constant rate decelerating and accelerating flows is studied. Then the physical characteristics of the flow in the pressure-time method is investigated in detail based on the time variation of the wall shear stress and the γ parameter. The γ parameter represents the difference between the turbulence structure in a transient accelerating or decelerating flow and the one in the quasi-steady condition. It is demonstrated that for the pressure-time method, part of the flow decrease excursion can be characterized as quasi-steady and the rest is unsteady. The dominance of inertia and turbulence dynamics is investigated to evaluate the wall shear stress in the part of the excursion with the unsteady assumption. It is found that the inertia has a dominant effect during the excursion. The evaluation of the effective forces in the flow rate calculation in a straight pipe showed that the wall shear stress is a good approximation of the losses calculation and the other terms can be neglected. To extend the applicability of this method outside the limitations of the IEC41 standard, variable pipe cross-section and different friction loss calculation are also studied. A new method for the loss calculation in the penstocks with variable cross section is proposed.  The errors induced by the proposed method are in an acceptable range provided that the contraction angle is less than ϴ=10°. The evaluation of the important forces showed that the variation of the momentum flux is the most significant term in the flow rate estimation in a pipe with a contraction. Then, the wall shear stress is the second most significant. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Luleå: Luleå University of Technology, 2019
Series
Doctoral thesis / Luleå University of Technology 1 jan 1997 → …, ISSN 1402-1544
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Research subject
Fluid Mechanics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-72001 (URN)978-91-7790-284-3 (ISBN)978-91-7790-285-0 (ISBN)
Public defence
2019-05-10, E1024, Lulea university of Technology, Lulea, 13:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2018-12-12 Created: 2018-12-11 Last updated: 2025-02-09Bibliographically approved
2. Studies of Transient and Pulsating flows with application to Hydropower
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Studies of Transient and Pulsating flows with application to Hydropower
2018 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Studier av transient och pulserande strömning med applikation inom vattenkraft
Abstract [en]

The rotational motion of a hydraulic turbine runner makes pulsating flows ubiquitous in different locations of the machine. The cyclic loading thus induced may generate large pressure forces acting periodically on both stationary and rotating parts. In addition to the presence of pulsating flows in a turbine runner, transient flows are encountered at an increasingly higher rate due to the continual installation of intermittent sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. To mitigate the imbalance that these unpredictable sources induce on the frequency of the electrical grid, hydropower turbines are enforced to regulate their power production, and consequently flow rate, thus leaving them to operate under transient conditions. In terms of wear and fatigue, a startup or shutdown of a hydraulic turbine corresponds to 10-20 hours of steady state operation at the design point. Transient operation of a hydraulic machine can, however, also be used in favour for measuring the discharge through the turbine using the pressure-time method. A better understanding of pulsating and transient flows thus has the potential both to mitigate problems associated with them, and to increase the accuracy with which the turbine flow rate can be measured; two great merits for the hydropower community. In light of this observation, the following work constitutes a fundamental investigation of transient and pulsating flows performed in a straight pipe.Studies have been performed experimentally using particle image velocimetry, hot-film anemometry, laser Doppler velocimetry and pressure sensors.

A chief finding is that the time-development of the wall shear stress and near-wall turbulence fields exhibit significant similarity between transient and pulsating flows, despite the different conditions of the mean flow. Whereas the former is initiated from a statistically steady state, the latter is constantly subjected to a time-varying forcing. Both types of unsteady flows have previously been investigated in detail; however, any potential similarity between them has, largely, been unexplored. An important implication of this finding, then, is that knowledge acquired in one type of unsteady flow can be used, if not interchangeably, at least as a guidance for the expected behaviour in the other type of flow. An example is the development of unsteady turbulence models. Another important finding is that the frictional losses arising during the late stage of a pressure-time flow rate measurement can be accurately modelled using an analytical laminar formulation of the wall shear stress, despite the bulk of the flow being turbulent. The formulation of the wall shear stress has potential to be further improved by incorporating a damping-function.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Luleå: Luleå University of Technology, 2018
Series
Doctoral thesis / Luleå University of Technology 1 jan 1997 → …, ISSN 1402-1544
Keywords
Turbulent flows, Pipe flow, Unsteadiness, Friction modeling
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Research subject
Fluid Mechanics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-67865 (URN)978-91-7790-065-8 (ISBN)978-91-7790-066-5 (ISBN)
Public defence
2018-04-20, E231, Luleå, 09:30 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2018-03-07 Created: 2018-03-06 Last updated: 2025-02-09Bibliographically approved

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Sundström, JoelSaemi, SimindokhtCervantes, Michel

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