http://usacetechnicalletters.tpub.com/ETL-1110-2-317/ETL-1110-2-3170079.

htm

Francis turbines are probably used most extensively because of their wider range of suitable
heads, characteristically from three to 600 metres. At the high-head range, the flow rate and
the output must be large; otherwise the runner becomes too small for reasonable fabrication.
At the low-head end, propeller turbines are usually more efficient unless the power output is
also small.

 Guide vanes may be adjusted by governor.

 Efficiency decreases as flow decreases.

 Water flow is radial from exterior to interior.

 Flow changes gradually from radial to axial

Francis turbines are probably used most extensively because of their wider range of suitable
heads, characteristically from three to 600 metres. At the high-head range, the flow rate and
the output must be large; otherwise the runner becomes too small for reasonable fabrication.
At the low-head end, propeller turbines are usually more efficient unless the power output is
also small.

 Guide vanes may be adjusted by governor.

 Efficiency decreases as flow decreases.

 Water flow is radial from exterior to interior.

 Flow changes gradually from radial to axial

 The selection of the best turbine for any particular hydro site depends on the
site characteristics, the dominant ones being the head and flow available.
Selection also depends on the desired running speed of the generator or other
device loading the turbine. Other considerations such as whether the turbine is
expected to produce power under part-flow conditions, also play an important
role in the selection. All turbines have a power-speed characteristic. They will
tend to run most efficiently at a particular speed, head and flow combination.
 A turbine design speed is largely determined by the head under which it
operates. Turbines can be classified as high head, medium head or low head
machines. Turbines are also divided by their principle way of operating and
can be either impulse or reaction turbines.

The Francis turbine is generally fitted with adjustable guide vanes. These regulate the water
flow as it enters the runner and are usually linked to a governing system which matches flow
to turbine loading in the same way as a spear valve or deflector plate in a Pelton turbine.
When the flow is reduced the efficiency of the turbine falls away

http://www.sepengineering.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29:hydropower-
turbines&catid=5:hydropower&Itemid=23
 Southeast Power Engineering
Developing green power for today and tomorrow
An economical turbine testing procedure (including equipment) for small and medium
hydroelectric power stations will provide several benefits:

– Operating hydro stations at their best operating point increases power production and
optimizes water usage because this point has the highest power production per cubic meter of
flow; and

The ESA project is expected to meet the following objectives:

– Substantially increase efficiency at loads less than optimal power. Efficiency should
increase by 5 percent at the optimal head and a discharge equal to 43 percent of the optimal
power; and by 7 percent at the head equal to 80 percent of optimal head and the load equal to
33 percent of optimal power;

– Increase efficiency by at least 2 percent at the optimal head for the flow rate corresponding
to the maximal power for the turbine without ESA; and

http://www.hydroworld.com/
index/display/article-display/
350722/articles/hydro-review/
volume-26/issue-1/feature-
articles/canadian-rampd/better-
turbines-for-small-hydro.html
Better Turbines for Small Hydro

Natural Resources Canada is devoting significant time and money to small hydro research
and development. Work focuses on developing new types of turbines for low-head situations,
improving turbine efficiency, and making turbine performance testing less expensive.

By Tony T.P. Tung, Jinxing Huang, Cynthia Handler, and Ghanashyam

Ranjitkar

Canada has a great deal of untapped small hydro potential. Much of this potential is at low-
head, run-of-the-river sites. For example, there are about 10,000 low-head dams and hydraulic
structures in Canada that are used for flood control and water supply/irrigation. Significant
opportunity (more than 10,000 MW) exists by adding small hydro plants at these low dams
and structures.

The Hydraulic Energy Group of CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Natural Resources
Canada (CETC-NRCan) is supporting many emerging technologies designed to increase the
commercial viability of this existing hydropower potential. The group is supporting
development of several innovative small hydro technologies, such as low- and very-low-head
turbines with variable speed operation. By lowering the costs of equipment and civil works
and improving efficiency, these new technologies can make feasible sites that would not be
economical to develop using traditional technology.

Small hydro potential in Canada

Installed capacity in Canada from small (less than 50 MW) hydro facilities is 3,300 MW. This
capacity is expected to reach 6,000 MW in ten years, mostly due to development by
independent power producers (IPP), provincial/municipal utilities, and remote communities.
Development of small hydro facilities in the country represents about C$500 million in annual
business activities.

Much of the small hydro potential in Canada is at low-head, run-of-river sites that do not
require large reservoirs or dams. Most small hydro facilities provide decentralized power and
connect to local grids. These sites can respond quickly to fluctuations in demand and are a
reliable source of electricity for rural and remote communities.

