Object Oriented Modelling and Simulation of Kaplan Turbines

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is twofold. The first and major one is to develop an objectoriented Kaplan turbine model to support control design for hydropower systems. The model is developed in the Modelica language and implemented in the Dymola simulation environment. Using the equation-based modelling formalism of Modelica, the model exploits water flow and pressure balance equations to capture the relationship between the hydraulic and mechanical energy. A particular feature of the model is a detailed description of how the water flow and turbine torque are affected by the wicket gate and turbine runner blade angles. The second aim of the thesis is to demonstrate how the Kaplan turbine model can be used to design hydropower control systems. To this end, a relatively complete hydropower system model is developed using the model components and several dam control strategies are evaluated. This study clearly demonstrates the utility of the model in the design of hydropower control systems.