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Francisturbine
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheFrancisturbineisatypeofwaterturbinethatwas
developedbyJamesB.FrancisinLowell,Massachusetts.[1]Itis
aninwardflowreactionturbinethatcombinesradialandaxial
flowconcepts.
Francisturbinesarethemostcommonwaterturbineinusetoday.
Theyoperateinawaterheadfrom40to600m(130to2,000ft)
andareprimarilyusedforelectricalpowerproduction.The
generatorswhichmostoftenusethistypeofturbine,havea
Sideviewcutawayofavertical
poweroutputwhichgenerallyrangesjustafewkilowattsupto
Francisturbine.Herewaterenters
800MW,thoughminihydroinstallationsmaybelower.
horizontallyinaspiralshapedpipe
Penstock(inputpipes)diametersarebetween3and33feet(0.91
(spiralcase)wrappedaroundthe
and10.06metres).Thespeedrangeoftheturbineisfrom83to
outsideoftheturbine'srotating
1000rpm.Wicketgatesaroundtheoutsideoftheturbine's
runnerandexitsverticallydown
rotatingrunnercontroltherateofwaterflowthroughtheturbine
throughthecenteroftheturbine.
fordifferentpowerproductionrates.Francisturbinesarealmost
alwaysmountedwiththeshaftverticaltokeepwaterawayfrom
theattachedgeneratorandtofacilitateinstallationandmaintenanceaccesstoitandtheturbine.

Contents
1Development
2Components
3Theoryofoperation
4Bladeefficiency
5Degreeofreaction
6Application
7Seealso
8References
9Bibliography

Development
Waterwheelsofdifferenttypeshavebeenusedhistoricallyforover1000yearstopowermillsofall
types,buttheywererelativelyinefficient.Nineteenthcenturyefficiencyimprovementsofwaterturbines
allowedthemtoreplacenearlyallwaterwheelapplicationsandcompetewithsteamengineswherever
waterpowerwasavailable.Afterelectricgeneratorsweredevelopedinthelate1800sturbineswerea
naturalsourceofgeneratorpowerwherepotentialhydropowersourcesexisted.
In1826BenoitFourneyrondevelopedahighefficiency(80%)outwardflowwaterturbine.Waterwas
directedtangentiallythroughtheturbinerunner,causingittospin.JeanVictorPonceletdesignedan
inwardflowturbineinabout1820thatusedthesameprinciples.S.B.HowdobtainedaU.S.patentin
1838forasimilardesign.

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In1848JamesB.Francis,whileworkingasheadengineeroftheLocksandCanalscompanyinthe
waterwheeledpoweredtextilefactorycityofLowell,Massachusetts,improvedonthesedesignsto
createmoreefficientturbines.Heappliedscientificprinciplesandtestingmethodstoproduceavery
efficientturbinedesign.Moreimportantly,hismathematicalandgraphicalcalculationmethods
improvedturbinedesignandengineering.Hisanalyticalmethodsallowedconfidentdesignofhigh
efficiencyturbinestoexactlymatchasite'swaterflowandwaterpressure(waterhead)conditions.

Components
AFrancisturbineconsistsofthefollowingmainparts:
Spiralcasing:Thespiral
casingaroundtherunner
oftheturbineisknownas
thevolutecasingorscroll
case.Allthroughoutits
length,ithasnumerous
openingsatregular
intervalstoallowthe
workingfluidtoimpound
onthebladesofthe
runner.Theseopenings
convertthepressure
energyofthefluidinto
momentumenergyjust
Francisturbineparts
beforethefluidimpound
onthebladestomaintain
aconstantflowrate
despitethefactthatnumerousopeningshavebeenprovidedfor
thefluidtogainentrytotheblades,thecrosssectionalareaof
thiscasingdecreasesuniformlyalongthecircumference.

PawtucketGatehouseinLowell,
MassachusettssiteofthefirstFrancis
turbine

Guideorstayvanes:Theprimaryfunctionoftheguideorstay
vanesistoconvertthepressureenergyofthefluidintothe
momentumenergy.Italsoservestodirecttheflowatdesign
anglestotherunnerblades.
Runnerblades:Runnerbladesaretheheartofanyturbineas
thesearethecenterswherethefluidstrikesandthetangential
forceoftheimpactcausestheshaftoftheturbinetorotateand
henceelectricityisproduced.Inthispartonehastobevery
carefulaboutthebladeanglesatinletandoutletasthesearethe
majorparametersaffectingthepowerproduction.

FrancisRunner,GrandCouleeDam

Drafttube:Thedrafttubeisaconduitwhichconnectstherunnerexittothetailracewherethewateris
beingfinallydischargedfromtheturbine.Theprimaryfunctionofthedrafttubeistoreducethevelocity
ofthedischargedwatertominimizethelossofkineticenergyattheoutlet.Thispermitstheturbinetobe
setabovethetailwaterwithoutanyappreciabledropofavailablehead.

