ME166 Part I (Intro to Turbomachinery) Long Exam

March 8, 2022

Name_______________________________________________________________Student No.____________

1. A hydroelectric turbine installation has a 45 m elevation difference between upper and lower reservoir, a
penstock having a friction factor of 0.025, a diameter of 1.5 m and length 100 m is to be used. What
would be the maximum power that can be obtained from this installation? What is the maximum flow
rate? Determine the type, number, specific speed, operating speed and diameter of turbine/s that must
be installed. If the final choice is a reaction turbine, determine the elevation relative to the lower
reservoir. Assume water to be at 20 C (Psat = 2.34 kPa) and atmospheric pressure is 101kPa. Typical σc
o

values for reaction turbines are shown below. If the choice is impulse turbines, assume that nozzle losses
2
may be approximated as 0.04Vj /2g and impulse turbine nozzle is installed 0.5 meters above the surface
of the lower reservoir. Frequency of electricity should be 60 hertz.

Francis Turbines Propeller turbines

ns 80 160 240 320 400 400 600 800
σc 0.025 0.10 0.23 0.40 0.64 0.43 0.73 1.5

2. For the following installations what type of turbine should be used? Explain why. What should be the
diameter of the turbine?

a) net head 1625 m, 18.65 MW @ 500 rpm.

b) 737 m net head, 48.5 MW @300 rpm.
c) net head 81 m, 146.5 MW, 128.6 rpm
d) 27m net head, 26,700 kW, 150 rpm
e) net head 454 m, 47,200 kW, 750 rpm

3. For a net head of 45 m, a hydroelectric plant is to produce 40 MW with a single turbine at an operating
speed of 100 rpm. A model turbine with an output of 40 kW is to be tested under similar conditions with a
head of 5 m. Calculate the model speed. Find the scale ratio. Estimate the volume flow rate through the
model. For the prototype, determine the type of turbine to be used and diameter of the turbine. Assume
efficiency of 80%

4. Two reservoirs have an elevation difference of 45 meters and are connected with a 0.3 m diameter pipe
20 m long with a friction factor of 0.025, entrance loss factor of 0.5 and exit loss factor of 0.5. The upper
reservoir is used to supply water to the lower reservoir through this pipeline. Draw the system curve for
this system and find the water flow rate if water from the upper reservoir water is allowed to flow freely
towards the lower reservoir. If the flow rate is to be increased by 80% above this flow (calculated above),
what should be the pump engine/motor power required for pumping if pump efficiency is 80%. If a pump
running at 1200 rpm is used, what type of pump should be used and the diameter?

Centrifugal pumps ns range 10 to 100 with max efficiency of 93% at ns of 50, φ of 1.1
Mixed flow pumps ns range 70 to 200 with max efficiency of 92% at ns of 120, φ of 1.3
Axial flow pumps ns range 200 to 300 with max efficiency at of 91% at ns of 245, φ of 2.2