However, further development of small to medium hydro largely will rely on emerging
technology that allows the construction of more reliable, efficient, and environmentally
friendly stations with lower upfront costs. CETC-NRCan is investing in several research and
development projects to address the technical gaps.

CETC-NRCan technology research

The trend toward privatization and opening of the electricity market, as well as the need to
prevent major grid failure, have led to operational changes at many small and medium hydro
plants. With the recent focus on the reliability and security of the distributed generation
system, aging small hydro turbine-generating equipment needs to be upgraded and
strengthened. In addition, for very low-head (less than 3 meters) sites with large flow,
developing an innovative concept for the turbine-generator system is necessary to reduce civil
costs.

CETC-NRCan has put high priority on the following four projects:

– Fish-friendly, variable speed low-head turbine-generator;

– Very-low-head turbines;

– Exit stay apparatus for Francis turbines; and

– Economical turbine performance field testing.

Fish-friendly, variable speed low-head turbine-generator

Affordable, efficient, and fish friendly turbine-generator systems are needed for low-head
applications. Successfully implementing this project would allow development of many small,
low-head hydro sites with high energy efficiency and without using costly mitigation
structures such as fish ladders, forebay guidance devices, and spillway weirs. The main
barriers hampering the development of low-head hydro are its low economic viability and the
environmental effects.

The primary aspect affecting economic viability of small hydro systems is varying water
input. During low water periods, available electricity drops in proportion to the head and flow.
Conventional single-regulated turbines cannot operate with significant flow changes and must
be shut down. This downtime affects the financial viability of the installation. Double-
regulated Kaplan turbines may operate over a significant turndown ratio,1 but their capital
costs are much higher. A better approach is to develop a system that combines low capital
cost with the operational efficiency and turndown ratio of a double-regulated unit.

Regarding environmental effects of low-head systems, fish survival is a significant concern.

Many fish pass through the turbine, making a properly designed fish-friendly turbine highly
desirable to reduce injury and mortality.

To meet these challenges, CETC-NRCan and its partners – Rapid-Eau Technologies Inc.,
Swiderski Engineering Inc., and Laval University – are developing a non-regulated turbine
system coupled with a variable-speed generator to operate at the optimum rotational speed
with varying flow rate. This type of turbine will improve fish survival, increase productivity,
and reduce the overall cost for low-head run-of-river applications. Figure 1 shows a rendering
of the turbine casing.

The two aspects to be considered in this development are the turbine and generator. Unlike
conventional turbines that have guide vanes, wicket gates, and a relatively large number of
short runner blades, this will be a non-regulated (no guide vanes or wicket gates) vortex
propeller turbine having fewer but longer and thicker runner blades. By meeting three
important criteria – low probability of the leading edge of the runner blades striking fish,
shear rate, and static pressure change ratio in the turbine – this arrangement will prevent fish
mortality and injury. The unit includes a special turbine casing designed to create the required
tangential momentum.2
 Figure 1: The fish-friendly turbine being developed for low-head applications features a
special turbine casing designed to create the tangential momentum needed to prevent
fish mortality and injury.

Click here to enlarge image

Based on permanent magnet technology with a high number of poles, the generator will be
able to generate electric power with improved efficiency at low and variable-speed
operations.3 The power generated at variable frequency will be converted to utility quality
power using commercially available frequency converters modified for this application.

Benefits of this system are twofold:

1) Increased power generation. The turbine connects to the variable-speed generator through
direct-drive. Operating at variable speed, the propeller turbine can run over a wide operating
range (low or high flows) with high efficiencies and high turndown ratio, thus generating
more overall power; and
2) Environmentally friendly. The turbine could reduce fish mortality to less than 5 percent
(typically mortality is 5 to 10 percent for the best existing turbines and 30 percent or greater
from other turbines). Furthermore, the run-of-river application has only limited effects on the
environment because the water level in the river is basically unchanged.

To date, the theoretical design has been optimized through computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) studies. A review of the design for fish mortality has been carried out and incorporated
in the turbine design. The final design of the model turbine for testing has been achieved.
Manufacturing of the model turbine is in progress, and the model performance test was to be
carried out in the Hydraulic Machinery Laboratory at Laval University by the end of 2006.

Very-low-head turbines

Very-low-head hydro has the potential to generate green electricity with minimal
environmental effects. In addition, it is one of the best options for decentralized power
generation. Development of Canada ’s low-head hydro potential is very low because of its
high costs, particularly for the related civil works, which represent 40 to 50 percent of total
development costs. As a result, an innovative very-low-head turbine design involving less
civil cost is highly attractive. This new turbine could target sites that have high natural flow in
order to achieve a high annual running time.

