Hydro turbines

What are Hydraulic turbines?

Hydraulic Turbines are devices which convert the energy in a stream of falling fluid
into rotational mechanical energy by passing through a system of fixed and moving
blades and causing the wheel to rotate.
A hydraulic turbine consists of
 a wheel called the runner provided with a number of curved vanes on its
periphery,
 a guiding apparatus to direct the flow of water at inlet in the specified direction.
Depending on the operational requirements, Turbines mainly classified in two ways,
A) Based on the nature of energy head of water at inlet
• Reaction or Pressure Turbine: is a turbine in which the water entering the
runner possesses pressure as well as kinetic energy. Examples: Francis turbine,
Kaplan turbine, Thomson turbine
• Impulse or Velocity Turbines: is a turbine in which the water entering the runner
possesses kinetic energy only, i.e., in this case, the water is throughout at
atmospheric pressure. Examples: Pelton wheel, Turgo wheel, Jonval turbine,
Girard turbine
 
B) Based on the direction of flow along the vanes.
• Axial Flow Hydraulic Turbines: This category of Hydraulic Turbines has the
flow path of the liquid parallel to the axis of rotation. Example: Kaplan
Turbines.
• Radial Flow Hydraulic Turbines: Such Hydraulic Turbines has the liquid
flowing mainly in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation. In a radial
flow turbine the water moves along the vanes towards the axis of rotation
of the runner or away from it. When the flow is towards the axis of
rotation, the turbine is called an inward flow turbine. When the flow is
away from the axis of rotation of the turbine is called an outward flow
turbine. Example: Inward flow turbine – Francis (radial), Thomson,
Girard(radial) turbine , Outward flow turbine – Fourneyron turbine.
• Mixed Flow Hydraulic Turbines: For most of the Hydraulic Turbines used
there is a significant component of both axial and radial flows. Such types
of Hydraulic Turbines are called as Mixed Flow Turbines. Example: The
Francis, Kaplan and Pelton wheel turbines
Hydraulic Turbine Working Principle:
So, the working principle of the hydraulic turbine is, according to Newton’s
law, A force is directly proportional to the change in momentum. If there is
any change in momentum of fluid then a force is generated.
The hydraulic turbine blades (In the case of the Pelton wheel Turbine) are
provided against the flow of water which changes the momentum of it.
As the momentum is changing, a resulting pressure force generated which
rotates the rotor or turbine.As the change in momentum high, the force
generated is high, which increases energy conversion.
So the blade or buckets are designed so that it can change the maximum
momentum of the water. This turbine is used in a hydroelectric power plant.
Advantages of Hydraulic Turbine:
• This is a renewable energy source. The water-energy can be used again and
again.
• This turbine having high efficiency.
• The running cost of the Hydraulic turbine is less as compared to other
turbines.
• Since Dams are used. So it is used for power generation.
• The environmental pollution system is negligible here.
• This is easy to maintain.
• The main advantages of the Hydraulic turbine are that at the turbine place,
the people can visit and come across all the main parts in detail. This is like
an open system.
Disadvantages of Hydraulic Turbine:
• The Installation or Initial cost is very high. This system or plant takes several
decades to produces the profit.
• It can develop at only a few sites where the proper amount of water is
available. 
What is a Francis Turbine?
The Francis turbine is a mixed flow turbine, subdivided into impulse and
reaction machines. In the impulse turbines, the total head available is
converted into the kinetic energy.
In the reaction turbines, only some part of the available total head of the
fluid is converted into kinetic energy so that the fluid entering the runner has
pressure energy as well as kinetic energy. The pressure energy is then
converted into kinetic energy in the runner.
Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today. They
operate in a water head from 40 to 600 m and are primarily used for electrical
power production. The electric generators which most often use this type of
turbine have a power output which generally ranges just a few kilowatts up to
800 MW.
 Design of Francis Turbine
 Power Generation using Francis Turbine
Main Components of Francis Turbine
1. Spiral Casing
Spiral casing is the inlet medium of water to the turbine. The water flowing from the reservoir or dam is made to
pass through this pipe with high pressure. The blades of the turbines are circularly placed, which mean the water
striking the turbines blades should flow in the circular axis for efficient striking. So the spiral casing is used, but due to
circular movement of the water, it looses its pressure. To maintain the same pressure the diameter of the casing is
gradually reduced, so as to maintain the pressure uniform, thus uniform momentum or velocity striking the runner
blades.
2. Stay Vanes 
Stay vanes and guide vanes guides the water to the runner blades. Stay vanes remain stationary at their position
and reduces the swirling of water due to radial flow, as it enters the runner blades. Thus making turbine more
efficient.
3. Guide Vanes
Guide vanes are not stationary, they change their angle as per the requirement to control the angle of striking of
water to turbine blades to increase the efficiency. They also regulate the flow rate of water into the runner blades
thus controlling the power output of a turbine according to the load on the turbine.
4. Runner Blades
The performance and efficiency of the turbine is dependent on the design of the runner blades. In a Francis
turbine, runner blades are divided into 2 parts. The lower half is made in the shape of small bucket so that it uses the
impulse action of water to rotate the turbine. The upper part of the blades use the reaction force of water flowing
