Experiment # 5

To study the working of radial flow reaction turbine.

Apparatus
Turbine source unit radial flow reaction turbine.

Sensors
Orifice pressure sensor
A differential pressure sensor assembly for measuring the pressure drop
across an orifice in a fluid flow passage at a location displaced from the
orifice and passage
Break force sensor
It is used to measure the break power of the turbine
Turbine speed sensor
A turbine speed sensor measures the rate of the flow of a substance
through a turbine flow meter. The substance can be liquid or gas. As the
substance flows through the flow meter, it turns a rotor with turbine blades.
The sensor will measure each of these blades to determine the flow rate.

Tubine pressure sensor

pressure sensors are for detecting and measuring dynamic pressure
phenomena in the presence of high static pressures.

Theory

Reaction turbine.
Types of reaction turbine
Axial flow
Radial flow
Mixed flow

Reaction turbine
In Reaction Turbines the rotation is mainly achieved by the reaction forces
created by by the acceleration of the water in the runner. The basic principle
is the same as a rotating lawn sprinkler in which water enters the arms of the
sprinkler at low velocity and leaves through the jets at high velocity. The
exact manner in which this acceleration is achieved in Turbines depends
upon the whether the runner is of the Propeller; Kaplan; Francis or Deriaz
type.

The great variety possible in the geometry of the runner, makes Reaction
Turbines suitable for a wide range of applications. In all types it is normal for
a fraction of the hydraulic pressure to be converted into velocity as it passes
through the inlet structure which consists of a spiral casing and a gate
apparatus leading to the runner. The power from the water (Pressure and
Velocity) is then converted into mechanical power in the runner. It is usual for
the exit pressure from the runner to be below atmospheric. This is achieved
by using a Draft Tube

Axial Flow Turbines:

The term "axial flow" indicates that the primary flow path through the
turbine is parallel to the turbine shaft with a small change in radius due to
increasing blade lengths along the flow path.

Axial Flow Reaction :Turbines are typically used for expanding

hydrocarbon gases or fluorinated refrigerants where a high molecular weight
results in a low enthalpy drop across the turbine. When air or steam is used,
the head drop across a single turbine is usually too high; therefore, multistage turbines can be used to reduce the head across each stage.
Additionally, the power and resulting flow rates should be high enough to
result in specific speed values of 60 or higher. Where specific speeds are low,
an Axial Flow Impulse Turbine may be better suited for the application.

Example
Kaplan Turbine
For the axial flow reaction turbine, the shaft of the turbine is vertical. The
lower end of the shaft is made larger which is known as hub or boss. The
vanes are fixed on the hub and hence hub acts as a runner for axial flow
reaction turbine. If the vanes on the hub are adjustable, the turbine is known
as Kaplan Turbine, after the name of V. Kaplan, an Australian engineer. If not,

the turbine is known as Propeller Turbine. This turbine is suitable where a

large quantity of water at low heads is available. Some important points for
Kaplan Turbine are as follows:
1. The peripheral velocity at inlet and outlet are equal.
2. Velocity of flow at inlet and outlet are equal.
3. Area of flow at inlet and outlet are equal.

Mixed Flow Turbines:

For most of the Hydraulic Turbines used there is a significant component of
both axial and radial flows. Such types of Hydraulic Turbines are called as
Mixed Flow Turbines. In this water enters along the axis of shaft and leaves
perpendicular to the axis of shaft.

Example
Francis Turbine is probably the most commonly used type of Turbine. It
can operate from very low heads of about 10 ft. up to about 2000 ft. Turbines
operating at these heads must have a large output since the low water

quantities and the size of the water passages within the runner make
construction difficult. At very low heads Propeller Turbines are usually a more
economic solution. .
Francis Turbine is an Inward Flow Reaction Turbine having Radial Discharge at
Outlet. (i.e. = 0). Modern Francis Turbine is a mixed flow type turbine (i.e.
Water enters the runner of the turbine in the radial direction and leaves the
runner in the axial direction).
Radial Flow Turbines are those turbines in which the water flows in the Radial
Direction. In Francis Turbine the water flows from outwards to inwards
through the runner (Inward Flow Radial Turbine). Reaction Turbine means
that the water at the inlet of the Turbine possesses Kinetic Energy as well as
Pressure Energy.
CONSTRUCTION: The main parts of Francis Turbine are:
CASING
The runner is completely enclosed in an air-tight spiral casing. The casing
and runner are always full of water.
GUIDE MECHANISM
It consists of a circular wheel all round the runner of the turbine. The
stationary guide vanes are fixed on the guide wheel. The guide vanes allow
the water to strike the vanes fixed on the runner without shock at inlet. Also
width between the two adjacent vanes can be altered so that amount of
water striking the runner can be varied.

RUNNER

It is a circular wheel on which a series of Radial Curved Vanes are fixed. The
vanes are so shaped that the water enters and leaves the runner with out
shock.
DRAFT TUBE
The pressure at the exit of the runner of Reaction Turbine is generally less
than atmospheric pressure. The water at exit cannot be directly discharged
to the tail race. A tube or pipe of gradually increasing area is used for
discharging water from the exit of turbine to the tail race. This tube of
increasing area is called Draft Tube. One end of the tube is connected to the
outlet of runner while the other end is sub-merged below the level of water
in the tail-race.

Advantages

It can be used for low heads

It can be used for high discharge

Large scale hydro sites make use of more sophisticated versions of the
propeller turbines. Varying the pitch of the propeller blades together
with wicket gate adjustment, enables reasonable efficiency to be
maintained under part flow conditions. Such turbines are known as
variable pitch or Kaplan turbines.

Disadvantages/limitations

It
It
It
It

is more expensive than impulse turbine

produces less power than impulse turbine
is more complex to make reaction turbine
has more chances of cavitation due to low pressure at the outlet

Procedure

First I set the apparatus(Turbine service unit, Turbine source

unit radial flow reaction turbine.)
I switch on the apparatus and press Go button to obtain
readings.
I press stop button and noted the readings which was
obtained on Turbine service unit
I noted different readings by varying load.
Then I made observations and write comments.

Comments

General observation
In this experiment we have observed that as we reaction turbine
produces less power than impulse turbine but as it always run full and
can operate at high head and low discharge,reaction turbines has great
use in dams.As varying the load it efficiency increases.
Industrial perspectives
Kaplan turbines are widely used throughout the world for electrical
power production. They cover the lowest head hydro sites and are
especially suited for high flow conditions.
Most of turbines used in dams are reaction turbines because of low
head
The most common application for the Radial Inflow Turbine is the
exhaust driven turbocharger used on internal combustion engines.
Millions of these units are used in automobiles, aircraft, and industrial
engines. Other applications include power generation by gas turbines
or by expanding organic fluids in a Rankine cycle. Finally, Radial Inflow
Turbines are also used in process plants to recover heavy hydrocarbons
from gas streams.
Research aspects.
This article describes the design of a simple reaction turbine operating
on saturated low pressure steam that could be generated by a solar

boiler. The turbine was developed primarily to obtain a small power

unit for irrigation purfoses. Tests were therefore performed with the
combination of turbine and a centrifugal pump. Horsepower curves and
rotational loss curves are shown, and a comparison with five other
small prime movers of varied design is also presented