期刊名称：International Journal of Energy and Environment
印刷版ISSN：2076-2895
电子版ISSN：2076-2909
出版年度：2010
卷号：1
期号：6
页码：937-952
出版社：International Energy and Environment Foundation (IEEF)
摘要：This paper aims to study how the flow behaves in key elements of small hydropower plants (SHP) which should be well designed in order to achieve properly the best hydraulic and energy efficiency. There are some hydrodynamic and structural fundaments that all hydro circuits design has to follow, and there are other aspects that vary from design to the flow behavior. The variables that influence the hydro systems design are related with performance, technical, operational and environmental aspects. For instance, design discharge, produced energy, intakes and outlets geometry are some of the technical variables. The components of SHP design should be characterized by a balance between hydraulic, structural, operational and environment efficiency and economic issues. To improve the hydraulic efficiency is necessary information concerning with hydrodynamic flow behavior. The knowledge in this area is still insufficient since the hydrodynamic flow patterns, in some key elements of hydraulic circuits of SHP are quite complex. Therefore this paper uses an advanced computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model for flow simulation, with the aim to improve the behavior comprehension enabling the identification of parameters’ variation which influences the performance efficiency of those components in the design criteria of such SHP. Since the inefficiency and the unsafe operating conditions are normally associated to separated flow zones, vorticity development, macro turbulence intensity, pressure gradients, shear stress increase, this paper intends to analyze causes and consequences of the flow behavior. Among these concerns it is possible to identify induced problems, such as vibrations, resonance effects, ruptures or collapses, cavitation, water column separation, significant friction losses, vortices and regions of reversed flow.
