4/6/2017

Lecture No. 12

Turbomachinery

Engr. Shafiq-ur-Rahman Sameja

• Rotating machine that adds or extracts energy from a

fluid by virtue of a rotating system of blades

• Hydraulic machines can be divided into displacement

machines and rotodynamic machines

• In displacement machines the volume of a chamber is

increased/decreased by forcing a fluid into and out of the
chamber. e.g. tyre pump, human heart etc.

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• Rotodynamic machines have a set of blades, buckets,

flow channels/ passages forming a rotor. Its rotation
produces dynamic effects to extract/add energy from/to a
fluid.

• Includes turbines and pumps

• Have rotating element through which the fluid passes

• The rotor is called a runner in turbine and an impeller in

the pump.

• Turbine is a device that extracts energy from a fluid

(converts the energy held by the fluid to mechanical
energy)

• Pumps are devices that add energy to the fluid (e.g.

pumps, fans, blowers and compressors).

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Turbines
• Hydro electric power is the most remarkable
development pertaining to the exploitation of
water resources throughout the world

• Hydroelectric power is developed by hydraulic

turbines which are hydraulic machines.

• Turbines convert hydraulic energy or hydro-

potential into mechanical energy.

• Mechanical energy developed by turbines

is used to run electric generators coupled
to the shaft of turbines

• Hydro electric power is the most cheapest

source of power generation.

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• Poncelet first introduced the idea of the

development of mechanical energy
through hydraulic energy

• Modern hydraulic turbines have been

developed by Pelton (impulse), Francis
(reaction) and Kaplan (propeller)

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Heads and Efficiencies of Turbines

• Gross head
• Net or effective head
• Efficiencies
hydraulic efficiency
mechanical efficiency
volumetric efficiency
overall efficiency

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Classification of turbines
• On the basis of hydraulic action or type of energy at the inlet

– Impulse Turbine (pelton wheel)

– Reaction Turbine (francis turbine)

• On the basis of direction of flow through the runner

– Tangential flow turbine (pelton)

– Radial flow turbine (francis )
– Axial Flow Turbine (Kaplan)
– Mixed flow turbine (modern francis)

• On the basis of head of water

– High head turbine (pelton, H>250m)

– Medium head turbine (modern francis, 45-250m)
– Low head turbine (kaplan, <45m)

• On the basis of specific speed, Ns, of the turbine

– Low specific speed (pelton, 10-35)
– Medium (francis, 60-400)
– High specific speed (kaplan, 300-1000)

Specific speed is the speed of turbine for producing unit power under
unit head

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Pelton Wheel Turbine

• Most commonly used impulse or tangential flow
turbine

• Named after its pioneer Leston A Pelton (1829-

1908).

• Suitable to be used for high head hydroelectric

power plants

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Components (runner with buckets)

• Runner is a circular disc with a number of evenly
spaced vanes or buckets semi-ellipsoidal in
shape

• Each bucket is divided into two symmetrical

compartments by a sharp edge ridge called
splitter

• Jet of water normally impinges on the splitter

dividing into two parts and leaving at the outer
edge

• To get the full reaction of the jet, it has to

be turned through 180 degrees but it may
strike the incoming bucket thus retarding
its speed.

• The angle through which the jet is turned

is normally kept between 160 and 170
degrees.

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• Due to the spherical surface of the buckets, the

outlet angle is different for all points on the outer
edge

• As the splitter takes the full impact of the jet, so

it has to be quite strong and should not be
having a sharp edge

• The angle at the centre of the bucket is normally

taken as 5-8 degrees.

• To avoid erosion of buckets due to impurities

present in water, cast iron buckets are used for
low head plants while cast steel, stainless steel
and bronze are used for medium head plants

• Buckets are either cast as an integral part or are

bolted to the rim.

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Nozzle with guide mechanism

• Function is to convert pressure energy to high velocity
energy in the form of jet.

• A spear is provided in the nozzle to control the flow due

to varying load on the turbine.

• Nozzle is made of either cast iron or cast steel

• Nozzle mouth ring and spear tip are made of non-

abrasive material (stainless steel or bronze) and can
easily be replaced

Casing
• It does not have any hydraulic function

• Provided to avoid accidents, splashing of

water and to lead the water to the tail race.

• Made in two parts to facilitate assembling

• Material used is usually cast iron.

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Dimensions of bucket
• Width B of the bucket is normally taken as 4 to 5 d.
• The depth of the bucket (c) normally lies between 0.81 to
1.05d.
• Length L of the bucket is 2.4 to 3.2d
• d is least diameter of the jet
• Other dimensions are
M = 1.1 to 1.25d
l = 1.2 to 1.9d
ɸ = 10 to 15 degrees
β1 = 5-8 degrees

Number of buckets
• The number of buckets is decided such that the
frictional loss is minimum and the path of the jet
is not disturbed.
• Also the jet must be fully utilised
• Taygun gave the following relation for the
calculation of number of buckets.

1D D
bn   15  0.5  15
2d d

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Velocity triangles or inlet outlet

diagram
At the inlet
Vi  Vwi
Vfi  0
Vri  Vi  ui

At the outlet

u o  ui

Assuming a smooth flow on the bucket, no loss

occurs

Vro  Vri

The force exerted by jet in the direction of motion

Fx  aV Vw   Vw1   aV Vw  Vw1 

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Work done by the jet on the runner

Fx  u  aV Vw  Vw1 u

Power obtained by runner
aV Vw  Vw1 u
kW
1000
Work done per unit weight of water
aV Vw  Vw1 u 1
 Vw  Vw1 u
gaV g

Hydraulic Efficiency

aV Vw  Vw1 u 2Vw  Vw1 u

h  
1
aV 3 V2
2

Substituting Vw  V and Vw1  V  u cos   u

2V  V  u cos   u u 2V  u   V  u cos  u

h  
V2 V2
2V  u 1  cos  u

V2

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For maximum efficiency

d h
0
du

1  cos  
d
2Vu  2u 2   0
2
V du
 2V  4u  0
u V /2

Putting in eq for maximum efficiency

h 
1  cos  
2

Design or working proportions

of pelton wheel
If a turbine is working under a net head H, then the ideal
velocity of the wheel is given by

2 gH
But due to the frictional loss, the actual velocity is slightly
less than this, so the velocity V of jet at inlet

V  Cv 2 gH
Cv (coefficient of velocity ranges from 0.97 to 0.99

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Although, theoretically,

u V /2
But actually, h max occurs when

u= 0.46V
If u is expressed in terms of speed ratio (ratio of tangential
velocity of wheel to theoretical velocity of jet), the speed
ratio of a pelton turbine is given by
u
Ku 
2 gH
u  0.46 2 gH
Ku ranges from 0.43 to 0.47

• The angle through which the jet is deflected is taken as

165 degree and β at the outlet velocity triangle is 15
degrees.

• Least diameter of the jet is given by

 2
Q  aV  d Cv 2 gH
4
4Q
d2 
Cv 2g H
1/ 2
4  Q 
d ( )1 / 2  
  0.98  2g  H 
1/ 2
 Q 
 0.5416 
 H 

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If D is the mean diameter of the wheel and N

is the rotation of the wheel in rpm
DN
u
60
60u 60.K u 2 gH
D 
N N

Ratio of diameter of the runner to the least

diameter of the jet is known as jet ratio D/d

D/d is taken between 11 to 14 for maximum

efficiency
Normal value is taken as 12 if not given

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