Traditionally, turbine manufacturers seek to reduce runner diameters in order to reduce the
equipment costs while maintaining high performance. Usually, the decrease in diameter
requires more complex civil structures to convey water from the intake to the runner and to
recover the kinetic energy at the runner exit. Typically, long intakes and draft tubes are
needed for this purpose.

The partners of this project – MJ2 Technologies S.A.R.L. and Atelier ONMEC Inc. – have
developed a groundbreaking concept. The Very Low Head (VLH) turbine4 takes a completely
different approach to the traditional design: using larger runners to practically eliminate the
expensive civil structures of traditional concepts. Larger but simpler runners rotating very
slowly, like windmills, will be installed in sluice passages. These passages could be the
existing ones adjacent to dams (or weirs) or could be built within a weir.

The best sites for installation of the VLH turbine are those with highly regulated flows at
existing weirs with drops of 1 to 3 meters. Such sites often are encountered along navigation
canals, irrigation canals, and municipal intakes.

The VLH turbine has the following features:

– Very low rotation speed and low flow velocity through the turbine;

– Advanced low-speed generator directly coupled to the turbine runner;

– Draft tube significantly shortened or eliminated because the runner diameter is such that the
kinetic energy of the flow (low flow velocity) at the exit of the runner is less than 20 percent
of the total available potential energy of the site;

– Runner has many blades that will be able to close the flow passage. This allows control of
the discharge and shutdown of the turbine unit, eliminating the requirement of a gate or
movable distributor;

– Turbine is easily accessible for maintenance by translating it to a top position and can be
easily raised from its guide using a mobile crane;

– Fish-friendly because of the low velocity and low pressure flow through the runner; and

– Expected turbine hydraulic efficiency of about 80 percent and global efficiency of about 70
percent.

Model testing is under way to verify the design of the Very Low Head
(VLH) turbine. Results of this testing are being incorporated into the
prototype, which is expected to be fully operational in France in October
2007.

Click here to enlarge image

The hydraulic and mechanical designs have been completed, and designs have been optimized
through CFD analysis. The model turbine has been manufactured and is being tested in the
Hydraulic Machinery Laboratory at Laval University. Preliminary results show that the
turbine performance is very close to the design expectation. The prototype is being improved
based on preliminary results and is expected to be fully operational in France in October
2007.

Exit stay apparatus for Francis turbines

A very advantageous alternative, both environmentally and economically, to developing more

hydro sites is to make existing equipment more efficient. Therefore, NRCan decided to
support the development of a Francis turbine with an exit stay apparatus (ESA). Dr.
Alexander Gokhman invented a reaction hydraulic unit with an ESA in 2002. This invention
promises to improve efficiency and decrease flow pulsation amplitude at partial loads in
Francis and axial propeller turbines.

Many hydropower plants use Francis turbines. At small hydro sites, because of the
hydrological conditions, there are wide variations in the water flow, and Francis turbines
frequently operate under off-peak load conditions. At large hydro sites, in a deregulated
market, utilities have a monetary incentive to operate their units between off-peak load and
full load, depending on market demand and price. The head at large hydro sites also may vary
significantly from optimal, especially at newly erected power plants with a large reservoir.

Francis turbines, working off the optimal operating regime, experience a significant loss of
efficiency. Furthermore, the demand of operation under off-peak conditions has significant
detrimental effects on the turbine unit because it often is exposed to pressure pulsation and
dynamic loadings. These can cause material fatigue and significantly reduce the life
expectancy of the equipment.

This project targets these two issues by developing and implementing an ESA to eliminate the
central helix vortex (and thus increase the energy efficiency for off-peak regimes) and achieve
reliable operation and a longer life expectancy for existing and new plants. The ESA
comprises a stay crown and several exit stay vanes to be put immediately behind the
conventional Francis runner exit. (See Figure 2 on page 38.) The ESA can be incorporated
into newly manufactured Francis turbines. It also can be retrofitted into any Francis turbine if
its draft tube cone is not embedded.

The ESA project is expected to meet the following objectives:

– Substantially increase efficiency at loads less than optimal power. Efficiency should
increase by 5 percent at the optimal head and a discharge equal to 43 percent of the optimal
power; and by 7 percent at the head equal to 80 percent of optimal head and the load equal to
33 percent of optimal power;

– Increase efficiency by at least 2 percent at the optimal head for the flow rate corresponding
to the maximal power for the turbine without ESA; and

– Drastically decrease the amplitude of pulsations at operating regimes off the optimum,
resulting in stable operating conditions and longer life expectancy for the equipment and
power plant.

