1Location: At the header of water conveyance system
Function: To let the water that meet certain criteria enter canals
or pressure conduits under well-controlled conditions.
The intake structure should satisfy the following essential
requirements:
(1) It is capable of to admit plenty of water at any working
reservoir level;
(2) Water quality must be satisfactory;
(3) The head loss should be as small as possible;
(4) The flow should be controllable and intake shall be equipped
with necessary gates
(5) Suction vortex and reservoir area circulations should be
avoided. Set anti-vortex beam if necessary
(6) Intake should satisfy the common requirements imposed on all
hydraulic structures.
A.*
Inlet section +(transition section)+ gate section + transition
section
(1) Submerged intake —— Below the min. water level of the
reservoir, mainly to introduce deep water into pressurized water
conveyance pipeline.
(2) Exposed intake —— Mainly to introduce the surface water into
non-pressure water conveyance pipeline and the water flow is
channel flow.
A.*
20134
Propertieswith a rock-bored gate shaft and an excavated inlet
section.
Application: better local geological conditions and moderate
terrain slope.
Advantage make full use of the role of rock with less reinforced
concrete.
(1) Intake with a rock-bored gate shaft
(Tunnel Type Intake)
A.*
(2) Tower type intake
Properties the inlet section and gate section form a
tower-structure in the reservoir, and connect with the bank by a
bridge.
Application: poor local geological conditions and mild terrain
slope.
Disadvantagesbear the wave pressure, ice thrust and forces due to
earthquake force.
AdvantagesAllow to draw water from one side or radially.
A.*
20134
* Tower type intake leaned against the rock mass (Wall type
intake)
Properties lean against the rock mass.
Applications poor geological conditions at the entrance zone or
steep terrain slope.
Disadvantages bear the hydraulic pressure and sometimes rock
pressurewhich requires sufficient strength and stability.
A.*
Inclined horizontal intake
Inclined horizontal intake
reduce or eliminate the rock pressurehydraulic pressure is
transferred to the rock mass partially or totally.
(3) Intake with inclined gate slots towards the mountain
slope
A.*
(4) Dam type intake
Propertiesset directly on the upstream side of the dam. The inlet
section and gate section are often combined into one section. The
transition section is compactly connected together to shorten the
length of intake.
Applicationthe only choice when penstocks are embedded in the
dam.
Requirementsits arrangement should be coordinated with the damand
its shape varies with the dam type.
A.*
(5) Intake of run-of-river
a. The intake and powerhouse are connected togetherand it also
plays the role of flood control and water retaining
b. low head and large dischargethe issues of sediment flushing and
float cleaning are more prominent
c. Large unit’s dimensionunit’s capacity, the intake are often
divided into two or three channels by isolated piers.
A.*
(6) Multi-level intake
For the ecological demands downstream, the intake can admit the
surface water by used of stoplog gate under high reservoir’s water
level. It is suitable for large and medium hydropower stations with
relative wide head variation and the head loss is slightly
larger.
A.*
A.*
Well type intake of the pumped storage power station
(6) Intake/outlet of the upper reservoir and lower reservoir of the
pumped storage power station
A.*
1.dwg
2.dwg
A.*
A.*
A.*
(1) Location of submerged intake
the inflow is smooth and symmetricalto avoid backflow and vortex.
No sediment and pollutants accumulation happens in front of the
intake. It can be normal operation during flood season
The intake arrangement is coordinated with the tunnel line
suitable topographic conditiongeological condition and water flow
condition.
A.*
a. Bottom elevation of the intake
should be higher than the design sediment accumulation elevationand
designed with a reverse slope connected with the reservoir’s bottom
and intake.
or be assisted with the flushing sluice.
A.*
b. Top elevation of the intake
Arrangement requirements Its top elevation is lower than the min.
operating water level, and has a certain submergence to avoid the
funnel-shaped suction vortex (controlling condition) and negative
pressure in pressurized diversion pipeline.
Common forms of surface vortex and underwater vortex
Enough submergence
—no vortex
—superficial cruising vortex
20134
The critical submergence Scr (m) for the possible suction vortex
can be estimated by Gordon (J. L. Gordon) Empirical Formula:
in which c is an empirical coefficientc=0.55-0.73small values for
symmetrical inflowlarge values for side inflow.
*Fr meet
20134
Engineering measuresto improve inflow conditions, to set floating
mats or anti-vortex beam, to upwarp the upper part of the entrance
section.
A.*
Intake/outlet of the pumped storage power station
The intake and outlet of the pumped storage power station are a
hydraulic structure. For the upper reservoir, it is an intake
during power generationand it is an outlet during pumping
operationand on the contrary for the lower reservoir. Therefore, it
is named as the intake /outlet.
