IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST

BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL.

Department of Civil Engineering,
U.E.T Peshawar
Hydropower Development Lecture # 6

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 1/20/2024 3

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Classification of Turbines Based on

Head and Discharge:
Head:
 Low head, 1.5-15m, reaction-Propeller

 Medium head, 16-70m, reaction-Kaplan

 High head, 71-500m, reaction- Francis

 Very high head, >500m, Impulse-Pelton

Discharge:
 Low discharge, Impulse- Pelton

 Intermediate discharge, Reaction-Francis

 High discharge, Reaction-Kaplan

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 4
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Turbine selection criteria

 Annual energy output of the plant .

 Least cost of that energy as per type of Hydropower Plant

 Annual energy ( E ) output

 Expressed mathematically as

E = F(h, q, TW, d, n, Hs, Pmax)

Where
h = net effective head; q = plant discharge capacity;
TW = tail water elevation; d = diameter of runner;
n = generator speed;
Hs = turbine setting elevation above tail water
Pmax = maximum output expected or desired at plant.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 5
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Selection of Turbine generally based on:

 Available head

 Available discharge

 Power demand fluctuation

 Cost of the turbine.

 Important Features to select a turbine

 Rotational Speed – Generator;

 Specific Speed;
 Maximum Efficiency;
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 6
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Rotational speed
 Rated speed of the turbine is the same as that of
the generator as the turbine and generator are fixed
to each other.
 The power is generated by the generator at
constant voltage and frequency therefore, it has to
operate at its synchronous speed (rotational
speed).

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf 7
Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T
Turbines Lecture # 6

 The synchronous speed of a generator is given

by

 Where: N is the speed in rpm;

 f = frequency of the generator (usually 50 hz or
60 hz),
 p- number of pair of poles of the generator.
 As f and p are constants thus N is constant.

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Turbines Lecture # 6

 In high speed turbines there is danger of cavitation.

 Also greater centrifugal forces acting on the turbine

parts causes Creep and require strong
construction.

 By adopting higher rotational speed the overall cost

of the plant reduces as smaller turbine and smaller
generator are required to generate the same power.

 The construction cost of the power house also

reduces.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 9
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Creep Failure

Creep and Creep Failure Creep Deformation

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 10

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Speed factor, .

v = peripheral speed of the bucket or vanes.

D= at the nominal diameter.
V= the theoretical velocity of water =√2gH
H = effective head acting on the turbine
N = Speed in rpm.
 = angular velocity.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 11
Turbines Lecture # 6

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 12

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Cavitation
 Pressure in any part of the turbine may sometimes reach
vapour pressure.

 When such a stage is reached, water boils and small

bubbles of vapour form in large numbers.

 These vapour filled cavities are carried along by the flow

and as they are carried to a region of high pressure,
bubbles suddenly collapse.

 Due to this sudden collapse of bubbles, surrounding liquid

rushes into the zone to fill it up.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 13
Turbines Lecture # 6

 The liquid coming in from all directions collides at the

centre of the cavity thus giving rise to very high local
pressure.

 The solid surface in the vicinity is also subjected to these

high pressures.

 Alternate formation and collapse of vapour bubbles may

cause severe damage to the surface which eventually
fails by fatigue and the surface becomes badly scoured
and pitted.

 This phenomenon is called cavitation.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 14
Turbines Lecture # 6

Turbine Cavitation

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Turbines Lecture # 6

 In a reaction turbine, pressure at runner exit or inlet to

draft tube may be reduced considerably.

 Thus there is every likelihood of cavitation occurring in

this zone.

 Due to this cavitation metal at the runner exit and inlet of

draft tube may be eaten gradually, which results in the
lowering of the turbine efficiency.

 Therefore the components of the turbine are so designed

to eliminate cavitation as far as possible.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 16

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Thoma’s cavitation factor σ which is expressed as:

Ha  Hv  Hs

H
 Where Ha, Hv, Hs and H are the atmospheric, vapour,
suction and working head respectively.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 17

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Critical Thoma cavitation factor σc can be calculated as

 For Francis Turbine

2
 Ns 
 c  0.625 8
  43110 N s
2

 380.78 

 For propeller turbines

 1  Ns  3

 c  0.28     
 7.5  380.78  
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 18
Turbines Lecture # 6

 To avoid cavitation, the value of σ must not fall below the

value given by σc

 Also the pressure of water at any point of the turbine

should not fall below the vapour pressure 2.6 m of water.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 19

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Specific Speed
 It is defined as the speed of turbine which develops a
unit power when working under a unit head.

