SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICAL SCIENCES

Department of AERONAUTICAL Engineering

AE2303
FLUID MECHANICS AND MACHINERY

AMAL SEBA THOMAS T

 HYDRAULIC TURBINES
Fluid machines: definition and classification - exchange of energy -
Euler's equation for turbo machines -
Construction of velocity vector diagram's - head and specific work -
components of energy transfer - degree of reaction.
Hydro turbines: definition and classifications - Pelton turbine - Francis
turbine - propeller turbine -
Kaplan turbine - working principles - velocity triangles - work done -
specific speed - efficiencies -performance curve for
turbines.
Hydraulic machinery
Turbine is a device that extracts energy from a fluid (converts the
energy held by the fluid to mechanical energy)

Pumps are devices that add energy to the fluid (e.g. pumps, fans,
blowers and compressors).
Turbines
Hydro electric power is the most remarkable
development pertaining to the exploitation of water
resources throughout the world
Hydroelectric power is developed by hydraulic
turbines which are hydraulic machines.
Turbines convert hydraulic energy or hydro-potential
into mechanical energy.
Mechanical energy developed by turbines is used to
run electric generators coupled to the shaft of
turbines
Hydro electric power is the most cheapest source of
power generation.
Turbines
J.V. Poncelet first introduced the idea of the
development of mechanical energy through hydraulic
energy
Modern hydraulic turbines have been developed by
L.A. Pelton (impulse), G. Coriolis and J.B. Francis
(reaction) and V Kaplan (propeller)
Turbines
Types of turbines
Turbines can be classified on the basis of:
Head and quantity of water available
Hydraulic action of water
Direction of flow of water in the runner
Specific speed of turbines
Disposition of the shaft of the runner
Classification of turbines
Based on head and quantity of water
According to head and quantity of water available, the
turbines can be classified into
a) High head turbines
b) Medium head turbines
c) Low head turbines
a) High head turbines
High head turbines are the turbines which work under
heads more than 250m. The quantity of water needed in
case of high head turbines is usually small. The Pelton
turbines are the usual choice for high heads.
Classification of turbines
Based on head and quantity of water
b) Medium head turbines
The turbines that work under a head of 45m to 250m are
called medium head turbines. It requires medium flow of
water. Francis turbines are used for medium heads.
c) Low head turbines
Turbines which work under a head of less than 45m are
called low head turbines. Owing to low head, large
quantity of water is required. Kaplan turbines are used
for low heads.
Classification of turbines
Based on hydraulic action of water
According to hydraulic action of water, turbines can be
classified into
a) Impulse turbines
b) Reaction turbines

a) Impulse turbines
If the runner of a turbine rotates by the impact or impulse
action of water, it is an impulse turbine.
b) Reaction turbines
These turbines work due to reaction of the pressure
difference between the inlet and the outlet of the runner.
Classification of turbines
Based on direction of flow of water in the runner
Depending upon the direction of flow through the runner,
following types of turbines are there
a) Tangential flow turbines
b) Radial flow turbines
c) Axial flow turbines
d) Mixed flow turbines

