Experiment #2

PERFORMANCE TEST OF KAPLAN TURBINE

I.

EXPERIMENT OBJECTIVES

II.

To be able to gather data such as vane setting, speed, head, flow rate, shaft power,
water power and efficiency of the turbine through conducting performance test on the
USC-ME Kaplan Turbine.
To be able to determine how the variation of the vane angle settings affect the
efficiency of the Kaplan Turbine.
To be able to determine the relationship between power output and vane angle setting,
speed and vane angle setting and efficiency and vane angle setting by plotting each
performance characteristic curves.
THEORY
In an axial flow reaction turbine, also known as Kaplan turbine, the flow of water
is parallel to the shaft. It was designed by an Australian Engineer Viktor Kaplan.
A Kaplan turbine is used where a large quantity of water is available at low
heads and hence the blades must be long and have large chords so that they are
strong enough to transmit the very high torque that arises. Since the turbine is an
inward flow reaction turbine, it means that the working fluid changes pressure as it
moves through the turbine and gives up its energy.
The turbine blade runner resembles that of the propeller of a ship. It generally has
a number of blades between 3-8 blades to reduce the frictional resistance to water.
The blades can be adjusted to adjust the passage area of the two blades.

The Kaplan turbine is a reaction turbine that converts energy from water to mechanical
energy. It is one of the types of axial flow turbine. Usually, it has 4 to 6 blades having no outside
rim. It is also known as variable pitch propeller turbine. The Kaplan turbine behaves as a
propeller turbine at full load conditions. In Kaplan turbine, runner blades are adjustable and can
be rotated about pivots fixed to the boss of the runner. The blades are adjusted automatically by
servo mechanism so that at all loads the flow enters them without shock. Thus, a high efficiency
is maintained even at part load.
Kaplan turbine can be regarded as a further development from the propeller turbine. The
main difference between these two turbines types are the adjustable runner vanes in the Kaplan
type. This allows the Kaplan turbine to run with good efficiencies in a broad spectre of volume
flows and pressure head. The main reason for this is the great adjustment possibilities which
exist when both the guide vanes and runner vanes are adjustable, is the possibility to always find
the optimal combination of guide vane and runner vane angles. This gives a very flat efficiency
curve, making a Kaplan turbine well suitable for varying load.

The Kaplan turbine consists mainly of a spiral casing with sporting legs, an outer bearing
pedestal, and rotor assembly with adjustable bladed runner, shaft and brake drum and brake
arrangement all mounted on a suitable cast iron base plate. A straight conical draft tube is
provided with a draught bend immediately after the runner, for the purpose of regaining the
kinetic energy from the exit water and also facilitating easy accessibility of the turbine due to its
location at a higher level than the tail race. (The operation of regaining the kinetic energy from
the exit water by some means of draught tube assumes great importance in high specific speed
hydraulic turbines, as the absolute velocity of water leaving the runner in high}. A transparent
hollow Perspex cylinder is provided in between the draught bend and the casing for observation
of flow behind the runner. A rope brake arrangement is provided to load the turbine. The output
of the turbine can be controlled by adjusting the guide vanes, for which purpose suitable control
mechanisms are provided. The net supply head on the turbine is measured by a pressure gauge
and speedometer for speed measurement.
Theory
In a Kaplan turbine, the water enters a spiral volute chamber and then flows radially
through stationary pivoted guide vanes which can be adjusted. It is then turned into the axial
direction before passing through the runner, which is similar to a propeller; the water enters the
wheel under pressure and flows over the vanes. As the water, flowing over the vanes is under
pressure; therefore the wheel of the turbine runs full and discharges in to the atmosphere. The
pressure head of the water, while flowing over the vanes, is converted into velocity head, and is
finally reduced to the atmospheric pressure before leaving the wheel.
Its runner is enclosed in a chamber which is completely filled with water under high
hydrostatic pressure. The arrangement of the Kaplan turbine in the ME Lab is shown Fig. 1.
Water is supplied to the turbine from a reservoir by the centrifugal pump, and then via a draft
tube, to a tail race. The pressure of the water drops from inlet to exit as it flows through the
runner. Guide vanes are installed on the periphery of the runner to ensure that the flow gives the
greatest efficiency.
For the existing experimental set-up in the Hydraulic Laboratory, base on figure 2, the
energy balance base on Bernoullis equation, which is derived from the principle of conservation
of energy, will be,

