Optimization design and test verification of guide vanes for a fish-friendly Francis turbine

Fish will die from the strike of the narrow flow passages when passage through traditional Francis turbines, in order to obtain excellent hydraulic performance as well as improve survival rate of fish, the guide vanes of fish-friendly Francis turbine model is taken as the research object. CFD method is adopted to predict the flow field characteristics of the turbine, meanwhile, the model test is carried out to validate the reliability of the numerical simulation. The results showed that, for plan A with 20 guide vanes, the internal flow of the turbine is more uniform and the pressure between the guide vanes is more symmetric in the circumferential direction, the turbine has better performance in the efficiency and operational stability.