Properties
During inflow, it should gradually shrinkduring outflow, it should
gradually spread to realize a velocity distribution on the full
section as evenly as possibleand the backflow and flow separation
should not occur. Generally, the diffusion section is relatively
long.
(1) Be applicable to the two-way flow
A.*
(2) The head loss should be smaller
During power generation and pumping operation, for inflow and
outflow, the head loss should be as small as possible, otherwise
the total efficiency of the hydraulic system will reduce.
(3) The operating depth of the reservoir is relatively large, and
then the submergence of the intake/outlet is small. In order to
avoid suction vortex, we need to set anti-vortex beam
(4) the flow velocity passing through the trash rack is relatively
large, so the trash rack is easy to have vibrate problems
(5) the outflow is large while the reservoir capacity is small,
maybe the erosion to reservoir’s bottom and side slope is serious,
and it is easy to result in holistic circulation or vortex.
A.*
(1) Side intake/outlet
The diversion pipeline is nearly horizontal to be connected with
the intake/outlet. The intake/outlet is built close to reservoir’s
side slope with relatively large structure and excavation.
A.*
A.*
(2) Well-type intake/outlet (for the upper reservoir)
The intake/outlet is connecting with the vertical diversion
pipeline, which is named well-type intake/outlet or shaft
intake/outlet. This intake/outlet locates in the upper reservoir
and has orifices both on the top of shaft and around the tower. The
intake/outlet can be open-type, or has a head cover.
A.*
A.*
It should meet:
(1) not air admission during the inflow, and to prevent or weaken
the formation of vortex
(2) the water flow should spread evenly during inflow
(3) the head loss should be as small as possible
(4) the allowed velocity passing through the trash;
(5) to save engineering quantities and reduce the engineering
cost.
A.*
The shapes and related indexes of side intake/outlet
(1) It should have planar diffusion segments. If the diffusion
angle is too largemaybe the flow will be separated away from the
side wall (flow separation).
(2) It should also have vertical diffusion. Generally the bottom of
intake is horizontal and the roof is tilted up.
(3) The reasonable shape and arrangement of diversion piers.
A.*
Statistical graph of the horizontal diffusion angle for side
intake/outlet
A.*
A.*
Case analysis:
A.*
A.*
20134
Local head loss coefficient of the intake/outlet under turbine and
pump mode:
(1) General description
The intake/outlet of the pumped storage power station is generally
made up of entrance section, trash rack, diffusion section,
diversion pier, transition section and connecting section, and some
of the intake/outlets also include gate shaft section. Generally,
the pipe length between diffusion section and gate shaft section is
very short or they are connected directly without connection
section. Therefore, the head loss of intake/outlet under inflow or
outflow condition is defined as the total head loss of all the
sections of the intake/outlet.
A.*
20134
In order to meet the layout design, the plane bending pipe or
vertical bending pipe is often applied close to the intake/outlet.
When bending pipes exitfor the water flow leaving the bending
pipes, because the velocity outside of bending pipe is fast and
that inside is slow, which leads to pressure difference and
centrifugal force difference at the downstream section. Then two
secondary flow occurs and forms a complex water flowwhich has a
certain impact on the flow pattern of intake/outlet and its head
loss.
A.*
20134
The influence of plane bending pipe: if it is relatively close to
the intake/outlet, it will lead to the occurrence of bias flow for
the outflow of each flow channel, which directly causes uneven
velocity and discharge distributions for the whole intake/outlet
flow section, increases its head loss. Therefore, if possible, a
straight connection section with length 30 ~ 40D is needed to
connect the intake/outlet and the bending pipe.
5.unknown
A.*
20134
The influence of vertical bending pipe: if it is close to the
intake/outlet, the high flow velocity region locates at its top in
the outflow section. In practical engineering, this phenomenon does
not appear and the flow velocity distribution is relatively
uniform, mainly because two symmetrical vertical bending pipes are
designed and thus mostly eliminate the influences of bias flow
caused by a vertical bending pipe.
6.unknown
A.*
(2) Head loss of intake/outlet
Setting diversion piers in diffusion section of intake/outlet is
mainly to make the water flow shrink or diffuse evenly, and the
velocity distribution is uniform and stable.
The head loss of intake/outlet depends on inflow and outflow
conditions. It mainly includes diffusion shock, local separation
and local impact. in the case that the intake/outlet is divided
into three or four channels by the diversion piers, the uniformity
of flow distribution of all the channels is a more important factor
on the head loss of intake/outlet.
Generally, the head loss is smaller for inflow in the
intake/outlet, and the head loss coefficient varies between 0.2 and
0.3; in the case of outflow, the head loss is larger and its
coefficient is about 0.4 to 0.8.
A.*
20134
Comparison of the head loss coefficients for the intake/outlet of
the pumped storage power stations in China.