P1 V12
P V2

z1 H p 2 2 z 2 H t H L
2g
2g

Eqn. 1

Figure 1. Kaplan Turbine Experimental Set-up

Point 2

Point 1

Figure 2. Centrifugal and Kaplan Set-up

Bernoullis theorem states that the total energy of all points along a steady continuous
stream line of an ideal incompressible fluid flow is constant although its division between the
forms of energy may vary and it is written as Equation 1. The term z, is referred to as the
potential head of the liquid which is the potential energy per unit weight of fluid with respect to
an arbitrary datum of the fluid The term P/, is referred to as the pressure head which is the
pressure energy per unit weight of fluid. It represents the work done in pushing a body of fluid
by fluid pressure. The term v2/2g, is referred to as the velocity head which is the kinetic energy
per unit weight of fluid. Hp is the pump head, Ht is the turbine head and HL is the head loss. The
pump head is the useful head delivered to the fluid by the pump. The turbine head is the
extracted head removed from the fluid by the turbine. The head losses are the irreversible losses

between points 1 and 2 in the system due to all components of the piping system other than the
pump or turbine.
The general form of the Bernoullis equation does not contain H p, Ht and HL, this is
because in the general form it has been assumed that no energy has been supplied to or taken
from the fluid between points 1 and 2. Energy could have been supplied by introducing a pump;
equally, energy could have been lost by doing work against friction or in a machine such as a
turbine. Bernoullis equation can be expanded to include these conditions, which results to
Equation 1 base on the set-up we have in the ME Hydraulic Lab, shown in figure 1.
Now, since the experiment focuses on the performance test of the Kaplan Turbine, we can
simplify our energy balance by making our analysis only along the Kaplan Turbine, taking point
1 at the pressure gage before the Kaplan turbine and point 2 at the discharge, shown in figure 3,

Point 1

Point 2

Figure 3

Hence, the resulting equation will give us the energy balance,

P1 V12
P2 V22

z1

z2 H t
2g
2g

Eq. 2

Note that pump head is omitted, since the pump is not considered in the system where the
energy balanced is based on. Moreover, the head losses only takes into account the irreversible
losses in the pipes which are ignored here since the pipe length from point 1 base on figure can
be considered to be small so HL is also omitted.
The average flow velocity Vavg was defined such that the relation VavgA gives the actual
mass flow rate. Therefore, there is no such thing as a correction factor for mass flow rate.
However, as Gaspard Coriolis (17921843) showed, the kinetic energy of a fluid stream obtained
from V2/2 is not the same as the actual kinetic energy of the fluid stream since the square of a
sum is not equal to the sum of the squares of its components .This error can be corrected by
replacing the kinetic energy terms V2/2 in the energy equation by Vavg2 /2, where is the kinetic
energy correction factor. By using equations for the variation of velocity with the radial
distance, it can be shown that the correction factor is 2.0 for fully developed laminar pipe flow,
and it ranges between 1.04 and 1.11 for fully developed turbulent flow in a round pipe.
The kinetic energy correction factors are often ignored (i.e., a is set equal to 1) in an
elementary analysis since (1) most flows encountered in practice are turbulent, for which the
correction factor is near unity, and (2) the kinetic energy terms are often small relative to the
other terms in the energy equation, and multiplying them by a factor less than 2.0 does not make
much difference. When the velocity and thus the kinetic energy are high, the flow turns turbulent,
and a unity correction factor is more appropriate. However, you should keep in mind that you
may encounter some situations for which these factors are significant, especially when the flow
is laminar. But in this experiment base on the ME Hydraulic lab Set-up we can see that the flow
is turbulent due to high velocity, we can even see a leak gushing near the water column, so we
can conclude that the pipe flow is turbulent.
If the flow at an inlet or outlet is fully developed turbulent pipe flow, it is recommend
using = 1.05 as a reasonable estimate of the correction factor. This leads to a more conservative
estimate of head loss, and it does not take much additional effort to include in the equations.
Also this will give us simplicity. Hence, the resulting equation from Eqn.2 ,taking into account
the kinetic energy correction factor, will give us,

P1
V12
P2
V22
1
z1
2
z2 H t

2g

2g
We can then manipulate the equation to give us,

Eqn. 3

H total

P1 P2
V12 V22

1
z1 z 2 H t

2g

Eqn. 4

Now, base on the figure, since We take point 2 to be at the free surface of water in the
tailrace reservoir so V12 >> V22 thus V2 = 0 compared to V1 (the tailrace reservoir is very large
compared to the outlet), z2 = 0 (we take the reference level at the free surface of the water). Also,
P2 = Patm (water discharges into the atmosphere) hence P2 =0. For flow along a streamline from
1 to 2, the equation simplifies to,

