DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,

IIT KANPUR
Lab Instructor- Dr. Subrata Sarkar

Experiment- 3

Francis Turbine

● Experiment number : 3
● Name of the course : ME401
● Name of the group : C4
● Date of experiment : 22/08/2019
● Name of students and their
Roll numbers : 1)Mohit Sinha (160413)
2)Meghansh Agarwal (160397)
3)Moulik Jain (160417)
4)Manish (160384)

Date of Submission : 29/08/2019

Objective:
 To understand how Francis Turbine efficiency varies with load for a fixed guide
vane position.
 To understand how Francis Turbine efficiency alters with guide vane position.

Apparatus required:
Francis turbine setup, Tachometer, Stopwatch
Introduction:
The Francis turbine is a water turbine developed by James B. Francis .1t is an inward-flow
reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. It converts potential energy
of water into mechanical energy which is used to generate power. Advantage of Francis
turbine is high speeds can be achieved with low heads.

Working Principle:
Francis turbine blades are designed in such a way that one portion of the blade design
creates the pressure difference between the opposite faces of the blade when water
flows through it, and the remaining portion’s blade design use the impulse force of
water hitting it and this combined action of pressure difference and impulse force
generates enough power to get turbine moving at a required speed. Thus, there would
be a decrease in both kinetic energy and potential energy of water at exit, then what it
has when it enters the turbine.
Experimental Setup:

Spiral Casing- The fluid enters from the penstock (pipeline leading to the turbine from the
reservoir at high altitude) to a spiral casing which completely surrounds the runner. This
casing is known as scroll casing or volute. The cross-sectional area of this casing decreases
uniformly along the circumference to keep the fluid velocity constant.
Guide Vane- The basic purpose of the guide vane is to convert a part of pressure energy
of the fluid to the kinetic energy and then to direct the fluid on to the runner blades at the
angle appropriate to the design. Moreover, they are pivoted and can be turned by a suitable
governing mechanism to regulate the flow while the load changes.
Runner(Rotor with Blade)- Runner blades are the heart of any turbine.It consist moving
blades on its periphery. During operation, the fluid strikes on the blade and the tangential
force of the impact causes the shaft of the turbine to rotate, producing torque. For a mixed
flow type Francis Turbine, the flow in the runner is not purely radial but a combination of
radial and axial. The flow is inward, i.e. from the periphery towards the centre.

Diagrams
Tables:
SNo. Vane Pressure Volume Time
Position
1 5° 0.3bar 20L 32.1sec
Power Hydraulic = 18.69W
 Speed Torque(N-
Sno T1(N) T2(N) Force(N) Power(W) Efficiency
m)
(rpm)
1 0 0 1200 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.4 1050 0.5 0.013 1.374 7.35
3 0.2 0.7 948 0.9 0.023 2.233 11.95
4 0.3 1 860 1.3 0.033 2.925 15.65
5 0.4 1.2 630 1.6 0.04 2.638 14.11
6 0.5 1.5 450 2 0.05 2.355 12.6
7 0.6 1.7 380 2.3 0.058 2.287 12.24
8 0.7 2 300 2.7 0.068 2.12 11.34
9 0.8 2.2 220 3 0.075 1.727 9.24
10 0.9 2.5 190 3.4 0.085 1.69 9.044
11 1 2.7 150 3.7 0.093 1.452 7.77

SNo. Vane Pressure Volume Time

Position
2 10° 0.28bar 20L 29.15sec
Power Hydraulic = 19.21W

Spee
Sn T1(N T2(N Force(N Torque(N Power(W Efficienc
d
o ) ) ) -m) ) y
(rpm)
1 0 0 1350 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.5 1160 0.6 0.015 1.821 9.48
3 0.2 0.8 1080 1 0.025 2.826 14.71
4 0.3 1.1 980 1.4 0.035 3.59 18.69
5 0.4 1.4 870 1.8 0.045 4.098 21.33
 6 0.5 1.6 740 2.1 0.053 4.066 21.17
7 0.6 1.9 580 2.5 0.063 3.794 19.75
8 0.7 2.2 420 2.9 0.073 3.187 16.59
9 0.8 2.5 222 3.3 0.083 1.917 9.979
10 0.9 2.8 160 3.7 0.093 1.549 8.064

