KNU 2043 : Introduction to Hydropower System ASSIGNMENT 1

A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work, namely electricity.

Turbine Blade

In an Impulse turbine, the whole of the available energy of the fluid is converted to Kinetic Energy before the water acts on the moving parts of the turbine. Pelton Wheel is an example of such turbine.

Pelton Wheel (Impulse Turbine)

Pelton Wheels in a hydroplant

Components in a Pelton Wheel

Water is blasted at these cups by one or more jets mounted in the surrounding casing. Momentum is transferred from water to cups, and a torque is created, causing the wheel to rotate. This type of turbine is highly efficient.

Newton's third law describes the transfer of energy for reaction turbines.

A Simple Reaction Turbine

Reaction turbines consist of fixed guide vanes called stay vanes, adjustable guide vanes called wicket gates and rotating blades called runner blades. It also generally consists of a spiral casing or volute, as in hydraulic turbines. It surrounds the runner completely. The casing should be strong to withstand high pressure.

Top and Side View of a typical Reaction Turbine

Flow enters tangentially at high pressure, is turned toward the runner by the stay vanes as it moves along the volute, and then passes through the wicket gates with a large tangential velocity component. Momentum is exchanged between the fluid and the runner, and the runner rotates. Unlike impulse turbine, the water completely fills the casing of a reaction turbine. Reaction turbine generally produces more power than an impulse turbine. Wicket gates control volume flow rate.

There are two main types of Reaction Turbine Francis and Kaplan Turbines.

Sectional and Top View of a Francis Reaction Turbine

Francis Turbine

Sectional View of a Kaplan Reaction Turbine

Both types of turbines are inward-flow reaction turbines.

Francis turbines utilize axial and/or radial flow concepts. Kaplan turbines utilize axial flow of water. Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades.

Kaplan Turbines

Various types of water turbine runners. From left to right: Pelton Wheel, two types of Francis Turbine and Kaplan Turbine

Efficiency of turbines is a function of the available head. Euler's Head: It is defined as energy transfer per unit weight. Hydraulic Efficiency - It is the ratio of power developed by the runner to the head of water (or energy) actually supplied to the turbine i.e.

Mechanical Efficiency - It is the ratio of actual work available at the turbine shaft to energy imparted to the wheel. Overall Efficiency The overall efficiency is based on the useful work output divided by the water power input.

In impulse turbines, the total head available is first converted into the kinetic energy. In the reaction turbines, the fluid passes first through a ring of stationary guide vanes in which only part of the available total head is converted into kinetic energy. The guide vanes discharge directly into the runner along the whole of its periphery, so that the fluid entering the runner has pressure energy as well as kinetic energy. The pressure energy is converted into kinetic energy in the runner.

Change of Pressure and Velocity in a Steam Impulse Turbine and a Steam Reaction Turbine