TURBINE
A hydraulic Turbine is a device that converts the energy in a stream of fluid into mechanical
energy by passing the extreme through a system of fixed and moving blades and causing the
wheel to rotate. According to the type of energy at Inlet turbines are classified into impulse and
reaction turbine.
Impulse turbine
Impulse turbines change the direction of fluid flow or gas jet at high velocities. The resulting
impulse rotates the turbine, the kinetic energy of fluid flow reduces, and then it leaves the
turbine. In the turbine moving blades, there is no pressure change of the fluid (liquid or gas). In a
steam or gas turbine, all the pressure reduction occurs in the stationary blades (the nozzles).
Before reaching the turbine, the change in pressure head of the fluid to velocity head takes place
by accelerating the fluid with a nozzle. Impulse turbines do not need a pressure chamber around
the rotor because the nozzle generates the fluid jet before it reaches the rotor blades. Impulse
turbines are most efficient for use with low flow and high inlet pressure.
Reaction turbine
Reaction turbines generate torque by reacting to the pressure or mass of the gas or fluid. The gas
or fluid pressure changes passing through the turbine rotor blades. The casing holds and guides
the working fluid and, for hydraulic turbines, maintains the suction transmitted by the draft tube..
For compressible working fluids, several stages of the turbine are often used to control the
expanding gas effectively. Reaction turbines are better fitted to higher flow rates or cases where
the upstream fluid head (pressure) is low.
Selection of Turbine
The turbine is always selected to match the specific conditions under which it has to operate and
attain the maximum possible efficiency.
Factors affecting selection of turbine
❏ Head
❏ Specific speed
❏ Rotational speed
❏ Efficiency
❏ Cavitation
❏ Part load operation
❏ Disposition of turbine shaft
Head
The gross head is the vertical distance between upper to lower surface water levels. The
hydraulic turbine selected should be decided based on the head, and for different head ranges
different turbines are suitable. Heads are divided into five types and suitable turbines for them
are given in the table below.
Head Range in
Head Suitable turbine Notes
meters
Kaplan turbines are
also suitable but
Very low head 3 - 10 Bulb turbine
uneconomical for
very low heads
Propeller turbines
are also suitable up
Low head 10 - 60 Kaplan Turbine to 15m head but
there should not be
load variations.
Medium head 60 - 150 Francis turbine -
One of them is
Pelton or Francis
High head 150 - 350 decided based on the
turbine
specific speed.
Very high head >350 Pelton turbine -
Specific speed
Specific speed the speed of a geometrically similar turbine that would produce unit power under
unit head at maximum [Link] Specific speed is high for turbines which works under high
heads and low flow rate. Similarly, specific speed is low for a turbine which works under the low
head and high flow rate. When the specific speed of the selected turbine is not up to the required
range, then the rotational speed of turbine reduces thus the capacity of plant reduces. However,
medium-specific speed turbines such as Francis turbines can generate high rotational speed.
NS = (N√P )/H 5/4
❏ N - normal working speed in rpm
❏ P - power output of the turbine
❏ H - net or effective heads in meters
Type of Turbine Specific speed range
Pelton turbine 10 - 70
Francis turbine 80 - 400
Kaplan turbine 300 - 1000
Bulb turbine 1000 - 1200
Rotational speed
The rotational speed of the turbine depends upon the specific speed of the turbine, frequency and
number of pair of poles in the electric generator. So, the specific speed of the selected turbine
should produce the same amount of rotation speed of the generator.
Efficiency of turbine
The efficiency of the turbine selected should be as high as possible and it is considered for
various working conditions of turbines. Different turbines in decreasing order of their overall
efficiency are as follows :
Efficiency of turbines = Francis Turbine > Kaplan Turbine > Pelton Turbine
Cavitation
Cavitation mainly occurs in the case of reaction type turbines. So, while selecting the turbine,
cavitation factor should be determined for that particular turbine to check whether it is in a safe
zone or not. Cavitation factor depends upon the specific speed of the turbine. It is important,
especially in the case of Kaplan, propeller and bulb type turbines.
Disposition of turbine shaft
Based on the previous experiences, it is recommended that the horizontal shaft arrangement is
best suitable for large size impulse turbines such as Pelton turbine etc. Similarly in case of large
size reaction turbines such as the Kaplan turbine, Deriaz turbine etc. vertical shaft arrangement is
recommended.
Part-load operation
In general, the efficiency of the turbine is maximum when it is running with a designed load
condition. When the part-load or overload condition arises the efficiency reduces which is
uneconomical. In that case, Deriaz turbine or Kaplan turbine is recommended.