Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology,

Management & Gramothan, Jaipur

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Student Name: Prateek
YogendraKumawat
Singh Shekhawat
Roll Number: 19ESKME117
19ESKME175
Sign of Student:
Faculty Name: - Brij Mohan Sharma (Assistant Professor, DME)
Date: - 16th July 2021
URL of Virtual lab experiment: Kaplan Turbine
Title of the Virtual Lab Experiment: Performance Characteristics of Kaplan Turbine
Aim: - To conduct the performance test on kaplan turbine under constant head and to
plot the operating characteristics.

Diagram of turbine: -
Theory: -

INTRODUCTION-

Turbines are the turbo machines transferring fluid energy into mechanical energy.
Victor Kaplan designed a turbine similar to the propellers of ships for generating
hydropower in locations where large quantities of water are available under a
relatively low head. The Kaplan Turbine is also called as Propeller Turbine. It has a
propeller like blades, here Instead of displacing the water axially using shaft power
and creating axial thrust, the axial force of water acts on the blades of Kaplan Turbine
and generates shaft power. To generate substantial amount of power from small heads
of water using Kaplan Turbine it is necessary to have large flow rates through the
turbine. Kaplan Turbine is designed to accommodate the required large flow rates.
Consequently the specific speed of these turbines is high, viz., 300 to 1000.

Kaplan Turbine is an Axial Flow Reaction Turbine, which means that the flow
direction does not change as it crosses the rotor. For Axial Flow Turbines, the water
flows through the runner along the direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the
runner. Reaction Turbine means that the water at the inlet of the Turbine possesses
kinetic energy as well as pressure energy.

Components of Kaplan Turbine-

Except the alignment of the blades the construction of the Kaplan Turbine is very
much similar to that of the Francis Turbine.

1. Penstock: It is a waterway used to carry the water from reservoir to turbine. At

the inlet of the penstock trash cracks are used to prevent the debris going into
the turbine.
2. Scroll Casing: The annular channel surrounding the turbine runners to which
water is fed spiral in its layout and also called as spiral casing. Casing
constitutes a closed passage whose cross sectional area gradually decreases
along the flow direction, area is maximum at the inlet and nearly zero at the
outlet.
3. Guide Vane Mechanism: A series of aerofoil shaped vanes arranged inside the
casing to form a number of flow passages between the casing and the runner
blades. The water from the penstocks enters the scroll casing and then moves to
the guide vanes. From the guide vanes, the water turns through 90° and flows
axially through the runner.
4. Hub: For Kaplan Turbine, the shaft of the turbine is vertical. The lower end of
the shaft is made larger and is called ‘Hub’ or ‘Boss’. The vanes are fixed on the
hub and hence Hub acts as runner for axial flow turbine.
5. Runner: The runner of a Kaplan Turbine has four to six or even eight blades
and it closely resembles a shape of a ships propeller. The blades are attached to
the hub, the runner blades are fixed but the angle of inclination may be adjusted
while the turbine is in motion.
6. Draft Tube: The draft tube is a pipe or passage of gradually increasing cross
 sectional area which connects the runner exit to the tail race. It may be made of
cast or plate steel or concrete. It permits the negative or suction head to be
established at the runner exit and also converts large proportion of velocity
energy rejected from the runner into useful pressure energy.

Specifications-

1. Type – Reaction turbine

2. Type of flow – Axial
3. Head – Low (below 40 m)
4. Number of blades on runner – 3 or 4 (max. 6)
5. Specific speed – High - 250 to 850
6. Discharge – High

Operations & Maintenance-

It is commonly accepted that turbines normally suffer from a progressive deterioration

in performance over time. Usual causes include cavitation damage, abrasive erosion
wear, galvanic corrosion, striking damage from debris passing through, and errors in
welding repairs to original blade profiles and surface finish. A certain amount of
cavitation is inherent in a Kaplan runner, primarily due to gaps between the blade
inner periphery and hub, and between the blade outer periphery and throat rings.
Kaplan runner blades are designed with stress relief grooves at the leading and trailing
sides of the blade intersection. These grooves, located to minimize the possibility of
cracking in the high stress areas of the blade create cavities in the flow profile which
cause downstream disturbances in the form of low pressure vertices and can result in
cavitation erosion on the hub and nose cone. Cavitation is unavoidable in Kaplan
turbine because there is huge pressure drop associated with energy extraction from
fluid. Cladding with 309L stainless steel welding electrode provides some cavitation
resistance. Turbine shaft areas near the shaft seal that are exposed to water should be
sealed with a robust coating such as an epoxy paint to prevent corrosion of the shaft.
Adequate coating of the turbine wetted components not only prevents corrosion but
has added benefits of improved performance. The typical areas of cavitation damage
are shown in the figure.
Comparison between reaction turbine and impulse turbine-
Reaction Turbine
Only a fraction of the available
hydraulic energy is converted
into kinetic energy before the
fluid enters the runner.
Both pressure and velocity
change as the fluid passes
through the runner. Pressure at
inlet is much higher than at the
outlet.
The runner must be enclosed
within a watertight casing (scroll
casing).
Impulse Turbine
All the available hydraulic energy
is converted into kinetic energy
by a nozzle and it is the jet so
produced which strikes the runner
blades.
It is the velocity of jet which
changes, the pressure throughout
remaining atmospheric.
Water-tight casing is not
necessary. Casing has no
hydraulic function to perform. It
only serves to prevent splashing
and guide water to the tail race.
 Water is admitted over the entire Water is admitted only in the form of
circumference of the runner. jets. There may be one or more jets
striking equal number of buckets
simultaneously.
Water completely fills at the The turbine does not run full and air
passages between the blades and has a free access to the buckets.
while flowing between inlet and
outlet sections does work on the
blades.
The turbine is connected to the tail The turbine is always installed above
race through a draft tube which is a the tail race and there is no draft tube
gradually expanding passage. It may used.
be installed above or below the tail
race.
The flow regulation is carried out by Flow regulation is done by means of
means of a guide-vane assembly. a needle valve fitted into the nozzle.
Other component parts are scroll
casing, stay ring, runner and the
draft tube.

Procedure: -
Image Showing Result for the given input parameters: -

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Observation Table: -

Trial Specific Constant Actual Speed of Torque (τ)

Wt. Of head (H) discharge, motor (N)
water Qact
1 9810N/m3 5m 0.0466m3/sec 2775rpm 1.4715N-m
2 9810N/m3 5m 0.0454m3/sec 2725rpm 2.0601N-m
3 9810N/m3 5m 0.0435m3/sec 2660rpm 2.943N-m

Calculation: -
Image of Student Performing Experiment: -
Screen shot of the screen: Photo of student while performing the
experiment on virtual lab

Result and Discussion: -

Screenshot of Post Test, after attempting it:

Your score: 5 out of 5

..The End..