Performance Analysis of a Francis Turbine under Various Operating Conditions using CFD

¹ Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, 247667, India
² Mechanical Engineering Department, Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology, Surat, 395001, India

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Hydropower is one of the most efficient renewable energy technologies. The reaction turbines have application in very wide range of hydro power projects. The turbines are main important components of any hydro power plant. The accurate prediction of hydraulic turbine performance is a critical task for maximum amount of energy generation in plants. This study presents a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics analysis of Francis turbine operating under part load, upper part load, rated load, and overload conditions. A three-dimensional model of Francis turbine was developed using its actual geometric parameters, and simulations were conducted in ANSYS CFX with SST turbulence model. Boundary conditions are based on the operating parameters, were applied to capture the pressure and velocity distribution, and to plot hydraulic efficiency curve at different guide vane openings. The simulation results were validated against available experimental test data, showing strong agreement. The fluid flow visualization by pressure contour and velocity streamlines revealed flow separation and vortex formation patterns at off-design conditions. The findings provide valuable insights for hydropower operators to future analyses of Francis turbine performance across different operating conditions.