Analysis of Hydraulic Characteristics of Guard-Gate for Hydropower Plant

A guard-gate can be installed at the inlet of the pressure tunnel, at the downstream end of the surge tank or in the draft tube of the water turbine. A hydraulic shape of the gate and characteristics of the hydropower plant flow-passage sytem govern the magnitude of pressure forces acting on the gate structure. Flow conditions at the downstream end of the gate may require adequate air admission. Numerical analysis of hydraulic characteristics has been performed for a vertical leaf gate at different gate openings. The analysis has been performed with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code using finite volume method. Computational results are compared with results of measurements carried out in a model test rig.