ME 3103 Energy Conversion

Assignment 1 (Hydraulic Machines)

Submission date: on or before 14th November 2021
No late submissions will be accepted since the solutions to the assignment
problems will be made available on 15th November 2021

1. A Pelton turbine works under a gross head of 450m. A 5 km long penstock which has
a friction factor of 0.032. The diameter of the penstock is 1 m. The coefficient of the
nozzle is 0.98 and the diameter of the nozzle at its exit is 16cm. The water gets
deflected by the buckets by 165 deg. The friction losses in the buckets reduce the
relative velocity by 15% as it flows through. The tangential velocity of the buckets is
0.46 times the jet velocity and the mechanical efficiency of the system is 86%.
Determine the net head on the turbine, power input to the runner, the shaft power
output, hydraulic and overall efficiencies.
2. A Francis Turbine has a mechanical efficiency of 95%. The hydraulic losses in the
turbine are 20% of the available energy at the inlet to the turbine. The head on the
turbine is 8m. The shaft power output is 160 kW. There are no losses outside the
turbine. The exit of the turbine is exposed to the atmosphere. The diameter of the
runner at outlet is 0.42m and it runs at 160 rpm. The radial component of the
absolute velocity (Velocity of flow) at the inlet is 3.8 times the peripheral speed at
inlet. The water leaves the runner without any whirl i.e. the discharge is radial. The
outer diameter is half the inner diameter. The velocity of flow i.e. the meridional
velocity is constant through the runner. Determine:
a. The guide blade angle
b. The runner blade angle at inlet and exit
c. Width of the runner
d. Pressure drop across the runner using the velocities calculated (for this
assume that there are no losses in the rotor)
3. A Kaplan turbine has a hub diameter that is 0.33 times the tip diameter. The head on
the turbine is 13m. The speed is 110 rpm. The vane angle at the extreme end of the
runner at the exit is 164 deg. The flow ratio is 0.6. The flow at the exit is axial. The
hydraulic efficiency is 90%. Calculate:
a. Diameter of the runner
b. Flow rate or discharge
c. The blade angle at inlet at the hub and tip
d. The guide blade angle assuming that the exit of the guide blade and the tip
diameter of the runner are the same
e. Power output of the turbine
4. A centrifugal pump works against a static head of 20m. The head loss due to friction
in the pipes is 0.3m. The discharge is 0.02 m3/s. The diameter of the suction pipe is
15 cm and that of the delivery pipe is 12cm. The pump runs at 1000 rpm. The
velocity of flow at exit is 2.4 m/s. The exit vane angle is 140 degrees. The
manometric efficiency is 0.78. Calculate the manometric head, the effective head,
diameter, width of the impeller at the exit and the shutoff head.