 It is used to compare different types of turbines which are

identical in shape, geometrical dimensions, blade angles
and gate opening etc.

 An expression for determining the specific speed Ns of

the turbine is therefore needed.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 20
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Using the expression for overall efficiency given

by
o  shaft power/water power

P w
o   P  o QH  P  QH
wQH 1000
1000
Where P = Power, w = specific weight , Q = the rate of flow and
H = head of water
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 21
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Also H 3/ 2
P 2 H
N
Where N is the turbine rotation
H 5/ 2
P 2 and H is the Head of water
N
H 5/ 2 C is the Turbine power constant
PC 2
N

 When P=1kW; H=1m; then by definition N=Ns therefore

13 / 2
1  C 2  C  N s2
Ns
5/ 2
 So H
P  N s2
N2
N P
N s  5/ 4 Ns is the Specific Speed of Turbine
H
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf 22
Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T
Turbines Lecture # 6

5/ 2
H
P  Ns
2

N2 H
H

N P
N s  5/ 4 H
H H

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 23

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Meaning of specific speed

 Any turbine, with identical geometric proportions, even if

the sizes are different, will have the same specific speed.

 If the model had been refined to get the optimum hydraulic

efficiency, all turbines with the same specific speed will
also have an optimum efficiency.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 24

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Suppose generator of a given power runs at 120 rpm or at 800

rpm and say available head is 200 meters, if the power
developed in a single unit at 120 rpm is 60000 kW the required
specific speed of the runner will be 39.08 rpm.

 Now if the same power is developed at 800 rpm in two runners,

the required specific speed of the runner will be 260.54 rpm.

 This shows that the required power can be developed either with
one impulse turbine (Pelton) or two reaction turbines (Francis).

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 25

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Maximum Efficiency
 The maximum efficiency the turbine can develop
depends upon the type of the runner used.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 26

Turbines Lecture # 6

 The low specific speed of reaction turbine is also not

conducive to efficiency.

 The large dimensions of the wheel at low specific

speed contribute disc friction losses.

 The leakage loss is more as the leakage area

through the clearance spaces becomes greater and
the hydraulic friction through small bracket passages
is larger.

 These factors tend to reduce the efficiency as small

values of specific speed are approached.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 27
Turbines Lecture # 6

 In most hydropower design problems, one would

typically know beforehand the available head H
and the total available flow-rate Q.

 Then the power P produced by the turbine,

assuming an efficiency of 100% and no head
losses, could be estimated from above equation

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf 28
Turbines Lecture # 6

 The given graph can be used then in conjunction with the head H
and the estimated power P, to predict the related rotational speeds
of Pelton, Francis, and Kaplan turbines operating at their
maximum efficiency, i.e.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 29

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Procedure in preliminary selection of Turbines

γ = specific weight

,  = speed factor

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 30

Turbines Lecture # 6

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 31

Turbines Lecture # 6

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 32

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Characteristic Curves/ Performance Curves

 Turbine are normally designed to work for particular values of
Q, H, N, P and  o

 But often they are also required to work under varying

conditions other than the designed conditions.

 So it becomes essential to determine the exact behaviour of the

turbines under varying conditions by carrying out tests either
on actual turbines or models.

 The results of these test are usually represented graphically.

 The resulting curves are known as characteristic curves.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 33
Turbines Lecture # 6

 The curves are normally plotted in terms of unit

quantities like Nu, Qu , Pu etc.

 Characteristic curves are normally of three types

and are given as

 Constant head or main characteristic curves

 Constant speed or operating characteristic curves

 Constant efficiency curves

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 34

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Constant head or main characteristic curves

 These are obtained by maintaining constant head
and constant gate opening on the turbine.

 Keeping H and the gate opening constant, the

speed is varied by changing the load.

 For each value of speed, corresponding values of P,

Q and  o are determined.

 Unit quantities Nu, Qu , Pu are calculated.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 35

Turbines
.
Lecture # 6

 Unit speed Nu is defined as the speed of the

turbine working under unit head (1m).

