Hydropower is an efficient renewable energy source able to regulate electrical grid fluctuations. However, many hydropower plants were built decades ago, and now it is the time for a major refurbishment. The turbine's efficiency is essential and needs to be determined before and after refurbishment. To this end, the flow rate needs to be determined. Amongst different discharge measurement methods, the pressure-time method is relatively inexpensive and easy to perform compared to other methods. In this method, the flow rate is estimated by the integration of the measured differential pressure and the pressure loss due to friction between two cross-sections in a conduit during the deceleration of the liquid mass by closing a valve or guide vanes. The pressure-time method's accuracy depends on how accurate the head loss and the integration endpoint are estimated. Furthermore, the pressure-time method has limitations specified in IEC-60041, which make it challenging to apply on low-head turbines due to the short water passages when the flow is developing. The main focus of work is to improve the accuracy of the pressure-time method and extend its validity for low-head turbine conditions. Numerical simulation and experimental study have been acquired. A CFD model is developed to investigate the effects of the endpoint of integration and friction models on the method's accuracy. The effect of different boundary conditions is studied in the CFD model, and the result is validated with available experimental data. Different frictional models used with the pressure-time method are compared with CFD simulation for the developing and developed flows. A new parameter is suggested to improve deviation related to the flow status; developing and developed. Furthermore, a new methodology is presented, where the flow rate is estimated with the pressure-time method function of several endpoints. Then, experimental investigations of the pressure-time method outside IEC-60041 recommendations for conditions similar to low-head hydropower are presented. A laboratory setup is designed and built to test the pressure-time method. The method is applied for cases with shorter length, smaller UxL, pipe with variable cross-section and shorter distance to irregularity than IEC-60041 recommendations. Different assumptions for calculating the pressure loss and dynamic pressure variation are studied. Moreover, the quasi-steady assumption's accuracy on the head loss estimation and the difference in dynamic pressure are compared with constant values for their coefficients. The systematic uncertainty of the pressure-time method is also calculated based on the Monte Carlo Method (MCM).

The aim of this master thesis is to explain using of the pressure-time method, commonly known as Gibson’s method for non-stationary discharge evaluation through water machineries. The thesis included the principle of this method, deriving the method and the problems, which happened in thanks of using this method. In the second part of this thesis are in details shown results of non-stationary discharge by pressure-time method and also there is the computation of the kinetic member on the resulting discharge. Next part is about refinement of this method by evaluation Penstock factor for each segment of feeder (direct pipe, taper and pipe elbow) using MS Excel and CFD calculations. The last capture is about influence of unsteady friction. In the beginning are shown basic terms and explain the principle of this losses. In the next part is proposed numerical model of losses and their influence on calculation of total Penstock factor of feeder.

The pressure-time method is one of two methods of measuring the flow rate on large hydraulic structures applicable to IEC 60041, which is based on the temporal integration of the measured pressure difference and the formation of a water hammer in a closed pipe. The aim of this master thesis is to perform a literature review of this method and to evaluate the flow rate of the measured data. Furthermore, the thesis deals with determination of the sensitivity of the evaluated flow rate to the weights of individual pressure sensors and to numerical modifying of the measured pressures. The first part is made using MS Excel. The flow rate is always evaluates with only one pressure sensor and it is compared with the original flow rate. There is research, how absence of the sensor has an impact on the evaluated flow rate. In the second part of the determination of the sensitivity of the evaluated flow rate, various encroachment (signal smoothing, noise, time delay, frequency band removal) are performed of measured pressure signal in Matlab. Various surrounding influences or sensors failures are simulated.

This master´s thesis provides an overview of all designs of check valves, their usage and typical features. Main purpose of this work is to clear up the phenomenon of check valve slam and the other problems that occur during transients. The check valve slam was measured at the test rig in the hydraulic laboratory. For unsteady flow evaluation after pump shut down was used Gibson method. The dynamic characteristic was possible to create by results from this method. It was achieved without impact of the speed of sound in the fluid. This work also contains 2D transient CFD calculations, which was used for evaluation of the hydrodynamic torque acting on the hinge pin. This approach provides an option to calculate wide range of cases at the expense of not entirely exact geometry. The main contribution of the theoretical study at the beginning of this thesis is its entireness. It might give an important clue when right valve is selecting. For good choice of valve might be helpful to use dynamic characteristics in this thesis presented. Mentioned characteristics were created by new way and its background is in measurements and simplified CFD calculations.