Work on this project is planned in two phases. Phase I mainly focuses on a model study to
prove the concept, and Phase II focuses on a demonstration. The main project partners are
independent consultant Dr. Alexander Gokhman5 and the Hydraulic Machinery Laboratory of
Laval University.

Dr. Gokhman has completed hydraulic and mechanical designs of the ESA for an existing
Francis turbine supplied by GE. This unit was put in place at the Hydraulic Machinery
Laboratory at Laval University in August 2006. Manufacturing and installation of the ESA on
a model Francis turbine was to be carried out in the fall of 2006, and model testing was to be
completed by the end of the year.

Economical turbine performance field testing

Among Canada ’s 500 hydro stations, more than half are considered small (less than 50 MW
installed capacity). These small hydro plants typically operate with only the turbine
manufacturer ’s information on performance, and the units usually are developed for specific
design criteria.

Figure 2: The exit stay apparatus (ESA) being developed for a Francis turbine promises to improve efficiency and decrease flow
pulsation amplitude at partial loads in both Francis and axial propeller turbines.

Click here to enlarge image

There is no economical and affordable methodology to verify the as-built and installed unit
performance characteristics for small power stations, or to ascertain wear and make
adjustment-related performance determinations. Most turbine prototypes vary from the design
by having a shift of the best operating point and the maximum output due to empirical step-up
factors used to convert model test results to prototype performance. As a result of the high
cost of performance testing ($20,000 to $100,000 for index tests), or an absolute performance
test, operators of small hydro stations typically lack the data to analyze how much power they
lose when deviating from the best operating point.

This project will develop an economical turbine testing procedure, including equipment for
hydroelectric generating units, that will help small and medium hydro stations improve
operating efficiency. The purpose of the turbine testing procedure will be to determine the
actual turbine and unit performance characteristics.These data will provide operators with a
basis for daily operating decisions, allowing them to choose the best operating mode.

The test equipment will be designed to have a universal setup to fit most hydroelectric
stations. It will be a comprehensive system that includes a variety of flow measurement tools,
as well as power measurement and head measurement tools and other test parameters.

To the extent practical, the test methodology will be developed to be in accordance with the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) test codes. The test methodology will be designed to be accurate,
economical, and provide immediate results. Test procedures will be developed to suit the
comprehensive system of new, universal test equipment and instrumentation. A standard test
report will be designed and formatted to satisfy the needs of operators, designers, and
consultants. The report is to be produced on site before test equipment is dismantled. The
main project partner is HydroPower Performance Engineering Inc.6,7

An economical turbine testing procedure (including equipment) for small and medium
hydroelectric power stations will provide several benefits:

– Operating hydro stations at their best operating point increases power production and
optimizes water usage because this point has the highest power production per cubic meter of
flow; and

– Because hydro generation does not produce any greenhouse gases, improved energy
production means more displaced greenhouse gas emissions.

Developing the new test equipment and procedures will reduce the setup time and the data
analysis and reporting. The target of this project is to make testing economical ($10,000 to
$20,000 per test) and demonstrate to hydroelectric power producers the benefits of investing
in knowledge acquisition to operate efficiently, to utilize water resources efficiently, and to
improve power production for the same available water resources.

The concept design of measuring modules has been completed. The modules fit most low-
head hydro plants with minimal alterations, are easy to assemble and dismantle, and are
interchangeable without affecting the structure strength or rigidity of the modules. The current
meter and side supporting frames have been designed and approved by professional engineers.
Next steps involve system integration and calibration, as well as demonstration of the
effectiveness of the universal performance measurement system in low-head small hydro
plants.

The authors may be reached at CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Natural Resources
Canada, 580 Booth Street, 13th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4 Canada; (1) 613-996-6119
(Tung), (1) 613-992-4379 (Huang), (1) 613-947-4122 (Handler) or (1) 613-944-4407
(Ranjitkar); E-mail: tung@nrcan.gc.ca, jhuang@nrcan.gc.ca, cyhandle@nrcan. gc.ca, or
granjitk@nrcan.gc.ca.