H total

P1
V2
1 1 z1 H t

2g

Eqn. 5

The elevation head here is due to the draft tube. Draft tube is a diffuser tube installed at
the exit of the runner. A draft tube is installed since the available head is low and if turbine is
installed above the tail race, there can be appreciable loss in available head. By placing a
diffusing pipe at the exit of the runner, both, overall efficiency and output of the turbine can be
improved. The Draft tube gives an advantage of placing the turbine above the tail race so that
any required inspections can be made easily. Moreover, it also converts the wasteful kinetic
energy at the exit of the runner into the useful pressure energy. In the ME- Hydraulic Lab, it uses
the elbow type draft tube which has a circular cross-section at the inlet and a rectangular section
at the outlet. This is show in the figure 4.

Draft Tube

Figure 4. Draft Tube

The draft tube is generally drowned approximately 1m below the tail race level. But in the case
of the ME-Hydraulic Lab Kaplan Turbine Set-up, the measurement of the draft tube from the
turbine runner outlet to the draft tube outlet is approximately 1.1m , but this value is not z 1 ,since
z1 is measured from the free surface of the tailrace to the turbine runner outlet and since the
level of the tail race varies during the experiment.
The velocity of the flow of water can be determined since the volume flow rate is equal at
inlet and outlet. This is base on the continuity equation which applies the principle of
conservation of mass to fluid flow. The conservation of mass principle for a control volume can
be expressed as: The net mass transfer to or from a control volume (CV) during a time interval t
is equal to the net change (increase or decrease) of the total mass within the control volume
during t. That is,
(Total mass entering the CV during t)-(Total mass leaving the CV during t)=(Net change of
mass during t)
This can be expressed as,

min mout mcv

Eqn. 6

where equation 6 is the change in the mass in control volume during the process. This equation
can also be expressed in rate form as,
in m
out
m

dm cv
dt

Eqn. 7

m in m out
where
are the total rates of mass flow into and out of the control volume, and
dmCV/dt is the rate of change of mass within the control volume boundaries. Equations 5 and 6
are often referred to as the mass balance and are applicable to any control volume undergoing
any kind of process.
For the system we considered in Kaplan Turbine Set-up in ME- Hydraulic, shown in
figure, we can consider it as Steady-Flow Process, During a steady-flow process, the total
amount of mass contained within a control volume does not change with time (mCV = constant).
Then the conservation of mass principle requires that the total amount of mass entering a control
volume equal the total amount of mass leaving it shown in figure 5 . When dealing with steadyflow processes, we are not interested in the amount of mass that flows in or out of a device over
time; instead, we are interested in the amount of mass flowing per unit time, that is, the mass
flow rate . The conservation of mass principle for a general steady-flow system with single
inlets and outlets, which is the same with the Kaplan Turbine Set-up, is expressed in rate form as,

min

mout

Figure 5

in m
out
m
since,

m Av Q

Eqn. 8

Eqn. 9

Substituting equation 8 to equation 7 will give us,

1 A1v1 2 A2 v2

Eqn. 10
For water, being and incompressible fluid, then,
1 2
Eqn. 11
And equation will simplify to,

Q A1v1 A2 v2

Eqn. 12

which is the continuity equation.

For the Kaplan Turbine in the ME-Hydraulic Lab, we used a v-notch weir and the
rectangular to get the volume flow rate of water. Figure 6 and 7 show the v-notch weir and figure
8 shows the rectangular weir. Weirs are overflow structures built across open channels to
measure the volumetric rate of water flow. The name "V Notch" really explains itself. As you can
see from the figure it is just a mild steel plate that has had a V cut into it. The plate is then put
across an open flow of water, making the water flow up and over or through the notch in the
metal. The V Notch or Weird Board is very good for measuring a low flow rate because the flow
steadily gets less as the amount of water that flows through the notch gets less. Weirs have the
advantage of being capable of accurately measuring a wide range of flows , easy to construct, it
can be used in combination with turnout and division structures, it can be both portable and

adjustable and most floating debris tends to pass over the structure which minimizes the error in
accuracy. Although it is a good method to use, there is still a chance of error because of the
following variables like water is lost between the bore head and the weir through soakage, in
other words, water soaks into the ground, time delays in flow at the bore and over the weir and
the shape size of the channel where the water flows through may cause constriction.

