Experimental Investigation on the Efficiency of Reducing Air Bubble Formation by Installing Horizontal Porous Plate in the Submerged Outlet Structure of Power Plant

In this study hydraulic experiment was carried out to investigate the flow characteristics in the submerged outlet structure of Boryeong power plant and the efficiency of bubble reduction by installing horizontal porous plate in the outlet structure. The cross-sectional mean velocity in the submerged outlet structure was smaller than 1 m/s, the target value at the design stage to prevent bubble outflow to the open sea area. In addition, it was found that the maximum depth of bubble penetration is reduced 30 to 50% by installing the horizontal porous plate at the second falling location in the submerged outlet structure. It is expected that the total bubble amount entrained in the water will be most efficiently reduced by installing square-hole-shape porous plate of 20 cm hole size and making its central section as non-porous structure to dissipate the energy of falling water.