Application of CFD Turbine Design for Small Hydro Elliott Falls, A Case Study

摘要

The Elliott Falls small-hydro generating station is located in Norland, Ontario, Canada.Commissioned in 1990, the plant originally comprised two vertical axis, variable-pitchcooling pumps acting as turbines. After less than 10 years, severe blade cavitation andhub seal failure necessitated remedial action. Various alternatives were consideredincluding replacement of the pumps with new, off-the-shelf small-hydro turbines. Asolution was implemented that involved replacement of the existing stay vanes, hub andblades with a custom runner and distributor. Both were designed using state-of-the-artcomputational fluid dynamics (CFD) software technology. The paper describes theoriginal design of the power plant, the problems encountered, the solutions adopted,and the results of the repair/upgrade. It will be demonstrated that the use of CFD for thedesign of custom small-hydro turbines is appropriate.