Theoryofoperation
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TheFrancisturbineisatypeofreactionturbine,acategoryof
turbineinwhichtheworkingfluidcomestotheturbineunder
immensepressureandtheenergyisextractedbytheturbine
bladesfromtheworkingfluid.Apartoftheenergyisgivenup
bythefluidbecauseofpressurechangesoccurringintheblades
oftheturbine,quantifiedbytheexpressionofDegreeofreaction,
whiletheremainingpartoftheenergyisextractedbythevolute
casingoftheturbine.Attheexit,wateractsonthespinningcup
shapedrunnerfeatures,leavingatlowvelocityandlowswirl
withverylittlekineticorpotentialenergyleft.Theturbine'sexit
tubeisshapedtohelpdeceleratethewaterflowandrecoverthe
pressure.

FrancisTurbine
(exteriorview)
attachedtoagenerator

ThreeGorgesDamFrancisturbine
runner

Cutawayview,with
wicketgates(yellow)
atminimumflow
setting

Cutawayview,with
wicketgates(yellow)
atfullflowsetting

Bladeefficiency
Usuallytheflowvelocity(velocityperpendiculartothe
tangentialdirection)remainsconstantthroughout,Vf1=Vf2i.e.
andisequaltothatattheinlettothedrafttube.UsingEuler
turbineequation,E/m=e=Vw1U1where,eistheenergytransfer
totherotorperunitmassofthefluid.Fromtheinletvelocity
triangle:
Vw1=Vf1cot1and
U1=Vf1(cot1+cot1)
Therefore,

Idealvelocitydiagram,illustrating
thatinidealcasesthewhirl
componentofoutletvelocityiszero
andtheflowiscompletelyaxial

e=V2f1cot1(cot1+cot1)
ThelossofkineticenergyperunitmassbecomesV2f2/2.
Therefore,neglectingfriction,thebladeefficiencybecomes

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b=e/(e+V2f2/2).
i.e.b=

Degreeofreaction
Degreeofreactioncanbedefinedastheratioofpressureenergy
changeinthebladestototalenergychangeofthefluid.This
meansthatitisbasicallyaratioindicatingthefractionoftotal
changeinfluidpressureenergyoccurringinthebladesofthe
turbine.Restofthechangesoccurinthestatorbladesofthe
turbinesandthevolutecasingasithasavaryingcrosssectional
area.Forexample,ifthedegreeofreactionisgiventobe50%,
thatmeansthathalfofthetotalenergychangeofthefluidis
takingplaceintherotorbladesandtheotherhalfisoccurringin
thestatorblades.Ifthedegreeofreactioniszeroitmeansthat
theenergychangesduetotherotorbladesiszero,leadingtoa
differentturbinedesigncalledPeltonTurbine.

Actualvelocitydiagram,illustrating
thatthewhirlcomponentoftheoutlet
velocityisnonzero

R=e1/2(V12Vf22)/e
Now,puttingthevalueof'e'fromaboveandusing(V21V2f2=V2f1cot2asVf2=Vf1)
R=1(cot1/2(cot1+cot1))

Application
Francisturbinesmaybedesignedforawiderangeofheadsand
flows.This,alongwiththeirhighefficiency,hasmadethemthe
mostwidelyusedturbineintheworld.Francistypeunitscovera
headrangefrom40to600m(130to2,000ft),andtheir
connectedgeneratoroutputpowervariesfromjustafew
kilowattsupto800MW.[2]LargeFrancisturbinesare
individuallydesignedforeachsitetooperatewiththegiven
watersupplyandwaterheadatthehighestpossibleefficiency,
typicallyover90%.
FrancisInletScroll,GrandCoulee
Inadditiontoelectricalproduction,theymayalsobeusedfor
Dam
pumpedstorage,whereareservoirisfilledbytheturbine(acting
asapump)drivenbythegeneratoractingasalargeelectrical
motorduringperiodsoflowpowerdemand,andthenreversedandusedtogeneratepowerduringpeak
demand.Thesepumpstoragereservoirs,etc.actaslargeenergystoragesourcestostore"excess"
electricalenergyintheformofwaterinelevatedreservoirs.Thisisoneofonlyafewwaysthat
temporaryexcesselectricalcapacitycanbestoredforlaterutilization.

Seealso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_turbine

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Hydropower
Kaplanturbine
Jonvalturbine
Peltonwheel
Drafttube

References
1. LowellHistory

SmallSwissmadeFrancisturbine
WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoFrancis
turbine.

(http://www.nps.gov/lowe/historyculture/upload/JB%20Francis_%20Lowell%20Notes.pdf)
2. Francishydroturbines(http://www.alstom.com/power/renewables/hydro/hydroturbines/francisturbines/)

Bibliography
Layton,EdwinT."FromRuleofThumbtoScientificEngineering:JamesB.FrancisandtheInventionofthe
FrancisTurbine,"NLAMonographSeries.StonyBrook,NY:ResearchFoundationoftheStateUniversityof
NewYork,1992.
S.M.Yahya,pagenumber13,fig1.14

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