through it. These two forces together makes the runner to rotate.
5. Draft Tube
The pressure at the exit of the runner of Reaction Turbine is generally less than atmospheric pressure. The water at
exit cannot be directly discharged to the tail race. A tube or pipe of gradually increasing area is used for discharging
water from the exit of turbine to the tail race. This tube of increasing area is called Draft Tube. One end of the tube is
connected to the outlet of runner while the other end is sub-merged below the level of water in the tail-race.
Types Of Francis Turbines :
There are mainly two types of Francis turbines
• In open flume type, the turbine is immersed underwater of the headrace
in a concrete chamber and discharges into the tailrace through the draft
tube. The main disadvantage of this type is that runner and the guide-
vane mechanism is under the water and they are not open either for
inspection or repair without draining the chamber.
• In the closed type, the water is led to the turbine through the penstock
whose end is connected to the spiral casing of the turbine. The open
flume type is used for the plants of 10 meters head whereas, closed type
is preferred above 30 meters head. The guide vanes are provided around
the runner to regulate the water flowing through the turbine The guide
vanes provide gradually decreasing area of
flow for all gate openings, so that no eddies are formed, and efficiency
does not suffer much even at part load conditions.
 Working principles of Francis turbine
Efficiencies Of Francis Turbines : 
1. Hydraulic efficiency :
It is defined as the ratio of the power produced by the turbine runner and
the power supplied by the water at the turbine inlet.
2. Volumetric efficiency :
It is possible some water flows out through the clearance between the
runner and casing without passing through the runner.
Volumetric efficiency is defined as the ratio between the volume of water
flowing through the runner and the total volume of water supplied to the
turbine.
3. Mechanical efficiency :
The power produced by the runner is always greater than the power
available at the turbine shaft. This is due to mechanical losses at the bearings,
windage losses and other frictional losses.
4. Overall efficiency :
This is the ratio of power output at the shaft and power input by the water
at the turbine inlet.
Advantage of Francis Turbine :
 The difference in the operating head can be extra simply controlled in Francis
turbine than in the Pelton wheel turbine.
 The mechanical efficiency of the Pelton wheel decreases faster by wear than Francis
turbine.
 Francis turbine variation in operating head can be more simply controlled.
 No head failure occurs still at the low discharge of water.
 The size of the runner is small.
 Small changes in efficiency over time.
• The Francis turbine may be designed for a wide range of heads and flows. This, along
with their high efficiency, has made them the most widely used turbine in the world.
Disadvantage of Francis Turbine :
 The water which is not dirt-free can cause extremely rapid wear in high head Francis
turbine.
2. As spiral casing is stranded, the runner is not simply available. Therefore dismantle
is hard.
3. The repair and inspection is much costly and complicated.
4. It faces the hazard of Cavitation.
5. Current losses are certain
• A Kaplan turbine is one kind of a propeller hydro turbine (particularly a reaction turbine) used in hydroelectric plants.
Waterflow both in and out of Kaplan turbines through its rotational axis, which is called axial flow. The point that
makes Kaplan turbines special is that the blades can change their demand to preserve maximum efficiency for
various water flow rates. Kaplan turbine, similar to Francis turbine, is a reaction turbine. Water running through a
Kaplan turbine loses its pressure.
• The area that water can join these turbines is great, equal to the entire space that the blades fill. The large area of
Kaplan turbines makes them most useful where large volumes of water flow can be used even in dams with a
relatively low head. This is especially notable as previous to the Kaplan turbine development, most turbines were
only proper for large heads of water.
• These turbines should be designed to allow large amount of water to flow through them without damage. The way
of designing Kaplan turbines is slightly different from other turbines. The Kaplan turbine is much more modest. There
is a flow passage that injects water in the radial direction, and functional guide vanes – permanent blades that direct
the water abruptly to enter the turbine in the axial orientation.
• The turbine itself is provided with several rotor blades connected directly to the central shaft of the turbine. The
blades are attached with adjustable joints so that the angle can be adjusted, ensuring the maximum efficiency is
achieved for any given flow rate and water head.
• It is necessary to note that this turbine’s blades are not flat. Instead, they rotate slightly because the blade’s exterior
part moves more swiftly than the inside part.
• The way that water moves through a Kaplan turbine is somewhat different from other kinds of turbines. At first, the
water is directed through the turbine radially, advancing from the side. This movement is done since the generator is
typically located somewhere along the turbine’s rotation axis, so if the generator were found here, it would get wet.
Preferably, the guide vanes rapidly carry the water through a ninety-degree turn to hit the blades axially. Rather than
redirecting the water, these vanes are aligned to give the water an appropriate amount of “swirl.”
• The water then moves down over the propeller’s blades, turning it with the “swirl” of the water. Therefore, this type
of turbine is recognized in the class of reaction turbines as the reaction force from pushing the water on the
propeller drives the propeller to move. The water moves out from the turbine axially.
Main Parts of a Kaplan Turbine
A Kaplan Turbine is comprised of:
• Scroll casing,
• Guide vane mechanism,
• Draft tube, and
• Runner blades