Simulation Study on Dynamics of Hydraulic Turbines Used in Drilling Engineering

Abstract

Hydroturbines have a very wide range of applications, which are commonly found in wind turbines, water turbines, aero engines, etc. This paper provided a detailed turbine design and a design method of turbine blade shape. Using the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) method, based on the realizable k-ɛ turbulence model and Euler multiphase flow model, the effects of different external loads, blade numbers, blade installation angles, and flow rates on the force condition of turbine and the influence of different solid contents, particle sizes, and densities on turbine performance were studied. The simulation results show that, under the action of fluid, when the starting torque of turbine is larger than the external load, the turbine starts to move, the angular velocity increases until it remains constant, the absolute value of impact force decreases, and the impact torque decreases until it is equal to the external load; while the starting torque of turbine is smaller than the external load, the turbine stays still. The increase of the particle size, content, and density of the solid phase will lead to an increase in the torque and pressure drop of the turbine and ultimately leads to the increase of turbine input, output power, and efficiency.