Notes

1. Turndown ratio is the ratio of the design flow to the minimum flow at which a turbine will
run efficiently.
2. de Montmorency, D., “The SBR Turbine, A Simplified Design System for Axial Flow Turbines, ”
Proceedings of the 13th International Seminar on Hydropower Plants, Institute for
Waterpower and Pumps and Institute for Testing and Research in Materials Technology at
the Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, 2004.
3. KWI Architects Engineers Consultants, “Status Report on Variable Speed Operation in Small
Hydropower, ” Energy 2002, European Commission, www.
europa.eu.int/comm/energy/res/sectors/doc/small_hydro/statusreport
_vspinshp_colour2.pdf.
4. Fonkenell, J., “Hydro Turbine Generating Set for Very Low Head, ” Proceedings of the 13th
International Seminar on Hydropower Plants, Institute for Waterpower and Pumps and
Institute for Testing and Research in Materials Technology at the Vienna University of
Technology, Vienna, Austria, 2004.
5. Gokhman, A., Exit Stay Apparatus, U.S. Patent Office Application Number 10/224,442.
6. Mikhail A.F., et al, “Performance Testing of the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant Using the
Gibson and Index Methods to Verify Unit Similarity, ” Waterpower XIV Technical Papers CD-
Rom, HCI Publications, Kansas City, Mo., 2005.
7. Mikhail, A.F., and R.J. Knowlton, “Performance Testing of the Robert Moses Niagara Power
Plant and Sir Adam Beck Generating Station, ” Proceedings of the IGHEM Conference,
International Group for Hydraulic Efficiency Measurement, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2002.

Tony Tung is senior advisor to the hydraulic energy group, Jinxing Huang is senior advisor
for the hydraulic energy group and computational fluid dynamics, Cynthia Handler is senior
renewable energy engineer for renewable energy technologies, and Ghanashyam Ranjitkar is
hydraulic energy engineer for the hydraulic energy group of renewable energy technologies
in the CANMET Energy Technology Centre of Natural Resources Canada.

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Water Turbines
Turbine History

Hydropower has been generated for thousands of years using water wheels, which convert falling
water directly into energy. Water wheels are quite efficient, but have the primary shortcoming of
size, which limits the head and flow that can be utilized. Water turbines, which don’t have the same
limitations as wheels, were originally developed in the 1800’s.

The word “turbine” was coined by the French engineering Claude Bourdin and is derived from the
Latin word for “whirling” or a “vortex”. The primary difference between turbines and wheels is a
whirling component where the water passes energy to a spinning rotor. This spinning motion allows
turbines to be smaller than water wheels of equivalent power. Turbines can process more water and
work with greater heads and therefore have been used to generated hundreds of megawatts of
power. Later on, impulse type turbines were developed that didn’t use this whirling effect.

General Turbine Types

The two primary classifications of water turbines are impulse

turbines or reaction turbines. In addition to these two broad
categories, there is a new type of device called an Archimedes
Screw turbine.

In a reaction turbine the blades (runners) are fully immersed in

water and are enclosed in a pressure casing. The blades are angled
so that pressure differences across them create lift forces, like
those on aircraft wings, and the lift forces cause the runner to
rotate. Reaction turbines are most common on low head
applications.

In an impulse turbine the runner operates in air, and is turned by

one or multiple jets of water impinging on the blades. A nozzle
converts the pressurized low velocity water into a high-speed jet
much like you might use with a garden hose nozzle.

While the Archimedes screw turbine is not new, its use in generating power is a recent
development. The Archimedes screw turbine is closer to the reaction turbine in that the weight of
falling water turns the screw to generate power. In fact, one might not even call this a turbine since
there is no swirling of water, but rather buckets of water, between blades, in which the water goes
from a high point to a lower point. This design has marked advantages in many run-of-river situations
which are the most typical small to medium sized hydropower schemes.

Examples of Reaction turbines are:

 Francis Wheel
 Kaplan (Propeller)
 Archimedes Screw

Examples of Impulse turbines are:

 Pelton
 Turgo
  Cross Flow (Banki)

Turbine Selection

Turbine selection is mostly dependent on available head. In general, impulse turbines are used for
high head sites and reaction turbines are used for low head sites. Additionally, different turbines
have different tolerances for variations in flow and/or head; i.e. their efficiencies vary more or less as
the flow/head varies from their optimum design point. The following table illustrates the broad
application of these basic turbine types.

High Medium
Low Head
Head Head

Crossflow
Pelton
Impulse Turbine Crossflow
Multijet Pelton
Turgo
Turgo
Kaplan

Reaction
Francis Archimedes Screw
Turbine

(not really a
turbine)
The following graph details the operating envelopes of the various turbines in terms of head and flow
rate in more detail than the proceeding table.

+44 (0) 782 564 2306 / info@SEPEngineering.com

Copyright © 2008 Southeast Power Engineering. All Rights Reserved.

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