Hydraulic Scale Modeling of Mass Oscillations in a Pumped Storage Plant with Multiple Surge Tanks

• Main Authors: Cervantes, M.J (Author), Lia, L. (Author), Pitorac, L. (Author), Vereide, K. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2022
• Subjects: Energy storage; Hydraulic scale modeling; Hydraulic scale modelling; Hydraulic transients; Hydroelectric power; Hydroelectric power plants; Hydropower; Hydropower plants; Mass oscillation; Mass oscillations; Power; Pumped hydro; Pumped storage plants; Renewable energy source; Storage solutions; Surge protection; Surge tanks
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 As power systems include more intermittent renewable energy sources, energy storage solutions are needed to support them. Pumped hydro is a reliable alternative for long-term energy storage. A solution for bringing more pumped hydro into the power system is to upgrade existing hydropower plants into pumped hydro. To investigate this possibility, a case study with a complex tunnel system and multiple surge tanks along both the headrace and the tailrace tunnels is selected. A hydraulic scale model and validation methods were developed. The challenges in developing and validating complex models involving multiple surge tanks, throttles, head loss, and limited prototype information are detailed. © 2022 This work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license,.