LDV measurements of the velocity field on the inlet section of a pumped storage equipped with a symmetrical suction elbow for variable discharge values

The storage pumps are equipped with various types of inlet casings. The flow nonuniformity is generated by the suction elbows being ingested by the impeller leading to unsteady phenomena and worse cavitational behaviour. A symmetrical suction elbow model corresponding to the double flux storage pump was manufactured and installed on the test rig in order to assess the flow field at the pump inlet. The experimental investigations are performed for 9 discharge values from 0.5 to 1.3 of nominal discharge. LDV measurements are performed on the annular section of the pump inlet in order to quantify the flow non-uniformity generated by the symmetrical suction elbow. Both axial and circumferential velocity components are simultaneously measured on the half plane (180 degree ) of the annular inlet section along to 19 survey axis with 62 points on each. The flow field on the next half plane is determined tacking into account the symmetry. As a result, the flow map on the pump inlet annular section is reconstructed revealing a significant variation of the circumferential velocity component. The absolute flow angle is computed showing a significant variation of plus or minus 38 degree .