V-notch Weir

Figure 6

Figure 7. V-notch Weir Courtesy of Western Renewable Energy

In the ME-Hydraulic lab, since the channel where the turbine discharges is connected to
the channel where the Pelton turbine also discharges, as shown in figure 8, then we must subtract
the flow rate we get from rectangular weir to the flow rate we get using the v-notch weir.

Rectangular
Weir

V-notch Weir

Pelton Tail
Race

Kaplan Tail
race

Figure 8
To get the flow rate of water passing through the turbine we used the v-notch weir and
the rectangular weir, in terms of one-dimensional flow, the Bernoulli equation can be written
from a point upstream of the weir to the crest location as shown in figure 9,

Figure 9

Vu2
Vv2
ht h
Cht hL
2g
2g

Eqn. 13

Solving for the mean velocity at the vena contracta, Vv,

Vv 2 g ht (1 C ) hL

Eqn. 14

Taking the liberty to combine some terms,

Vv C 2 ght

Eqn. 15

From the continuity,

Qv Av vv

Eqn. 16
And expressing the area of the vena contracta in terms of the weir opening,

Av Cc A

Eqn. 17

Where CC is the contraction coefficient,

Q Cc AC 2 ght

Letting

C d Cc C 2 g

Eqn. 18

(Eqn. 19)

Then,
Q C d A 2 ght

Eqn. 20

For a horizontal- crested rectangular weir, A = hL. Therefore,

Q C d Lh ht C d Lh

3
2

Eqn. 21

For a V-notch weir, A = h2 tan (/2) , and,

Q C d tan( )h 2 ht C d tan( )h 2
2
2
5

Eqn. 22

Letting Cdv = Cd tan (/2), then,

5

Q C dv h 2

Eqn. 23
Note that equation and are dimensionally correct for either cfs or m 3/s, given the above definition
of Cd.
The equation recommended by the Bureau of Reclamation in their Water Measurement
Manual,for use with a fully contracted, 90 o, v notch, sharp crested weir with free flow conditions
and 0.2 ft < H < 1.25 ft, is:

Q 2.49h 2.48

Eqn. 24

where Q is discharge in cfs and H is head over the weir in ft.

Since the V-notch weir in the ME-Hydraulic lab coincides in this criterion, then we can
use this equation to get the flow in the V-notch weir for simplicity.
For notch angles other than 90o, the Kindsvater-Carter equation, as given below, from
the Bureau of Reclamation, Water Measurement Manual, should be used. That equation is:

Q 4.28C e tan( )( H k ) 2.5

2

Eqn. 25

where Q and H are as previously defined, is the angle of the v notch, C e is the effective
discharge coefficient, and k is a head correction factor. The figure 10 shows of C e as a function
of notch angle, , and the figure11 gives k as a function of .

Figure 10. Head correction factor, kh, for V-notches of any angle (courtesy of National
Bureau of Standards, Kulin et al. [1975]).

Figure 11. Effective coefficient, Ce, for fully contracted V-notches of any angle (courtesy
of National Bureau of Standards, Kulin et al. [1975])..
A method for measuring the shaft power output of the Kaplan turbine is to couple it with
a dynamometer. A dynamometer is a device used to measure the frictional resistance or frictional
torque. This frictional resistance or frictional torque is obtained by applying a brake. Hence
dynamometer is a brake with a device of measuring the frictional resistance or frictional torque.
The prony brake dynamometer which consists of two wooden blocks placed around a pulley
fixed to the shaft of engine whose power is required to be measured. Each of the wooden blocks
embraces rather less than one half of the pulley rim. The two blocks can be drawn together by
means of bolts, nuts and springs so as to increase the pressure on the pulley. The lower block
carries an arm (lever) to the end of which a weight can be applied. A second arm projects from
the block in the opposite direction and carries a balance weight B, which balances the brake
when unloaded.
Shaft power is the force applied on the prony brake multiplied by the torque arm and
rotative speed and then multiplied by 2 .
Ps=2 FRN

Eqn. 26

Where F is the load in the hanger

R is the moment arm or the lever arm
N is the speed of the shaft
Water power is the flow rate of water used to run the Kaplan turbine multiplied by the
specific weight of water and the total head from Equation 5.

