Modélisation statistique de l’érosion de cavitation d’une turbine hydraulique selon les
paramètres d’opération
Cavitation erosion which results from repeated collapse of transient vapor cavities on solid surfaces is a constant problematic in hydraulic turbine runners and continues to enforce costly repair and loss of revenues. A vibratory detection system of cavitation erosion was installed 10 years ago for continuous monitoring of 4 hydropower units. A new hardware version of the system was developed and installed in 2010. This new system configuration is more reliable and allows more accurate evaluation of the cavitation erosion of the runners in kg/10 000 h. The first objective of this study is to investigate cavitation behavior upon one generating unit and to build a statistical model which will allow prediction of instant cavitation related to operating variables, such as gate opening, water flow, headwater level, tailwater levels, etc. The second objective is to develop a methodology for the reproducibility of the studies to other sites. A retrospective study will be conducted and we will mainly focus on data available since the system update in 2010. The preliminary analysis enhanced the complexity of the phenomenon. Indeed, changes in the relationship between cavitation and various operating variables were observed and could be due to a seasonal behavior or different operating conditions. Using hierarchical clustering and regression models, we formalize this heterogeneity by developing a model which includes operating variables such as active power, tailwater level and gate opening.
Cavitation Turbine Francis Francis turbine Mixture model Hierarchical clustering Multiple linear regression