Comparison of computed water hammer pressures with test results for the Çatalan power plant in Turkey

The closure of a flow control mechanism at the end of a penstock may cause significant transient pressures. The governing equations of this unsteady flow phenomenon, the conservation of mass and conservation of momentum, are solved by the method of characteristics using various computational schemes. A study was carried out to compare the computational results of the transient pressures with measured prototype data for the Catalan Power Plant in Turkey. Prototype data were collected during the closure of the wicket gates of a Francis turbine from the test procedures of "load rejection", "emergency shut down", and "quick stop". The numerical results for the transient pressures just upstream of the turbine are compared with the measured data. The general agreement between the theoretical and experimental results is found to be quite reasonable.Key words: transient pressure, water hammer, power plant, Francis turbine, penstock, method of characteristics.