Pumped-storage power stations
(1) The flow field in reservoir area
Under low reservoir level, the velocity field of the reservoir
bottom in the case of outflow
A.*
20134
Under low reservoir level, the velocity field of the reservoir
bottom in the case of inflow
A.*
20134
Under low reservoir level, the velocity field of the reservoir
bottom in the case of outflow (with higher reservoir bottom)
A.*
20134
Under low reservoir level, the velocity field of the reservoir
bottom in the case of inflow (with higher reservoir bottom)
A.*
Flow pattern design and anti-vortex design for inflow
The min. submergence of the intake/outlet is very small when the
reservoir is in dead water level. It is necessary to use different
structures such as anti-vortex beams and plates, to eliminate the
vibration caused by suction vortex and trash rack. In addition, the
intake/outlet has complex two-way water flow. In order to make the
velocity and discharge distribution as uniform as possible, without
any backflow and flow separation, and with smaller head loss, it is
important to have a best design for the intake/outlet.
Due to various, frequent and complex conditions switch in the
pumped storage power station, and wide variation of reservoir’s
water level, it is more important to avoid the harmful vortex near
the intake/outlet.
A.*
20134
Suction vortex with air admission is more harmful and must be
avoided. There are many factors that influence the vortex's
occurrence and development, such as the flow direction and velocity
distribution (or inflow Fr.), the near velocity distribution, the
layout of the transition section and diversion pier, the terrain of
reservoir nearby, the designed submergence of the intake/outlet and
so on.
In order to discriminate whether harmful vortex occurs in the
intake/outlet, J. L. Gordon obtained the critical submergence
formula for the intakes based on many field tests and further
numerical analysis.
A.*
20134
In order to guarantee the safe and reliable operation of the
pumped-storage hydropower stations, to set anti-vortex beams above
the intake/outlet is commonly used to prevent the inflow vortex.
From the effectiveness of anti-vortex beam, to set the floating
mats is the best choice, however, because the floating mats are
easy to be affected by floating debris and its structure is
relatively complex, the anti-vortex beams are often used instead of
the floating mats.
A.*
A.*
A.*
A.*
A.*
A.*
A.*
Height of the anti-vortex beamsoriginal 1.5mfinal 1.0m
Spacing of anti-vortex beamsoriginal 0.8mfinal 0.5m, 5 anti-vortex
beams.
Intake/outlet height original 12.2mfinal 9.9m
Intake/outlet width original 42.6mfinal 28.5m
Horizontal diffusion angle original 39.6final 44.9
Length of diffusion section original 44.5mfinal 22.9m
A.*
Trash rack design
(1) Operating conditions
(3) Vibration sources
A.*
The requirement of minimum velocity passing through the trash
rack
No.
Velocity (m/s)
Velocity (m/s)
0.69
A.*
20134
Working conditions for trash rack in intake/outlet of the pumped
storage power station
(1)Two-way flow in the flow channels
(2)The rotation modes of the water flow at runner outlet under
turbine condition varies greatly under different operating modes,
and the forces on the trash rack varied simultaneously
(3)Flow patterns in the transient conditions of the pumped-storage
hydropower stations are complex, and then the forces on trash rack
increase accordingly.
A.*
20134
If the trash rack of the pumped-storage power station’s
intake/outlet is poorly designedthe damages are easy to occur.
There are two main destructions
Lateral vibration damage to single rack bar of trash rack, or
vibration damage along the water flow direction. There may also
have torsion vibration
Vibration damages to the whole trash rack perpendicular or parallel
to water flow direction. Generally, the main reason for damages of
the trash rack is the excited vibration of water flow.
A.*
There are two vibration sources of excited vibration
The disturbance produced by the vortex shedding separated from the
tail of the cascade. It is unstable
The disturbances generated by the turbine and its disturbance
frequency is relatively stable. The disturbance frequencies of
these excited vibrations may be coupling with the natural frequency
of the cascade in the lateral or along the water flow direction, or
maybe coupling with that of the whole trash rack perpendicular or
parallel to water flow direction. These may cause resonance and
make the trash rack damaged.
A.*
20134
In the design of trash rackin order to avoid resonance and further
destructions, the natural frequencies of the trash rack and its
rack bars should be far greater than the disturbance frequency as
much as possible. The main measures are
Reduce the velocity passing through the trash rack or thicken its
cascades, which can reduce the disturbance frequency of
vortex;
Strengthen the connection of the trash rack with well welding to
improve its rigidness. Shorten the span of single rack bar, namely
increase fixed points in the middle of the rack bar, which can
effectively improve the natural frequency of the rack bar;
If reservoir’s water is clear without floating debris, we can
consider removing the trash rack, or lift up the trash rack during
outflow.
23