Does the upstream gate control scheme threaten the safety of extra-long pressurized water diversion tunnel: Gas–liquid evolution characteristics of the filling process

With the promotion of China's “National Water Networks” strategy, extra-long pressurized water diversion tunnels are increasingly implemented in trans-regional and trans-basin water diversion projects. Existing projects commonly employ middle or downstream gate control schemes, but setting the control gate at the upstream offers a new approach to mitigate the adverse effects of flow pattern changes and hydraulic inertia caused by gate operations. However, there is no precedent for a 200 km-extra-long pressurized water diversion tunnel worldwide, it is not clear whether deviating from established norms will create new problems, and how to illustrate the hydraulic evolution characteristics under this scheme is the primary challenge. Therefore, this study takes a follow-up project for China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project as the research object: (1) Modeling: establish a mathematical model of an extra-long pressurized water diversion tunnel based on the movement of gas–liquid interface; and (2) Simulating: analyze the transient process of two arrangement schemes (single-slope and variable-slope) under various operating conditions. The study reveals the characteristics of pressure distribution, flow rates, and water level variations along the tunnel, conducting a comparative analysis of different arrangement schemes. The findings demonstrate that, even under the most unfavorable assumption, the key indicators during the water filling process remain within the acceptable range specified by engineering design. Therefore, the adoption of the upstream gate control scheme for the extra-long water diversion tunnel is considered feasible. This research provides specific theoretical basis and technical support for the construction and operation of water diversion projects.