Problem 10.

101

Given:
Find:

[Difficulty: 3]

Published data for the Tiger Creek Power Plant

(a) Estimate net head at the site, turbine specific speed, and turbine efficiency
(b) Comment on consistency of the published data

Solution:
NScu

Basic Equations:

N P
5

N P

NS

( g H)

P
Q g Hnet

The given or available data is

kg

999

P 58 MW

Q 21

Hgross 373 m

1.14 10

2
6 m

Using data from Fig. 10.37, we will assume 87% We can take this to estimate the net head:
Therefore:

Hnet
Hgross

86.875 %

P
Hnet
324 m
Q g

This is close to 87%, so the assumption for the efficiency was a good one.

From the same figure, we will assume NScu 5

Therefore the dimensionless specific speed is

NScu
NS
0.115
43.46

We may then calculate the rotational speed for the turbine:

NS g Hnet

108.8 rpm

P
The power output seems low for a turbine used for electricity generation; several turbines are probably used in this one plant.
To check the claims:

58 MW
58 MW

24 hr
1 day
s
3

21 m

365 day
yr
hr
3600 s

8 kW hr

5.081 10
0.767

kW hr
2

m m

This number is 50% higher than the claim.

yr
This is in excellent agreement with the claim.