Design and Development of Kaplan Turbine Runner Blade: I J I R S E T
Design and Development of Kaplan Turbine Runner Blade: I J I R S E T
Design and Development of Kaplan Turbine Runner Blade: I J I R S E T
Website: www.ijirset.com
ABSTRACT: Use of renewable energy has been of great interest since last few years, especially the hydropower
energy. Usually electricity is generated from hydropower energy, which is obtained from potential pressure heads,
water discharge and hydro sites. Based on the location constraints, different types of hydro turbines can be designed
and developed to generate electricity. The primary concern is to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and increase the
use of renewable power in rural areas such as ChotaUdepur (Amalwant check dam). In this paper, designing of Kaplan
turbine runner mechanism for Amalwant Check Dam(Vadodara) which has a head of 17m for the generation of power
upto 5MW is carried out. For thickness calculation, occurring forces are established which is followed by detailed
drawings of the developed runner mechanism drawn in SolidWorks 2014.
KEYWORDS:Renewable Energy, Hydropower, Electricity, Kaplan Turbine, Check Dam, Design, Runner,
SolidWorks
I. INTRODUCTION
Hydropower, generated mainly from hydroelectric dams, is a clear, green, and sustainable source of energy that
produces cheaper electricity andlowers carbon emissions. Because of its high energy density, hydropower is the most
efficient and most primarily available renewable power source to produce electricity [7]. In order to obtain greater
efficiency, hydraulic turbines installed in the hydroelectric power plants have to be suitable, depending on the
discharge of the site and head. There are a lot of hydraulic turbines available which are generally classified into two
categories:
1] Impulse turbines
2] Reaction turbines
A hydraulic turbine in which all hydraulic energy of water gets converted into kinetic energy before the water reaches
to the runner of the turbine is called impulse turbine. While in case of reaction turbine, some amount of available
hydraulic energy is converted into kinetic energy before it strikes on the runner of the turbine. For flow head range
available at the chosen site, reaction turbine is well suited. Reaction turbines include Propeller, Kaplan, and Francis
turbine [2].
(A) Material
Most of the parts involved in the Kaplan Turbine are generally high alloy steel (Stainless Steel) because most of the parts will be in
continuous contact with water and thus they have to be corrosion resistant. Moreover, stainless steel (high Cr and Ni) possesses good
weldability, high strength against bending and highly machinable. Thus looking at the above mentioned required properties,
materials for various parts are selected as shown below [4]:
Table 2 Material Selection
Serial
Component Material Reason
No.
Hub material should be of weldable material since it is to be welded to the
1 Hub X04Cr19Ni9 axle.
The material should have high strength against bending and corrosive
material. Also, theblade should be thin, and chosen material SS has high
2 Blade 16Cr5Ni
resistance against bending.
(I) Power
Multiplication of head of water and discharge through the turbine gives available Power [7].The equation for the output power is as
follow:
P = q ∗ g ∗ Q ∗ H ∗ 5h
Where,
q = Density of Water [Kg/m3] = 1000 Kg/m3
g = Gravitational Acceleration [m/s2] = 9.81 m/s2
Q = Discharge [m3/s]
H = Gross Head [m]
ƞh= Hydraulic Efficiency [-]
Generally, according to the requirement of the power, and available head, other parameters are determined.
Hn4
Where,
Ns = Specific Speed [-]
Hn= Net Head [m]
Based on the available head, thenet head has to be calculated, which is calculated from the following equation
Hn = H ∗ 5h
(III) Speed of the Runner (N)
1.25
N = Nc ∗ H
n
√P
Where,
Vf= Velocity of Flow [m/s]
De= Diameter of Runner [m]
Di= Diameter of Hub [m]
A relation between runner diameter and hub diameter is D e = 0.4Di.Velocity of flow is unknown, which can be calculated from the
equation given below[2]:
Vƒ
T = ƒ2 ∗ g ∗ H
Where,
T = Flow ratio [-]
The designing of the blade is mainly done in three parts. In the first part, the blade is considered to be a few sections.
