Energy transformation and flow topology in an elbow draft tube

Abstract

Paper presents a computational study of energy transformation in two geometrical configurations of Kaplan turbine elbow draft tube. Pressure recovery, hydraulic efficiency and loss coefficient are evaluated for a series of flow rates and swirl numbers corresponding to operating regimes of the turbine. These integral characteristics are then correlated with local flow field properties identified by extraction of topological features. Main focus is to find the reasons for hydraulic efficiency drop of the elbow draft tube.