newsletter 2 issue details

                                                         

                    Francis Turbine for Sediment Laden Waters                 

                              Quarterly Newsletter - 2

                                                                     Issue 2 | Date : 29.04.2019

International Symposium

 International Symposium in Nepal

International symposium on Current Research in Hydropower Technologies (CRHT) is an annual event organized by Turbine Testing Lab at Kathmandu  University, Nepal since 2010. This event is an expanded version of "Current Research in Hydraulic Turbines" with broader scope of papers in the sector of hydropower. This year, the symposium was held on 9th April, 2019.

                           9th International symposium on "Current Research in Hydropower Technologies" at Kathmandu University, Nepal

Nirmal presentation

A numerical study of sediment erosion in a high head Francis turbine, Nirmal Acharya, PhD student

Nirmal Acharya, PhD student of HydroCen, presented a paper at the symposium:

“A numerical study of sediment erosion in a high head Francis turbine”, N. Acharya, C. Trivedi, N.M. Wahl, S. Gautam, S. Chitrakar and O.G. Dahlhaug. 

Nirmal is currently doing his PhD research at NTNU under FranSed project on developing a Francis turbine that can handle significant amount of sediment and prevent sediment erosion.

    Nirmal Acharya presenting paper at symposium

Sediment erosion

Presentation on Sediment erosion

The title of paper presented by Nanna Moland Wahl, student at Waterpower laboratory who is working in relation to FranSed, was :

"Study of the effects of sediment erosion in guide vanes", N.M. Wahl, N. Acharya and O.G. Dahlhaug

    Nanna Moland Wahl presenting paper at symposium

Norwegian students presentation

Students from Waterpower Laboratory in Nepal

Ten master students (including one research assistant) from Waterpower laboratory at NTNU attended the symposium as a part of their excursion. Two students presented their papers regarding variable speed operation and sediment erosion which are relevant topic to FranSed.

The students also visited the turbine testing lab at KU. Model testing of Francis turbine designed under FranSed project will be tested there as a part of WP 4.

    Students from NTNU visiting TTL at KU. From left: Nanna M. Wahl, Johannes Kverno, Rune H. Larsen, Pål Dahle, Magnus Perkunder, Andrea Engøy, Kathrine A. Hamran, Marte Mestvedthagen

Students from Waterpower laboratory (NTNU) visiting KU. From left: Tilak Chand Dhital, Pål Dahle, Andrea Engøy, Nanna M. Wahl, Magnus Perkunder, Marte Mestvedthagen, Kathrine A. Hamran, Rune H. Larsen, Johannes Kverno, Andreas Nordvik. Photo : Johannes Kverno

Coordinator meeting

Meeting of project coordinators from KU and NTNU

Sailesh Chitrakar and Shreejana Poudyal, project coordinators of FranSed from KU and NTNU respectively had a fruitful meeting regarding progress of the project and upcoming deliverables. Shreejana was also a part of team of students during their excursion.

    From Left : Sailesh Chitrakar, Shreejana Poudyal

contents

Contents

1.     International Symposium in Nepal

2.     A numerical study of sediment erosion in a high head Francis turbine, Nirmal Acharya, PhD student

3.     Research scholar in team FranSed from IIT Roorkee     

4.     FranSed is a Mega Project

5.     Progress on Work packages

6.     Presentation on sediment sampling and mineral content analysis

7.     Norwegian students from Waterpower Laboratory at KU, Nepal

8.     Presentation on sediment erosion

9.     Presentation on variable speed operation

10.    Meeting of project coordinators from KU and NTNU

New researcher at IIT Roorkee

Research scholar in team FranSed from IIT Roorkee

Shubham Sharma is one of the team members of FranSed project. He is a research scholar at IIT Roorkee, India and is directly involved with the research activities of WP 3 i.e. development of a sediment erosion model for the Francis turbine.

    Shubham Sharma, Research scholar at IIT Roorkee, India

 

 

 

Sailesh presentation

FranSed is a Mega project

Sailesh Chitrakar, project coordinator of FranSed, also presented a paper on the symposium:

"Methodology to predict effects of leakage flow from guide vanes of Francis turbine", S. Gautam, S. Chitrakar, R. Lama, H.Pd. Neopane, B.S. Thapa

 

"FranSed is a mega project as it involves not only model testing, but also aims for prototype testing with the turbines designed by our team." 

- Sailesh Chitrakar, PhD

test rig installation

Progress on Work packages

WP 1 :

Jhimruk Hydro power plant, Nepal has been chosen as a reference site for sediment analysis. Grab sampling method was used to collect sediment sample from river as well as start and end of settling basin. Sieve analysis method is being used for analysis of particle size distribution. The mineral content analysis was carried out using trinocular microscope.

WP 2 : 

Model of guide vanes (GVs) from Bhilangana-III HEP extracted as per the 2D drawings was obtained. Runner blades were acquired from Khoj software and simulations were conducted. Erosion pattern, leakage flow and vortices were observed  around the GV and were compared with the photographed eroded profile of real GVs. A paper on 'A numerical case study of sediment erosion in a high head Francis turbine' was presented on symposium CRHT-IX’19, in Dhulikhel, Nepal on 9th April, 2019 along with the submission of manuscript for publication. Similarly, another paper titled ‘Study of the effects of sediment erosion in guide vanes’ was also presented in the same symposium. Work on hydraulic design of the reference runner is being carried out on MATLAB simultaneously.

WP 3 :

Different target materials Aluminium alloy, Brass,Steel, Turbine steel(13/4MSS) have been selected for scaling. Experiments in high speed pot tester have been started and are in progress. Mechanical property of target material and sand collected from bhilangana powerplant have been analysed. Furthermore, work has been started to explore the possibility of integrating the available erosion models in Ansys CFX. Francis turbine used in Francis 99 case study has been selected for this purpose.

WP 4 :

Installation of test rig for Francis turbine is being carried out at Turbine Testing Lab at Kathmandu University in Nepal. As model testing of Francis turbine will be done at TTL under WP 4, the basic parameter of model turbine for FranSed has been finalized:

  • Test rig has been relocated. VFD and generator have been purchased by TTL and installation of the same is in progress. Sensors and IGSS system have been purchased. Besides, linear actuator and flowmeter have been purchased, however their delivery is in progress.
  • LabVIEW program for data acquisition system is in progress.
  • Operation of exisitng Francis turbine test rig is in progress.
  • Design of calibration system for Torque Transducer, Pressure Transducer and Flow meter are under progress. Review and design of calibration system has been completed and procurement process has been initialized.

Rabina presentation

Presentation on sediment sampling and mineral content analysis

Rabina Awal is a researcher directly involved in research activities of WP 1. She presented a paper on the symposium :

"A general review on methods for sediment sampling and mineral content analysis", R. Awal, S. Chitrakar, B. S. Thapa and H. P. Neopane.

    Rabina Awal presenting paper at symposium

Variable speed operation

Presentation on Variable speed operation

The title of paper presented by Andreas Nordvik, master student at Waterpower laboratory, NTNU, was :

"Variable speed operation of Francis turbines", A. Nordvik, I. Illiev, C.Trivedi and O. G. Dahlhaug

    Andreas Nordvik presenting paper at symposium