 We known that u is the velocity of movement of runner’s blade

and V is velocity of water

u V
V H
u H
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 36
Turbines Lecture # 6

DN
We know that u
60
 D is constant

uN
N u
N  H ;N  C H

H  1m; N  Nu
Nu  C H C  Nu

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 37

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Unit discharge Qu is defined as the discharge passing

through a turbine which is working under a unit head of
1m.
N  Nu H
Q  V ;V  H
N
Q  H ;Q  C H Nu 
H

 When H=1m;
Qu  C1 1
C1  Qu  Q  Qu H
Q
Qu 
H

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 38

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Unit power (Pu) is defined as the power developed by a

turbine working under a unit head.

 o  power developed /water power

P wQH
o   P  o
wQH 1000
1000
P  Q H
but
Q H
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 39
Turbines Lecture # 6

PH 3/ 2

P  C2 H 3/ 2

when
H  1m; P  Pu  C2 (1) 3/ 2

C2  Pu
P
P  Pu H 3/ 2
 Pu  3 / 2
H
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 40
Turbines Lecture # 6

 Performance or behaviour of turbines working under various

heads can easily be known from the previous relations.

 If H1, H2, H3, …are the heads under which the turbine works,
N1, N2, N3 , … are the corresponding speeds and Q1, Q2, Q3 ,…
and P1, P2, P3 ,… are the discharges and powers respectively
then

N1 N2 N3 Q1 Q2 Q3
Nu    Qu   
H1 H2 H3 H1 H2 H3

P1 P2 P3
Pu  3 / 2  3 / 2  3 / 2
H1 H2 H3

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 41

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Again for constant head, gate openings are

changed in steps from full gate to three fourth, half
gate and one fourth gate opening and for each
opening, the corresponding values of Nu, Qu , Pu
and  o are determined and Qu , Pu and  o are plotted
against Nu.

 Main characteristic curves for a Pelton wheel turbine

are shown in the next slide.

 Curves are more or less similar for other turbines as

well.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 42
Turbines Lecture # 6

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 43

Turbines Lecture # 6

Constant Speed Characteristic Curves

 These constant speed operating curves are plotted
keeping speed N and H constant.

 Variations of Q with respect to P and o are

plotted as shown.

 The power and efficiency curves show that a

certain amount of discharge is required initially to
overcome friction and then it starts producing P
and efficiency starts declining at some stage of
increasing discharge.
Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 44
Turbines Lecture # 6

Constant speed characteristic curves

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 45

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Constant efficiency curves

 Keeping H constant at
different gat openings,
these curves are
obtained by plotting N vs
Q, N vs o

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 46

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Determination of number of units

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 47

Turbines Lecture # 6

 Example 1 : A turbine operates under a head of 30m at

300 rpm. The discharge is 10 cumecs. If the overall
efficiency is 90%, determine the specific speed, power
generated and the type of turbine.

Solution:
H  30m; N  300rpm; Q  10m / s;o  90%  0.93

P g 0.9(1000)9.81(10)30
o   P  o QH 
wQH 1000 1000
1000
P  2648.7kW.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 48

Turbines Lecture # 6

N P 300 2648.7
Ns  5/ 4  5/ 4
 219.9rpm
H 30

 Since the range of specific speed for Francis

reaction turbine is from 51 to 255, therefore this
is a Francis reaction turbine.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 49

Turbines Lecture # 6

Example 2: A turbine is to operate under a head of 25 m

at 200 rpm. The discharge is 9 m3/s. If the efficiency is
90% determine the power generated; specific speed of the
turbine and type of the turbine.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 50

Turbines Lecture # 6

Example 3: What type of turbine would be used if the

discharge is of 0.283 m3/s with a head of 75m? Assume an
efficiency of 80% and rotational speed of 600rpm

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 51

Turbines Lecture # 6

Example 4: In a hydropower station, water is available at a

rate of 175 m3/s under a head of 18 m. The turbines run at a
speed of 150 rpm with overall efficiency of 82%. Find the
number of turbines required if they have the maximum
specific speed of 460.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 52

Turbines Lecture # 6

Example 5: A turbine develops 8000 kW power from

water under a head of 25m, at 90 rpm. If the head on the
turbine is reduced to 15m, determine the speed and power
developed by the turbine.

Dr. Ateeq-ur-Rauf Department of Civil Engineering U.E.T 53

THE END