Pw=Q H total

Eqn. 27

The work done or any other detail of the turbine runner may be found out by draw in the
inlet and outlet velocity triangles, as shown in figure 12. In a Kaplan turbine, reaction forces are
determined by examining the changes in velocity (magnitude and direction) when the water
flows over the vane.

Figure 12. Velocity Triangle for the Kaplan Turbine

For the inlet, for a given fixed value of V and v, shockless entry will occur only if the
vane angle is correct.
Where v = tangential velocity of the wheel at inlet equal to DN/60
V = absolute velocity of the entering water
D = outer diameter of the wheel
N = Revolutions of the wheel per minute
Vr = relative velocity of water, to the wheel, at inlet
Vf = Velocity of flow at inlet
V1, D1, V1, Vr1, Vf1 = Corresponding values at inlet
= angle at which the water enters the wheel( guide blade angle)
= Angle at which the water leaves the wheel
= Angle of the blade tip inlet (also known as vane angle at inlet)
= angle of the blade tip at inlet (also known as vane angle at outlet)

H = Total head of water, under which the turbine is working

W = weight of water entering the wheel
From the inlet triangle, we find that
V f V sin
and
And from the outlet triangle, we find that

Vw V cos

Vw1 V1 cos

and

Eqn. 28

V f 1 V1 sin

Eqn. 29

We know that the force per kN of water

1
g

x Change of velocity of whirls

1
(Vw Vw1 )
g

Force /kN water =

Eqn. 30
In this case Vw1 is negative, because it is in the opposite direction as that of Vw.
We know that work done per kN of water
= force x Distance
= (Velocity of whirl at inlet x Tangential Velocity of wheel at inlet)
(Velocity of whirl at outlet x Tangential velocity of wheel at outlet)
1
(Vw v Vw1v1 )
g
Work done/ kN water =
Eqn. 31
If there is no energy loss, then

V12
1
(Vw v Vw1v1 ) H
g
2g

Eqn. 32

If the discharge of the turbine is radial, then,

= 90 ; Vw1 = 0 and V1 = Vf1

Work done per kN of water =

Vw v
g

Eqn. 33

Work done =

V f21
Vw v
V2
H 1 H
g
2g
2g

Eqn. 34

In general the term efficiency may be defined as the ratio of work done to the energy
supplied. The three types of efficiencies of a turbine are,(1). Hydraulic Efficiency . (2)
Mechanical Efficiency (3) Overall Efficiency.
Hydraulic Efficiency is the ratio of work done on the wheel to the head of water actually
supplied to the turbine,

Vw v
gH

Eqn. 35

Mechanical Efficiency is the ratio of the actual work available at the turbine into the
energy imparted to the wheel.

( wQ)
Total energy imparted to the wheel =
Hence, the mechanical efficiency is,

Vw v
g

Eqn. 36

P
V v
Q ( w )
g

Eqn. 37
Where P is the power available at the turbine or the shaft power, which is in equation
Overall efficiency is the measure of the overall performance of the turbine, this is what
we find during the experiment, and is the ratio of the power produced by the turbine to the
energy actually supplied to the turbine

o h m

Vw v
x
gH

P
P

V v
QH
Q( w )
g
Eqn. 38

Description of the Experimental Set-up

The experiment is done in the ME-Hydraulic Lab room 144. The schematic diagram for
the experiment set-up is shown in Figure 13. An axial pump is used to prime the centrifugal

pump with water. The housing of the centrifugal pump has a gas cock and priming cap which
will serve as exhaust of trapped air in the housing. Valves A, B and D are governor valves used to
allow/disallow water passage through the connected equipment such as the centrifugal pump and
the Kaplan turbine. The Kaplan turbine set-up has a mechanism that allows for variation of guide
vane angle for direction of water hitting the turbine blades. The Kaplan turbine is coupled to a
Prony brake dynamometer for torque measurement of the rotating shaft. Power measurement is
obtained with the use of this brake and a belt drive connected to the same shaft to determine its
angular speed. For obtaining the water discharge rate, the water will then flow to a channel
wherein in a triangular/V-notch is located downstream as shown in figure 14. A rectangular weir
is also located upstream where the Pelton turbine discharges. An air balloon suspended on the
water level and is connected to a metering apparatus measures the head over the notch.

Figure 13. Schematic Diagram of the Experiimental Set-up

Figure 14. Weir Scale Reading Set-up

Shaft

Guide Vane
Setting
Adjuster

Guide Vanes
Runner / Boss

Runner Vanes

Figure 15. Kaplan Turbine Internal Components