engleski

Optimal Strategy of Tunnel Filling in a Hydroelectric Power Plant

In this paper the optimal strategy of filling the tunnel that conducts water to the hydroelectric power plant "Vinodol" is presented. The optimization problem consists in finding the sluice gate opening strategy that minimizes the time needed to fill the tunnel, taking into consideration two limitations: the pressure values must not exceed prescribed limits and no air-sockets should be created in the process. The tunnel filling dynamics is presented in detail. For the initial phase of the filling process open-channel theory is applied. Uniform and critical flow depths and conjugate hydraulic jump depths for all the tunnel sections and typically used discharges are calculated. The parameters for the model are estimated from the available data and measurements. A computer program that implements the model and enables the simulation of the filling process is developed. With the aid of this computer program a methodology for finding the optimal sluice gate opening heights is defined. This methodology gives the results that reduced the time needed to fill the tunnel from the existing 10 to only 5 hours, i.e. the improvement is very significant. Further smaller improvements can possibly be obtained after collecting new measurements that will give better model parameter estimation. Also in the sequel the authors will investigate an alternative mathematical model based on partial differential equations for the open channel flow with moving domain boundary.

tunnel filling dynamics; open-channel flow theory; uniform and critical flow; hydraulic jumps; optimal sluice gate opening strategy

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