SANJANA RAJAGOPALAN

2K11/ME/129
DRAFT TUBE- ABOUT
 The draft tube is a pipe of gradually increasing area,
which connects the outlet of the runner to the tailrace.

 It is used for discharging water from the exit of the

turbine to the tail race. This pipe of gradually increasing
area is called a draft tube.

 One end of the draft tube is connected to the outlet of

the runner while the other end is submerged below the
level of water in the tail race.
FUNCTIONS
 The draft tube, in addition to serve a passage for water
discharge, has the following two purposes also:

1. It permits a negative head to be established at the

outlet of the runner and thereby increase the net head on
turbine.

2. It converts a large proportion of the kinetic energy

rejected at the outlet of the turbine into useful pressure
energy.
 Draft tube helps to convert the exit velocity head into
pressure or potential head. The energy recovered in the
draft tube is large enough in high speed turbines.
Especially, for mixed flow turbines, this exit energy at
rotor outlet varies from 4 to 25 % and for axial flow
turbines from 20 to 50% of the total available energy. This
unused energy can be extracted by the draft tube.
 At rated load, the velocity at the upstream end of the
tube for modern units ranges from 7-9m/s representing
2.7-4.8m head. As the specific speed is increased and the
head reduced, it becomes increasingly important to have
an efficient draft tube. Good practice limits the velocity at
the discharge end of the tube from 1.5-2.1 m/s,
representing less than 0.3m velocity head loss.
 DRAFT TUBE THEORY
To determine the limiting
height of a draft tube by
which a turbine can be
set above the
tailrace level,
Bernoulli’s equation may
be applied between the
bottom of the runner
which is also the top
of the draft tube and
the tailrace water
level.
 Applying Bernoulli’s equation between points (2) and (4) as
shown in the Figure above and neglecting the losses in the
draft tube, we have,
where, hs= static suction head
= height of the runner outlet above the tail race level;
2 2
and V2 - V4 = dynamic pressure head.
2g
To reduce the exit loss as much as possible and to avoid
tailrace erosion, modern designs limit the velocity at draft
tube exit to 1.5 m/s to 1.8 m/s.
The efficiency of the draft tube is given by:
 Where V2 = velocity at exit of the runner
V4 = Velocity at the tail race
hfdt = loss of head in the draft tube
TYPES OF DRAFT TUBE
 Conical diffuser or straight divergent tube- This type of draft
tube consists of a conical diffuser with half angle generally less
than equal to 10° to prevent flow separation. It is usually
employed for low specific speed, vertical shaft Francis turbine.
Efficiency of this type of draft tube is 90%
 Simple elbow type draft Tube- It consists of an extended elbow
type tube. Generally, used when turbine has to be placed close
to the tail-race. It helps to cut down the cost of excavation and
the exit diameter should be as large as possible to recover
kinetic energy at the outlet of runner. Efficiency of this kind of
draft tube is less almost 60%
 Elbow with varying cross section-It is similar to the Bent Draft
tube except the bent part is of varying cross section with
rectangular outlet. The horizontal portion of draft tube is
generally inclined upwards to prevent entry of air from the exit
end
WHAT DOES GOVERNING MEAN AND WHY
DO WE NEED IT?
 Governing basically means speed regulation.
 Governing of turbine is necessary as a turbine is directly
coupled to an electric generator, which is required to run
at constant speed under all fluctuating load conditions.
 This is achieved by means of a governor called oil
pressure governor.
GOVERNING OF IMPULSE TURBINES
 The following 3 methods can be used to regulate the
water rejected from the nozzle and strike the jet:

1.Spear regulation
2. Deflector regulation
3. Combined spear and deflector regulation
Spear regulation
 In this method, the rate of flow is regulated by altering
the cross sectional area of stream by moving the spear to
and from the nozzle.
 This method of speed regulation is suitable when the
fluctuation of load is small and a relatively large penstock
feeds a small turbine.
 The disadvantage of this method is that when the load
falls all of a sudden, the turbine nozzle has to close
suddenly which may cause water hammer in the
penstock.
Deflector regulation
 The deflector is generally a plate connected to the oil
pressure governor by means of levers.
 When the necessity arises, the deflector can be brought
in front of the nozzle and buckets, thereby diverting
water away from the runner to the tail race.
 The use of deflector regulation is restored to when the
supply of water is constant but the load fluctuates.
 As the nozzle always has a constant opening, it results in
wastage of water and be employed only when there is an
abundant water supply.
Combined spear and deflector regulation
 To encounter disadvantages, modern day turbine suse a
combination of both a deflector and a spear where the
spear regulates the speed and the deflector regulates the
pressure.
 When the load on the turbine falls, the movement of the
governor is transmitted to a control valve which admits
oil under pressure to a servomotor.
 The movement of the servomotor pushes the nozzle to a
position which increases the annular area of the nozzle
flow passage and vice-versa when the flow decreases.
GOVERNING OF REACTION TURBINES
 In reaction turbines the discharge is controlled by varying
the area of flow between adjacent guide vanes.

 The guide vanes are connected to the regulating ring

through links. The regulating ring is connected to the
regulating lever through regulating rods.

 The regulating ring is thus connected to the regulating

shaft which is operated by the servomotor.
 The servomotor oil pump control valve and system of
pipes etc. are similar to that in the governing
arrangement of an impulse turbine. The component parts
are, however, stronger as the greater energy is required
to move the gates as compared to the spear in the nozzle
of a Pelton turbine.