Desarrollo de un modelo paramétrico para predecir el comportamiento de turbinas hidráulicas tipo Pelton en pequeñas centrales hidroeléctricas.

Abstract

The present study focuses on the development of a parametric model to predict the behavior of a Pelton turbine used in small-scale electricity generation. For that, the Illuchi N2 hydroelectric plant belonging to the Cotopaxi electric company ELEPCO S.A. was taken as a case study. For the development of the model, energy losses that occur in the pressure pipe due to friction and accessories, power losses in the turbine due to hydrodynamic effects, power losses due to mechanical effects and electrical losses in the generator were considered. Based on these factors, a system of equations was formulated and implemented in the Python programming language to facilitate its manipulation and resolution. The results obtained from the model were verified by CFD and experimentally validated obtaining a maximum error of 2.7% for the power of the turbine when the plant operates at full load. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed model, an optimization of the case study was carried out. The results obtained from the optimization show that it is possible to improve the turbine power by 3.00% as long as the operating parameters are β = 168 °, B / do = 2.77 and L / do = 2.33.