ME401A

Francis turbine - lab report

Date of experiment: 9 th, september, 2019

Date of submission: 3 rd, october, 2019

Group: B4
Team Members: Raghib Imteyaz 160536
Praveen Pagidi 160510
Objective:
1. To understand how Francis Turbine efficiency varies with
load for a fixed guide vane position.
2. To understand how Francis Turbine efficiency alters with
guide vane position.

Apparatus required: ​Francis turbine setup, Tachometer,

Stopwatch

Theory:

The Francis turbine is a water turbine developed by James B.

Francis .1t is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines
radial and axial flow concepts. It converts potential energy of
water into mechanical energy which is used to generate power.
Advantage of Francis turbine is high speeds can be achieved
with low heads.

Figure 1 & 2 -
Schematic view
and velocity
diagram of
francis turbine
Francis turbine is a reaction turbine in which the working fluid
comes to the turbine under immense pressure and the energy
is extracted by the turbine blades from the working fluid. A part
of the fluid energy is converted to mechanical energy because
of pressure changes occurring in the blades of the turbine,
determined by the expression of Degree of reaction. The
remaining part of the energy is extracted by the volute casing
of the turbine.

The components of francis turbine are shown in the figure

below. The water enters radially through the stationary guide
vane and then exists axially after passing through the runner.

Experimental setup:
Spiral casing - ​The fluid enters from the penstock (pipeline
leading to the turbine from the reservoir at high altitude) to a
spiral casing which completely surrounds the runner. This
casing is known as scroll casing or volute. The cross-sectional
area of this casing decreases uniformly along the circumference
to keep the fluid velocity constant.

Guide vane - ​The basic purpose of the guide vane is to convert

a part of pressure energy of the fluid to the kinetic energy and
then to direct the fluid on to the runner blades at the angle
appropriate to the design. Moreover, they are pivoted and can
be turned by a suitable governing mechanism to regulate the
flow while the load changes.
Runner (Rotor with blade) - Runner blades are the heart of any
turbine.It consist moving blades on its periphery. During
operation, the fluid strikes on the blade and the tangential
force of the impact causes the shaft of the turbine to rotate,
producing torque. For a mixed flow type Francis Turbine, the
flow in the runner is not purely radial but a combination of
radial and axial. The flow is inward, i.e. from the periphery
towards the centre.

Procedure:
1. Start the main power supply for the setup and turn on the
pump.
2. The pump draws the water from the bottom tank and
which acts as input head to the turbine. Thus the water
flows through the turbine and shaft power is developed at
the output of the turbine.
3. Set the guide vane angle to particular degree and take the
reading.
4. Note down the input pressure and find the volumetric flow
rate by measuring the time taken to fill 10 liters of water.
The product of input pressure and volumetric flow rate
gives the input power.
5. Load is applied to the turbine shaft using a band brake.
The force is measured from the spring balance and
multiplied with the radius to get the torque.
6. The RPM of the shaft is measured using digital tachometer
which indicates the yd speed using the reflection from the
silver-strip on the output shaft. Therefore torque times
rotational speed gives the output power.
7. Efficiency of the turbine if found from input by output and
plot the performance curves. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for
different loads.
8. Repeat the entire procedure (from step 3-7) for three
different guide vane angle setting.
Observation: ​for vane position 1.
Vane position - 5​ ​deg
Pressure - 0.28 bar
Volume - 20L
Time - 32s

Reading T1 T2 Speed Force Torque Power Efficienc

No. (N) (N) (RPM) F(N) M (W) y
(N-m)
1 0 0 1235 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.4 1104 0.3 0.0075 0.867 4.95
3 0.2 0.6 1020 0.4 0.01 1.068 6.102
4 0.3 0.9 930 0.6 0.015 1.460 8.34
5 0.4 1.1 861 0.7 0.0175 1.577 9.011
6 0.5 1.4 690 0.9 0.0225 1.625 9.28
7 0.6 1.8 425 1.2 0.03 1.335 7.62
8 0.7 2.0 340 1.3 0.0325 1.15 6.57
9 0.8 2.2 279 1.4 0.035 1.022 5.84
10 0.9 2.5 232 1.6 0.04 0.971 5.54
11 1.0 2.7 188 1.7 0.0425 0.836 4.77
For vane position 2:
Vane position - 10​ ​deg
Pressure - 0.24 bar
Volume - 20L
Time - 29.81s
Reading T1 T2 Speed Force Torque Power Efficienc
No. (N) (N) (RPM) F(N) M (W) y
(N-m)
1 0 0 1560 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.5 1373 0.4 0.01 1.437 8.92
3 0.2 0.9 1240 0.7 0.0175 2.272 14.11
4 0.3 1.3 995 1.0 0.025 2.604 16.17
5 0.4 1.7 825 1.3 0.0325 2.80 17.39
6 0.5 2.1 650 1.6 0.04 2.722 16.90
7 0.6 2.4 270 1.8 0.045 1.272 7.90
8 0.7 2.5 245 1.8 0.045 1.154 7.16
9 0.8 2.7 205 1.9 0.0475 1.019 6.32
10 0.9 2.8 152 1.9 0.0475 0.750 4.65
For vane position 3:
Vane position - 15​ ​deg
Pressure - 0.22 bar
Volume - 20L
Time - 28.78s
Reading T1 T2 Speed Force Torque Power Efficienc
No. (N) (N) (RPM) F(N) M (W) y
(N-m)
1 0 0 1375 0 0 0 0
2 0.1 0.5 1210 0.4 0.01 1.267 8.33
3 0.2 0.7 1120 0.5 0.0125 1.466 9.64
4 0.3 1.0 1040 0.7 0.0175 1.906 12.54
5 0.4 1.5 830 1.1 0.0275 2.390 15.72
6 0.5 2.1 300 1.6 0.04 1.257 8.26
7 0.6 2.3 200 1.7 0.0425 0.890 5.85
8 0.7 2.5 155 1.8 0.045 0.730 4.80
Sample Calculation
For vane position 3 Data 5
1. Input Hydraulic power P hyd :
The hydraulic power is a function of volumetric flow rate and
head- P hyd = f (Q, H)
Thus the hydraulic power is given by,

P hyd = ​ρ .g.H.Q

The head can be written in terms of pressure and hence the

formula becomes,

P hyd = ( P.Q/1000) * 10^5 [W]

= 0.22*20*10^2/28.78 = 15.2 W

Where p is pressure at inlet in bar and Q (volume flow rate) in

l/min

2. Torque M at the Shaft:

Torque (M) = Force (F) * Lever arm radius

= 1.1 * 0.05/2 = 0.0275 Nm
Force (F) = (T 1 -T 2 ) [N]
= 1.5 - 0.4 = 1.1N
Where Lever arm D = 0.05 m
3. Power P av at the turbine shaft:

Power = Torque * angular velocity

Pav = M * 2πN/60 [W]

= 0.0275 * 2π*830/60
= 2.390 W

4.​ ​Efficiency:
η = shaft power/hydraulic power
= 2.390 / 15.2
= 15.72
Efficiency can be enhanced still further if allowance is made
from the outlet for the internal friction
torque of approximately 0.012 N-m.

Conclusion:
● From the observation table the efficiency increases
the turbine increases as speed decreases but after
reaching a certain peak value it decreases again, thus
the peak efficiency is obtained at somewhat in
between.
● In each case the maximum efficiency is obtained
around 800 rpm.
● The max efficiency is achieved in vane position 2
case which at 10 deg and at 0.24 bar pressure.