Analysis of a contra-rotating pump–turbine for low-head applications: An experimental study and numerical comparison

Journal article, 2025

Low-head pumped hydro storage technology has been identified as a promising contributor to grid-scale energy storage and the provision of ancillary services. Low-head systems have differing characteristics compared to conventional high-head systems, including larger relative head ranges and increased inertias of both, the water column and the pump–turbines. These differences require new designs as well as a detailed evaluation of their steady-state performance and transient behaviour. For this purpose, an experimental 50kW setup incorporating a 1:22 scale version of a novel reversible pump–turbine, with two contra-rotating runners and independent drivetrains, is designed and constructed. Steady-state performance tests are conducted in turbine and pump modes for several speed ratios between runners. Using head and torque coefficients, the results are compared to a numerical pump–turbine model based on a range of computational fluid dynamics simulations. Additionally, the transient response for a change of operating points is tested and used to benchmark a 1-D numerical model covering dynamic effects including coupling between the conduit and drivetrains. The developed numerical model is then used to simulate the transient behaviour during a shutdown sequence in turbine mode. During the steady-state tests a maximum efficiency of 89% was measured in turbine mode and 92% in pump mode. The test results show that the steady-state RPT characterisation accurately predicts the RPT performance, particularly in turbine mode, with correlation coefficient values between 0.9–0.97. The comparison of the pump mode results shows a minor offset and difference in the correlation between experimental and numerical results. Similarly, the comparison of the transient test case shows a good agreement between the experimental and the simulated dynamic response of the flow rate and rotational speeds. The results have shown the capability of the numerical modelling approach to provide accurate results for steady-state and dynamic performance evaluations. Finally, the simulation of the shutdown sequence indicates that there is no risk of dangerous pressure transients during the desired deceleration of the runners and concurrent closure of the valve.