Kaplan Turbine

Axial-Flow Turbines
• Axial flow turbines are the turbines in which the flow is
parallel to the axis of the shaft.

• There are two types of axial-flow turbines, Kaplan and

propeller.

• A propeller turbine has fixed blades whereas a Kaplan

turbine has adjustable blades.

• The runner of a Kaplan or a propeller turbine

resembles the propeller of a ship. As the axial-flow
turbines are low-head machines, the discharge is high.
 Axial-Flow Turbines
• In general, heads up to 30 m require axial-flow
turbines.
• Specific speed is in between 250 – 850.

• The efficiency of Kaplan turbine can be as high as 94%.

• It has lesser number of blades, usually 3 – 4 or at the

most 6.

• It has been found that better results are obtained if the

blades are designed according to the aerodynamic
theory than based on the momentum theory.
 Components of an Axial-Flow Turbine

• A Kaplan or a propeller turbine has its casing,

guide mechanism and draft tube similar to that of
a Francis turbine.

• Guide blades or wicket gates impart a tangential

and a radial-inward velocity of the fluid.

• These are moveable just like the guide vanes of a

Francis turbine (Fig.1).
Components
of an Axial-
Flow Turbine
• A space, called whirl chamber, is provided between the
guide vanes and the runner. In the whirl chamber, the
flow turns by 90 degree and move as a free vortex, i.e.
without the aid of any external torque.

• The radial component changes into axial components

due to the guidance from the fixed housing. The
tangential component of velocity increases as the
radius is reduced. Angular momentum remains
constant.

• As the head for a Kaplan turbine is low, the discharge is

to be high. There should be least resistance of blades
to the flow.
• Hence a Kaplan runner has lesser number of blades. The
blades are of a variety flat shape with little curvature.

• The blades are fixed to a hub or boss which in turn is

mounted on a shaft (Fig.2).

• In Kaplan turbines, the blades are able to move on their

axes: but in propeller turbines, these are fixed. Thus the
blades of a propeller turbine are fitted at such an angle that
at the designed value of flow, water enters the runner
tangential to the leading edge of the blades.

• Runner blades are usually made of the stainless steel. They

are directly attached to the hub and there is no bend like
that in a Francis turbine. This eliminates the frictional
losses.
 Performance at Part Loads
• Kaplan turbines are capable of giving high efficiency at
part loads and at overloads (up to 15-20%).

• As shown in Fig.3, diagram at the inlet changes with

change in the flow rate due to the load variations.

• This results in the change of direction of water into the

runner.

• In a propeller turbine as the runner blades are fixed-

angle blades the water does not remain tangential to
the runner blades and there are eddy and shock losses.
• However, in Kaplan turbines, the runner-blade
angles are also changed since the blades are able
to rotate on their axes.

• This is done automatically with the help of a

governing mechanism that keeps the speed of
the constant.

• By the change in runner blade angles, water

enters the runner without shock, which keeps the
efficiency of the turbine high by checking the
eddy losses at the inlet.
 Adjustment of Kaplan Blades
• The blades of a Kaplan runner are adjusted according
to the load on the turbine.

• This is done with the help of the servomotor

mechanism.

• It operates inside the hollow coupling in the generator

and the turbine shafts (Fig.4).

• Servomotor mechanism consists of a piston operating

inside a cylinder and is under oil pressure on both
sides.
• Pressurized oil is supplied to the servomotor through
the hollow generator shaft from the supply head
mounted on the exciter.

• The supply of the pressurized oil is regulated by the

governing mechanism.

• Piston of the servomotor is connected to a blade

operating rod which passes through the hollow shaft of
the turbine.

• The movement of the blade operating rod is

transmitted to the runner blades through a suitable
link mechanism which is enclosed in the runner hub.
 Kaplan Turbine Proportions

1. If D = Diameter of the runner

d = Diameter of the hub

• Ratio of the hub diameter of the outer

diameter of the runner is established
experimentally and depends upon the specific
speed of the runner.
• With increasing value of specific speed, this
ratio decreases.
• The following table gives the variation of d/D,
head (H) and number of blades (Z) with the
change in the specific speed (Ns) of a Kaplan
turbine.
Table
Ns 250 325 500 650 725 850

d/D 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.42 0.38 0.3

Z 10 7 5 4-5 4 3

H (m) 70 55 40 25 14 5
2. The discharge through the runner is given by,

Q= ( D 2  d 2 )Vf
4

= ( D 2  d 2 ) Kf 2 gH
4
Kf is the flow ratio and its value for Kaplan turbine is 0.35 - 0.7

3. The peripheral velocity u of the runner varies with the

radius, so in case of axial-flow runners, the tangential
velocity varies from section to section at the inlet and
the outlet. Thus depending upon this variation in the
tangential velocity, the inlet and the outlet angles of
the blades are changed at different sections, greater at
the tips and smaller at the hub. This gives a twisted
shape to the blades.
4. At any section of the blade, the radial distance
from the axis at the inlet and the outlet is same.
5. As the area at the inlet and the outlet of the
runner are equal,

Vf = Vfi = Vfo

Moreover, the runner blades are usually designed

on the assumption that the flow velocity is uniform
from the root to the tip of the blades.
 Example .1
• A Kaplan turbine works under a head of 10 m.
The hub diameter is 1/3 rd of the diameter of
the runner. The turbine runs at the 120 rpm.
The vane angle at the outlet of the extreme
edge of the runner is 15 degree. If the flow
ratio is 0.65 , find
(a) Diameter Of The Runner
(b) Diameter Of The Hub
(c) Discharge Through The Runner
The discharge at the outlet is radial.
Solution:
 H = 10 m
 N = 120 rpm
 d = (1/3) D
 Kf = 0.65
 Ui = Uo = u
DN
A. u
60
Vf Kf 2 gH
For which u is, Tan   
u u
0.65 2  9.8110
Tan15 
Or u
Or u = 33.98 m/s
• Then DN
u
60
  D 120
33.98 
60
• Now
D = 5.4 m
B)
d = (1/3) D

d = D/3 = 5.4/3 = 1.8 m

 
C) Q  ( D 2  d 2 )Vf
4


 ( D  d )  Kf 2 gH
2 2

4

 [(5.4) 2  (1.8) 2 ]  0.65 2  9.8110
4
Q = 185.2 m3/s
 Example 2
• A Kaplan turbine operating under an effective
head of 5.5 m produces 5000 kW. The speed
ratio and the flow ratio are 1.8 and 0.6
respectively. Diameter of the hub is 0.4 times
the diameter of the runner. Taking overall
efficiency of the turbine as 88% determine the
diameter, speed and the specific speed of the
runner.
Solution:
H = 5.5 m
P = 5000 kW = 5000 x 103 W
Ku = 1.8
Kf = 0.6
  0.88
d = 0.4 D
A) 
Q  ( D 2  d 2 )Vf
4

 ( D 2  d 2 )  Kf 2 gH
4
For which Q is evaluated from the relation
P  gQH 
5000 103  1000  Q  9.81 5.5  0.88

Q = 105.3 m3/s
Then 
Q ( D 2  d 2 )  Kf 2 gH
4

105.3  ( D 2  (0.4 D) 2 )  0.6 2  0.981 5.5
4
D 2
103.5 
4
1
2

 0.4 2  6.23

And D = 5.06 m
B) u  Ku. 2 gH
DN
Or  Ku. 2 gH
60

  5.06  N
 1.8  2  9.81  5.5
60

N = 70.6 rpm
C)
N p 70.6  5000
Ns    592.7
H 5/ 4
5.55/ 4

Power (P) in KW