An Empirical Study on Discharge Flow Rate Assessment Using Differential Pressure Measurement in Hydraulic Power Plant Pipes

To date, the discharge flow rate required to manage the efficiency of hydraulic turbine generators cannot be continuously measured. Therefore, the flow rate is inferred from the turbine performance curve presented by the manufacturer at the time of completion in most power plants. In this study, the real-time continuous estimation method of flow rate using differential pressure measurement in the inlet pipeline was tested, and discharge flow rate assessment was applied to the actual hydraulic power plant. To verify the error rate of this method, comparative flow rate measurement tests were performed using the pressure-time method listed in IEC 60041 and turbine performance curve. The difference between the flow rate calculated using differential pressure measurement and that measured by the pressure-time method was 0.16% on average, and the difference with the water turbine performance curve flow rate was 1.89% on average, confirming that it was calculated within the standard error rate range.