SNo. Vane Pressure Volume Time

Position
3 15° 0.26bar 20L 27.9sec
Power Hydraulic = 18.63W

Spee
Sn T1(N T2(N Force(N Torque(N Power(W Efficienc
d
o ) ) ) -m) ) y
(rpm)
1 0 0 1370 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.5 1210 0.6 0.015 1.9 10.2
3 0.2 0.8 1070 1 0.025 2.8 15.03
4 0.3 1.1 950 1.4 0.035 3.48 18.68
5 0.4 1.4 840 1.8 0.045 3.956 21.24
6 0.5 1.9 560 2.4 0.06 3.517 18.88
7 0.6 2.5 193 3.1 0.078 1.566 8.403
8 0.7 2.7 100 3.4 0.085 0.89 4.775

Sample Calculation

Power Hydraulic: 𝑃hyd = 𝜌. 𝑔. 𝐻. 𝑄

The head can be written in terms of pressure and hence the formula becomes
𝑉 1
𝑃hyd = 𝑝. 105 . (1000 . 𝑡 ) 𝑊
20 1
𝑃hyd = 0.26. 105 . (1000 . 27.9) 𝑊
𝑃hyd = 18.63𝑊
Force = (𝑇1 − 𝑇2)𝑁
For Reading No.5
Force = (0.4 − (−1.4))𝑁
= 1.8𝑁
Torque = 𝐹 ∗ 𝑅 𝑁𝑚
R = 0.05/2 m
0.05
Torque = 1.8 ∗ ( ) 𝑁𝑚
2
= 0.045 𝑁𝑚
Output Power = 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒 ∗ 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑊
𝜋
Output Power = 0.045 ∗ 840 ∗ (2 ∗ 60) 𝑊
= 3.956 𝑊
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
Efficiency = 𝐻𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
3.956
Efficiency = 18.63
= 21.23%

1. Efficiency:

Shaft Power  Pav  T .

 = .
Hydraulic Power ( Phyd ) gQ H
Efficiency can be enhanced still further if allowance is made from the outlet for the
internal friction torque of approximately 0.012 N-m.

Graph

Torque vs RPM
0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
Torque

0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Speed (RPM)

Vane = 5deg Vane = 10deg Vane = 15deg

 4.5
Power vs RPM
4

3.5

2.5
Power

1.5

0.5

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Speed(RPM)
Vane = 5deg Vane = 10deg Vane = 15deg

Effficiency vs RPM
25

20
Efficiency

15
Vane = 5deg
10
Vane = 10deg
5 Vane = 15deg

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Speed(RPM)

Results and Discussion

 From the Torque vs speed graph, the torque increases with the decrease in speed of the
shaft.
 From the graphs of Power vs Speed and Efficiency vs Speed, the Power and Efficiency
increase with decrease in speed, reach a maximum value and then decrease with the
decrease in speed.
 The speed at which maximum power and efficiency is obtained for the turbine is
635rpm when the vane position is 50, 905rpm when the vane position is 100, 755rpm
for the vane position 150.
  We could also observe that the max efficiency of the Francis turbine increases with the
increase in the vane position.

Conclusion
The main aim of the experiment was to find the performance characteristics of Francis turbine.
The speed of the turbine rotor where varied from maximum to minimum by applying a load.
Further we also varied the flow rate to measure the power produced. The plots of Torque,
Power and efficiency against speed were plotted in order to get an idea of performance. We
also noticed that vane position must be increased in order to get best efficiency out of Francis
turbine.

Error
 Human error in measuring volume flow rate.
 Frictional loss in converting energy
 Inaccuracy in calculating force due to least count.