Tracer Dilution Flow Measurement Application to Short Penstock Length

by James B. Nystrom, Alden Research Lab Inc, Holden, MA, USA,
George E. Hecker, Alden Research Lab Inc, Holden, MA, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Power '87

Abstract:

Absolute performance evaluation of hydro-turbines requires the determination of flowrates. Flow measurement is probably the most difficult aspect of determining a unit's efficiency. The tracer dilution method avoids physical measurements and hardware installation, but the method is normally only applied in cases of long penstocks, such that the tracer will be fully mixed with the flow to be measured using a simple, single point tracer injection and a single downstream sampling point. This case study will demonstrate the application of the tracer dilution technique to a situation which had a very short mixing length, for which initial tracer mixing was greatly enhanced by the use of a tuned injection manifold. The spatial distribution of the downstream concentrations was measured to evaluate the completeness of mixing.

Subject Headings: Flow measurement | Probe instruments | Conduits | Case studies | Dilution | Turbines | Spatial distribution

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