Research on the Layout of Guide Piers in the Inlet-Outlet for Pumped Storage Power Station

The horizontal inlet-outlet is generally used in the pumped storage power station where the bidirectional flow exists. In the inlet-outlet, the flow may be contracted or diffused in the operation of pumping or generating according to its situation. The head loss in the inlet-outlet concerns the efficiency of the station, especially when the flow is diffused. Several guiding piers are usually put up to guide flow in the inlet-outlet. For the guiding piers, the number, location, and the shape of the head have important effects on the head loss of the inlet-outlet. The velocity field and the head loss are studied in this paper for the concave, accordant and convex layout of guiding piers by numerical simulation. It is indicated that the velocity distribution is better and the head loss is lesser for the convex layout of guiding piers.