IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i16p4253-d1721636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Development of a Cavitation Indicator for Prediction of Failure in Pump-As-Turbines Using Numerical Simulation

Author

Listed:
  • Maciej Janiszkiewicz

    (Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Aonghus McNabola

    (School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia)

Abstract

The increasing deployment of pumps-as-turbines in small-scale hydropower applications in off-design conditions strengthens the need for the monitoring of the operation and maintenance (O&M) needs. PATs (pumps-as-turbines, pumps operated in reverse to generate electric current) are increasingly used because of their low cost as micro-hydropower plants; however, limited research has focused on their maintenance needs during operation. This is an important consideration given their use under conditions for which they were not originally designed. One of the most challenging O&M issues in hydromachinery is cavitation, which can harm turbines and reduce their efficiency. In this study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used for 15 different simulations of PAT configurations and their cavitation behaviour was investigated under varying inlet pressure and mass flow conditions. A cavitation strength indicator was developed using linear regression, describing the strength of cavitation from 0 (no cavitation) to 100 (extreme cavitation). This parameter depends on mass flow rate and head, which are easily measured parameters using standard sensors. With this approach, it is possible to monitor cavitation status in a continuous manner in a working PAT without the need for complex sensors. With this application, it is also possible to avoid costly damage, shutting down turbines when cavitation strength is exceptionally high.

Suggested Citation

  • Maciej Janiszkiewicz & Aonghus McNabola, 2025. "Development of a Cavitation Indicator for Prediction of Failure in Pump-As-Turbines Using Numerical Simulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-21, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:16:p:4253-:d:1721636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4253/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4253/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kan, Kan & Binama, Maxime & Chen, Huixiang & Zheng, Yuan & Zhou, Daqing & Su, Wentao & Muhirwa, Alexis, 2022. "Pump as turbine cavitation performance for both conventional and reverse operating modes: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhao, Ziwen & Yuan, Yichen & He, Mengjiao & Jurasz, Jakub & Wang, Jianan & Egusquiza, Mònica & Egusquiza, Eduard & Xu, Beibei & Chen, Diyi, 2022. "Stability and efficiency performance of pumped hydro energy storage system for higher flexibility," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1482-1494.
    2. Song, Xijie & Luo, Yongyao & Wang, Zhengwei, 2024. "Mechanism of the influence of sand on the energy dissipation inside the hydraulic turbine under sediment erosion condition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    3. Xu, Zhe & Zheng, Yuan & Kan, Kan & Chen, Huixiang, 2023. "Flow instability and energy performance of a coastal axial-flow pump as turbine under the influence of upstream waves," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    4. Wang, Tao & Yu, He & Xiang, Ru & Chen, XiaoMing & Zhang, Xiang, 2023. "Performance and unsteady flow characteristic of forward-curved impeller with different blade inlet swept angles in a pump as turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    5. Calvin Stephen & Biswajit Basu & Aonghus McNabola, 2024. "Detection of Cavitation in a Centrifugal Pump-as-Turbine Using Time-Domain-Based Analysis of Vibration Signals," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Xu, Zhe & Zheng, Yuan & Kan, Kan & Pavesi, Giorgio & Rossi, Mosè & Xu, Lianchen & Yan, Xiaotong, 2025. "Vortex evolution and energy loss of an axial flow Pump-As-Turbine (PAT) with the influence of upstream waves," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    7. Jin, Faye & Luo, Yongyao & Zhao, Qiang & Cao, Jiali & Wang, Zhengwei, 2023. "Energy loss analysis of transition simulation for a prototype reversible pump turbine during load rejection process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    8. Xu, Jian & Wang, Longyan & Luo, Zhaohui & Wang, Zilu & Zhang, Bowen & Yuan, Jianping & Tan, Andy C.C., 2024. "Deep learning enhanced fluid-structure interaction analysis for composite tidal turbine blades," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    9. Ma, Weichao & Zhao, Zhigao & Yang, Jiebin & Lai, Xu & Liu, Chengpeng & Yang, Jiandong, 2024. "A transient analysis framework for hydropower generating systems under parameter uncertainty by integrating physics-based and data-driven models," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    10. Xiuli Mao & Jiaren Hu & Zhongyong Pan & Pengju Zhong & Ning Zhang, 2025. "A Brief Review of Recent Research on Reversible Francis Pump Turbines in Pumped Storage Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Ferraiuolo, Roberta & Pugliese, Francesco & Álvarez Álvarez, Eduardo & Yosry, Ahmed Gharib & Giugni, Maurizio & Del Giudice, Giuseppe, 2024. "Experimental and numerical investigation of a three-blade horizontal axis hydrokinetic water turbine (HAHWT) in high blockage conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PA).
    12. Bai, Yang & Zhu, Qianming & Huang, Diangui, 2024. "Numerical simulation of wave-number effects on the performance of traveling wave pump-turbine in turbine mode," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    13. Lei, Shuaihao & Cheng, Li & Sheng, Weigao, 2024. "Study on power losses and pressure fluctuations of diffuser mixed flow pump as turbine on different power generation speeds based on energy power models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    14. Yan, Xiaotong & Kan, Kan & Zheng, Yuan & Xu, Zhe & Rossi, Mosè & Xu, Lianchen & Chen, Huixiang, 2024. "The vortex dynamics characteristics in a pump-turbine: A rigid vorticity analysis while varying guide vane openings in turbine mode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    15. Balacco, Gabriella & Fiorese, Gaetano Daniele & Alfio, Maria Rosaria & Totaro, Vincenzo & Binetti, Mario & Torresi, Marco & Stefanizzi, Michele, 2023. "PaT-ID: A tool for the selection of the optimal pump as turbine for a water distribution network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    16. Yixiao Zhang & Eddie Yin Kwee Ng & Shivansh Mittal, 2023. "The Biffis Canal Hydrodynamic System Performance Study of Drag-Dominant Tidal Turbine Using Moment Balancing Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    17. Jian Li & Xing Zhou & Hongbo Zhao & Chengqi Mou & Long Meng & Liping Sun & Peijian Zhou, 2024. "Bionic Strategies for Pump Anti-Cavitation: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-25, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:16:p:4253-:d:1721636. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.