JOURNAL OF YANGTZE RIVER SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTI ›› 2013, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (8): 46-49.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1001-5485.2013.08.0;2013,30(08)

• Orignal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of Cavitation in Sediment-Release Orifices andAeration Conduits of Three Gorges Hydropower Station

JIANG Bo-le, ZHANG Hui, YANG Jiang-ning   

  1. Hydraulics Department, Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan 430010, China
  • Received:2013-08-13 Revised:2013-08-13 Online:2013-08-13 Published:2013-08-13

Abstract: The characteristics of cavitation caused by high-speed flow in the pressure tunnel of Three Gorges Project (TGP) hydropower station were investigated through vacuum tank experiment to ascertain the design of the sediment-release orifices and aeration conduit (AC) of TGP. The results showed that obvious steam cavitation was found at the bottom of outlet of AC, but no steam cavitation occurred in the area of valves when the valves were fully opened. However, when the valves were half-opened or fully closed, the cavitation intensity decreased remarkably and also there was little cavitation erosion risk around both the above-mentioned components. It’s concluded that diverting flow design should be avoided for the safe operation of high-speed flow and pressure tunnel in hydropower station.

Key words: hydraulics, TGP hydropower station, sediment-release orifice, diverting flow, steam cavitation, gas cavitation

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