The radius of each section is to be calculated. Velocity diagram is drawn for each section, and involved velocities and
blade angles of each section are calculated in the second part, While the thickness of the blade is calculated in the third
part, once the occurring forces are established.In order to get a streamlined flow of water over the runner blade, the
leading edge is designed thicker than the trailing edge. In addition, the cavitation characteristics can also be improved
by keeping the blade as thin as possible; blade is designed so that thickness gradually reduces from the flange to the tip.
For Section 1,
R1 and hub radius (Ri) are same. So using Ri, radiusesof all the blade sections are calculated from following equations.
R1 = Ri
For Section 2,
R = Di + 0.0015 ∗ D
2 e
2
For Section 4,
Di 2
De J1 + ( ) De
R4 =
2∗ 2
For Section 3,
R4 − R2
R3 = R2 +
2
For Section 6,
R = De − 0.015 ∗ D
6 e
2
For Section 5,
R6 − R4
R5 = R4 +
2
Drawing velocity triangle at each section of the blade and using following equations, tangential velocity, inlet velocity,
outlet velocity, Relative velocity and blade angle at each section are calculated.
Tangential Velocity,
u=n∗d∗n
Absolute Velocity,
Hn ∗ g
cu =
u
Whirl Velocity,
wu = cu − u
Flow Velocity,
Q
wN =
A
Relative Velocity,
w = ƒw 2 + w 2
u N
Blade Angle,
þœ = arccos wu
w
Where,
σbpermissible = Allowable Stress
y = Blade Thickness
z = Distance between tip of the blade and top of the section of the blade
ayieSd
abperNiccibSe =
FOS
For thechosen material of the blade (16Cr5Ni), σyield = 750 MPa and factor of safety is taken as 1.5. So from above equation,
σbpermissible yields out to be 500MPa. Distance z is found from the following equation:
z = Re − Rn
Resultant Force,
Fr = JF2 + F2
t a
Where,
Ft = Tangential Force [N]
Fa = Axial Force [N]
Tangential force,
P
F =
t
2 ∗ n ∗ N ∗ Z ∗ rcp
Where,
N = Rotational Speed [rpm]
Z = Number of Blade [-]
rcp = Radius of the center of pressure [m]
Centre of pressure is a point on the blade on which the entire resultant force can be assumed to be acted and distance of which is
calculated from the following equation:
R 2 + R2
rcp = J e
2
Axial Force,
Fa = q ∗ g ∗ Hn ∗ Ab
Where,
Ab= Area of the Blade
n ∗a∗(R2–
e
R2) i
=
360°
IV. DRAWINGS
The main characteristics play the primary role in selecting the type of turbine for the chosen site. At Amalwant
Check Dam, theavailable head is 17m, theflow rate is 33.31 m 3/s, and desired power output is 5MW. So Kaplan turbine
is selected based on the main characteristics. The diameter of thehub is 0.881m, and diameter of therunneris 1.102m.
There are four blades in the runner. The specific speed is 447, and runner speed is 191 rpm. The blade is designed in
six different sections. For each section, velocities and blade angles from velocity diagram are calculated. Thickness is
calculated by assuming the blade as a beam. For these calculations, Microsoft office excel is used, and SolidWorks
software is used for modeling. Velocity distribution on theblade can be known by performing flow simulation on the
blade in SolidWorks software.
Looking at the current scenario of increasing greenhouse gases, usage of conventional energy resources is not
favorable. And since India is facing the coal issues, the increasing electricity demand will need to be fulfilled in the
near future and for that necessary steps have to be taken. In Gujarat state, about 1,66,082 check dams with water
storage capacity of 28,408 million cubic feet have been built so far, and thishydropower can be utilized to generate
pollution free electricity.
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