a) Tangential flow turbines

When the flow is tangential to the wheel circle, it is a
tangential flow turbine. A Pelton turbine is a Tangential
flow turbine.
Classification of turbines
Based on direction of flow of water in the runner
b) Radial flow turbines
In a radial flow, the path of the flow of water remains in
the radial direction and in a plane normal to the runner
shaft. No pure radial flow turbine is in use these days.
c) Axial flow turbines
When the path of flow water remains parallel to the axis
of the shaft, it is an axial flow turbine. The Kaplan turbine
is axial flow turbine
d) Mixed flow turbines
When there is gradual change of flow from radial to axial
in the runner, the flow is called mixed flow. The Francis
turbine is a mixed flow turbine.
Classification of turbines
Based on specific speed of turbines
Specific speed of a turbine is defined as the speed of a
geometrically similar turbine which produces a unit power
when working under a unit head.
The specific speed of Pelton turbine ranges between 8-30,
Francis turbines have specific speed between 50-250,
Specific speed of Kaplan lies between 250-850.
Based on disposition of shaft of runner
Usually, Pelton turbines are setup with horizontal shafts,
where as other types have vertical shafts.
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
Heads
These are defined as below:
(a) Gross Head: Gross or total head is the difference between the headrace level
and the tail race level when there is no flow.
(b) Net Head: Net head or the effective head is the head available at the turbine
inlet. This is less than the gross head, by an amount, equal to the friction losses
occurring in the flow passage, from the reservoir to the turbine inlet.
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
Losses
Various types of losses that occur in a power plant are given
below:
(a) Head loss in the penstock: This is the friction loss in the
pipe of a penstock.
(b) Head loss in the nozzle: In case of impulse turbines, there is
head loss due to nozzle friction.
(c) Hydraulic losses: In case of impulse turbines, these losses
occur due to blade friction, eddy formation and kinetic energy
of the leaving water. In a reaction turbine, apart from above
losses, losses due to friction in the draft tube and disc friction
also occur.
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
(d) Leakage losses: In case of impulse turbines, whole of the
water may not be striking the buckets and therefore some of
the water power may go waste. In a reaction turbine, some of
the water may be passing through the clearance between the
casing and the runner without striking the blades and thus not
doing any work. These losses are called leakage losses.
(e) Mechanical losses: The power produced by the runner is
not available as useful work of the shaft because some power
may be lost in bearing friction as mechanical losses.
f) Generator losses: Due to generator loss, power produced by
the generator is still lesser than the power obtained at the
shaft output.
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
Efficiencies
Various types of efficiencies are defined as under:
(a) Hydraulic efficiency: It is the ratio of the power developed
by the runner to the actual power supplied by water to the
runner. It takes into account the hydraulic losses occurring in
the turbine
h = Runner output / Actual power supplied to runner
= Runner output / (QgH)
Where, Q = Quantity of water actually striking the runner
blades
H = Net head available at the turbine inlet
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
Efficiencies
(b) Volumetric efficiency: It is the ratio of the actual quantity
of water striking the runner blades to the quantity supplied to
the turbine. It takes into account the volumetric losses.
Let Q = Quantity of water leaking or not striking the runner
blades
v = Q / (Q+ Q)
(c) Mechanical efficiency: The ratio of the shaft output to the
runner output is called the mechanical efficiency and it
accounts for the mechanical losses.
m = Shaft output / Runner output
Heads, Losses and Efficiencies of Hydraulic
Turbines
Efficiencies
(d) Overall efficiency: Ratio of shaft output to the net power available at the
turbine inlet gives overall efficiency of the turbine
m = Shaft output / Net power available

Shaft.output
o
(Q Q) gH
Thus all the three types of losses, mechanical, hydraulic and volumetric
have been taken into account.
Shaft.output Runner.output Q
o
Runner.output QgH Q Q
o m h v
Design of Pelton turbines
When to use a
Pelton turbine
Energy conversion in a Pelton turbine

Outlet Outlet of Inlet of Outlet of Inlet of

the runner the runner the needle the needle

c2
2
Main dimensions for the Pelton runner
 The ideal Pelton
runner
Absolute velocity from nozzle:

c1
c1 2 g H n c1 1
2 g Hn
Circumferential speed:

c1u 1
u1 2 g Hn u1 0.5
2 2
Euler`s turbine equation:

h 2(u1 c1u u 2 c 2 u )

c1u 1 cu 2 0

h 2 (u1 c1u u 2 c 2u ) 2 (0,5 1.0 0,5 0) 1

 The real Pelton
runner
For a real Pelton runner there will always be losses.
We will therefore set the hydraulic efficiency to:

h 0.96
The absolute velocity from the nozzle will be:

0.99 c1u 0.995

C1u can be set to 1,0 when dimensioning the turbine.
This gives us:

h 2(u1 c1u u 2 c 2 u )

n 0,96
u1 0,48
2 c1u 2 1,0
From continuity equation:

d s2
Q z c1u
4

4Q
ds
z c1u
Where:
Z = number of nozzles
Q = flow rate
C1u =
2 g Hn
The size of the bucket
and number of nozzles
B
3.1 3.4
ds
Rules of thumb:
B = 3,1 ds 1 nozzle
B = 3,2 ds 2 nozzles
B = 3,3 ds 4-5 nozzles
B > 3,3 ds 6 nozzles
Number of buckets
z 17 empirical
Number of buckets
Runner diameter
Rules of thumb:
D = 10 ds Hn < 500 m
D = 15 ds Hn = 1300 m

D < 9,5 ds must be avoided because water

will be lost
D > 15 ds is for very high head Pelton
 Speed number
Q z
c1u 1,0
d2
d 2
Q s
c1u s
u1 0,5
4 4
2 u1 2 g Hn 1

2 g Hn D 2 g Hn D 2 g Hn D

1 d s2 z
Q z
D 4

ds z

D 4
For the diameter: D = 10 ds
and one nozzle: z=1

ds z 1 1
0,09
D 4 10 4
The maximum speed number for a Pelton turbine with
one nozzle is = 0,09

For the diameter: D = 10 ds

and six nozzle: z=6

ds z 1 6
0,22
D 4 10 4
The maximum speed number for a Pelton turbine
today is = 0,22
Dimensioning of a
Pelton turbine
1. The flow rate and head are given
*H = 1130 m
*Q = 28,5 m3/s
*P = 288 MW

2. Choose reduced values

c1u = 1 c1u =
149 m/s
u1 = 0,48 u1 =
71 m/s

3. Choose the number of nozzles

z=5

4. Calculate ds from continuity for one nozzle

4Q
ds 0,22 m
z c1u
5. Choose the bucket width
B = 3,3 ds= 0,73 m
6. Find the diameter by interpolation

D
0,005 H n 8 13,65
ds

D 13,65 d s 3,0 m

D/ds
15

10

400 1400 Hn [m]

7. Calculate the speed:
D 2 n D
u1
2 60 2

u1 60
n 452 rpm
D

8. Choose the number of poles on the generator:

The speed of the runner is given by the generator

and the net frequency:
3000
n [rpm]
Zp

where Zp=number of poles on the generator

The number of poles will be:

3000
Zp 6,64 7
n
9. Recalculate the speed:

3000
n 428,6 [rpm]
Zp

10. Recalculate the diameter:

D 2 n D u1 60
u1 D 3,16 m
2 60 2 n

11. Choose the number of buckets

z = 22
12. Diameter of the turbine housing (for vertical
turbines)
D Hou sin g D K B 9,4 m
K
9

1 4 6 z

13. Calculate the height from the runner to the water

level at the outlet (for vertical turbines)
Height 3.5 B D 3,1 m
 GE Hydro
Jostedal, Sogn og Fjordane
 GE Hydro
Jostedal, Sogn og Fjordane
Example
Khimti Power Plant
1. The flow rate and head are given
*H = 660 m
*Q = 2,15 m3/s
*P = 12 MW

2. Choose reduced values

c1u = 1 c1u = 114
m/s
u1 = 0,48 u1 = 54,6 m/s

3. Choose the number of nozzles

z=1
Example
Khimti Power Plant
4. Calculate ds from continuity for
one nozzle

4Q
ds 0,15 m
z c1u

5. Choose the bucket width

B = 3,2 ds= 0, 5 m
6. Find the diameter by
interpolation
D
0,005 H n 8 11,3
ds

D 11,3 d s 1,7 m
D/ds
15

10

400 1400 Hn [m]

7. Calculate the speed:
D 2 n D
u1
2 60 2

u1 60
n 613 rpm
D

8. Choose the number of poles on the

generator:
The speed of the runner is given by
the generator and the net frequency:
3000
n [rpm]
Zp

where Zp=number of poles on the

generator

The number of poles will be:

