STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FRANCIS TURBINE

goals:
 To determine the efficiency of turbine.
 To determine the power of turbine.

equipment:
 Francis Turbine Test Rig

background:
The Francis turbine is an inward mixed
flow reaction turbine i.e. water under
pressure, enters the runner from the
guide vanes towards the center in radial
direction and discharge out of the
runner axially. It operates under
medium heads and also requires
medium quantity of water.

The main parts of Francis turbine are:

1. Penstock
2. Spiral/scroll casing
3. Guide vane/wicket gates
4. Governing mechanism
5. Runner and runner blades
6. Draft tube

Process:
 First of all, instrument was checked and made to run.
 Then various reading was taken like venturimeter pressure (P1, P2), inlet pressure(P), output power
(W 1, W 2), and speed(N).

Experiment table:

s.n venturimeter Turbine inlet Output power Speed (N)

pressure rpm

P1 P2 P W1 gm W2 gm
1 2.65 1.25 1.6 2100 250 1179
2 2.65 1.25 1.65 2400 250 1128

Mathematical calculation:

Here,

Discharge (Q) = [Cd*(a1*a2*(2gh)1/2]/(a12-a22)1/2 where Cd= 0.9

and a1=(pi*d1)/4=5.026*10-3 m2 where d1=80mm=0.08m

 a2=1.257*10-3 m2 where d2=40mm=0.04m

Then, Q1=Q2=1.94*10-2 m3/s

Now

h= (p1-p2) *10 m of H2O where

h1= 14 m of H2O

h2=14 m of H2O

Net head [Hn] = p*10 m of H2O where

Hn1=16 m of H2O

Hn2=16.5 m of H2O

Input power [Pi]= *Q*g*Hn where

Pi1=3045.024 watt

Pi2= 3140.181 watt

Again,

power output (Po)= [{(W1-W2)/1000} *r *(2*pi*N)]/60, where r=(D+2d)/2 since D=220mm=.22m,

d=14mm=.014m and

r=0.124m

Then,

Po1=283.2278 watt

Po2=314.91.82 watt

Now efficiency (η)= (output power /input power)*100

=9.321%

=10.05%

Average efficiency(ηave)= 9.6855%

Result:

Therefore, the average efficiency was found to be 9.6855%.

Conclusion:

Hence characteristics of Francis turbine was observed.