Specific Speed and Unit

Conditions
The selection of Specific Speed and Unit Conditions for turbines with reference to
Model Testing
Contents

1. Introduction
2. Principles Of Similarity Applied To Turbines.
3. Specific Speed Of A Turbine
4. Specific Speeds For Differing Types Of Turbine
5. An Example Of The Use Of Specific Speed
6. Unit Conditions
7. The Performance Curves Of A Turbine
8. Characteristic Curves And Iso-efficiency Curves For A Turbine Under All Operating Conditions
9. An Example Of The Use Of Unit Conditions
10. Fundamental Similarity Conditions And Model Testing
11. Page Comments

Introduction
In the selection and/or design of turbines for a particular application it is common to rely on model testing.
The results are then scaled up using the following principles:

Principles Of Similarity Applied To Turbines.

A similar model means :

Geometrically similar - made from the same drawings but

to a different scale.
Dynamically similar - Operating conditions and equal
efficiencies.

Thus in comparing two similar turbines

All the linear dimensions will be in the same ratio.

All angles will be the same, the velocity triangles will be
geometrically similar and all velocities will be in the same
ratio.

Specific Speed Of A Turbine

The Specific Speed of a turbine is the speed in rotations per minute (r.p.m.) at which a similar model
of the turbine would run under a head of 1ft. when of such size as to develop 1 H.P.
(Note: The suffix "s" is used to denote the values associated with the Specific Turbine)
Each type of Turbine (Pelton Wheel, Francis etc.) has it's own characteristic limits of .
Revolutions per minute (R.P.M.) is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full
rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis.

But . Therefore,

And . Therefore,

But, = The Area of flow The Velocity of flow

and Or,

But the weight of water per second is . Which is,

H.P.output of the Turbine . Which is

Note: The efficiencies are equal

(where Constant)
But for the specific Turbine, and are 1.
Notes On The Use Of The Specific Speed Of A Turbine
Horse power (H.P.) is the name of several units of measurement of power.
The mechanical horsepower (imperial horsepower), of exactly 550 foot-pounds per second is approximately
equivalent to 745.7 watts.
Horse power was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses.

is based on the values of , and used at the

design point. i.e. at maximum efficiency.
is NOT dimensionless and there are different values
in each of the measurement systems.

Unless otherwise stated, is in r.p.m. and is in Brake Horse Power(b.h.p.) i.e.

The Dimensions of Specific Speed
The unit of are

can be made dimensionless and still be a constant by dividing by and this is called the The
Speed Number.

The Specific Speed Of A Particular Form Of Turbine

For a particular type of Turbine is constant.
 and . Therefore

. Or (which is constant)

But

Therefore, (which is constant)

Therefore, (whic
h is constant)

Specific Speeds For Differing Types Of Turbine

Specific speed is a non-dimensional number used to classify pump impellers as to their type and proportions.

In Imperial units it is defined as the speed in revolutions per minute at which a geometrically similar impeller would
operate if it were of such a size as to deliver one gallon per minute against one foot of hydraulic head.

In metric units flow may be in or and head in , and care must be taken to state the units used.

For different types of Turbine and a comparison of heads for a particular power and speed. The
Turbine is required to develope100 b.h.p. at 1000 r.p.m.

An Example Of The Use Of Specific Speed

What type of turbine would be used if the supply head is of 10 cu.ft/sec with a head of 225 ft. ? Assume
an efficiency of 80%.
Power Output = Water h.p.input Efficiency
It would therefore be necessary to use a Turgot Turbine. However it might be possible to use a Pelton
Wheel with two jets.

Power per jet . Therefore per Jet

From the above table it can be seen that the value of is too high. It is therefore worth considering a
Pelton Wheel with four jets.
Now:

This would be a practical proposition but would result in some loss of efficiency due to interference
between the jets. Consequently, a better alternative would be to have two wheels on the same shaft with
two jets per wheel.

Unit Conditions
The unit operating conditions for a turbine are those under which that particular turbine would run when
working under a head of 1 ft. (or unit head in any other system) assuming there no change in efficiency.
This allows the performance of a given turbine to be compared when working under different heads and
enables the characteristic curves to be drawn, showing the efficiency at all running conditions.

Unit Speed
If is the Unit speed and the speed under a
head

And . Therefore .

Or

(Where represents unit conditions

and represents a Constant)
Unit speed:

Unit Quantity
 The Unit quantity of a Turbine is the flow through the
turbine when operating under a head of 1 ft.
assuming similar conditions.
Let,

be the flow under a head .

Therefore is the area of flow velocity.

And since the area is constant, and velocity

is . Or
(where is a Constant)

Unit Power
The Unit Power of a given turbine is the power
output of the turbine when operating under a head of
1 ft. assuming no change in efficiency .
If is the output under a head
Then:

If is unchanged

And:

(where is a Constant)
But
Unit Power