3000
Zp 4,9 5
n
9. Recalculate the speed:

3000
n 600 [rpm]
Zp

10. Recalculate the diameter:

D 2 n D u1 60
u1 D 1,74 m
2 60 2 n

11. Choose the number of buckets

z = 22
Kaplan turbine
Jebba, Nigeria

D0 = 8,5 m
De = 7,1 m *Q = 376 m3/s
Di = 3,1 m *H = 27,6 m
B0 = 2,8 m *P = 96 MW
Machicura, CHILE

*Q = 144 m3/s
*H = 36,7 m
*P = 48 MW

D0 = 7,2 m
De = 4,2 m
Di = 1,9 m
B0 = 1,3 m
Outlet Outlet Inlet Outlet Inlet
draft tube runner runner guide vane guide vane
Hydraulic efficiency

Runner blade angle

f = constant

Flow rate Q
Hill chart
 u1

v1 u2
c1

c2 v2

u 1 c u1 u 2 c u 2
h
gH
Pressure
distribution and
torque
c

Lift

Drag

L
Torque

Arm
 1
FL C L V 2 A
2

1
FD C D V 2 A
2

FLift

FDrag
a v
LChord
4
 Blade profile data
CD
CL

Angle of attack

Angle of attack
d
v
Average relative
velocity
 Pressure
distribution and
torque
0,24 l Cord length, l

Suction side

Pressure side

Single profile

Cascade

The pressure at the outlet is lower for a cascade than for a single
profile. The cavitation performance will therefore be reduced in a
cascade.
 Radial distribution
of the blade profile

CL =Lift coefficient for a cascade

CL1 =Lift coefficient for a single profile

The ratio t/l influences the lift coefficient in a cascade. The cord
length for a blade will therefore increase when the radius becomes
increase
Radial distribution of
the blade profile
 Flow in the axial
plane

The figure shows blades with two different design of the blade in
radial direction. This is because it will influence the secondary flow
in the radial direction
Main dimension of a
Kaplan turbine
 Diameter of the
runner
o
Qn

1.0

Cml =0.12 + 0.18 0 (tilnrmet)

0.5

Cml
0
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
0

Qn
D2 d 2
c1m

4

Qn 4
D
c1m
Height of the guide
vanes
and runner diameter P
0.7
ns n
0.6
H n5 4
d/D

d/D , B0/D
0.5
B0/D
0.4

0.3
300 400 500 600 700 800 900
ns
 Gap between hub
and ring and the
runner blades
Gap between
the blade and
ring

Gap between
the blade and
hub

0.90
Virkningsgrad
Efficiency

s = x 10-3 d
0.85

0.80
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Spaltepning
Gap x =1000s/D
 Runaway speed

Rusningstall/normalturtall

Runaway speed

Voit h


Cavitation coefficient
kavitasjonskoeffisient

10 H S

H
The figure shows different runaway speed at different runner blade
openings. The runaway speed is dependent of the cavitation as
shown in the figure
Hill chart
 Example
Find the dimensions D, d and Bo

Given data:
 Speed number:
2 g H 2 9,82 16 17,7 m s

n 2 125 2
13,1 rad
60 60 s

13,1 rad
s 0,74 m 1
2 g H 17,7 m
s
3
120 m
Q s 6,78 m 2
Qn
2 g H 17,7 m
s

o
Q n 0,74 6,78 1,93
 Diameter, D:
c1m 0,12 0,18 o 0,467

Qn 4 6,78 4
D 4,3 m
c1m 0,467
 Diameter, d:
P 22826 Hp
ns n 125rpm 590
H n5 4 16m 54

0.7

0.6
d/D

d/D , B0/D
0.5
B0/D
0.4

0.3
300 400 500 600 700 800 900
ns

d
0,45 d D 0,45 1,9 m
D
 Height, B:
0.7

0.6
d/D

d/D , B0/D
0.5
B0/D
0.4

0.3
300 400 500 600 700 800 900
ns

BO
0,41 BO D 0,41 1,76 m
D
Number of vanes, z:

Number of blades z
l
0,95
t

z5