Kaplan

On this Kaplan runner the pivots at the base of the blade are visible; these allow the angle of the blades to be changed while running. The hub contains hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the angle.

1 Development

Viktor Kaplan living in Brno, Czech Republic, obtained his first patent for an adjustable blade propeller turbine in A Bonneville Kaplan turbine after 61 years of service 1912. But the development of a commercially successful machine would take another decade. Kaplan struggled with cavitation problems, and in 1922 abandoned his re- search for health reasons. In 1919 Kaplan installed a demonstration unit at The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type Poděbrady, Czechoslovakia. In 1922 Voith introduced an which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 1100 HP (about 800 kW) Kaplan turbine for use mainly by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined au- on rivers. In 1924 an 8 MW unit went on line at Lilla tomatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically Edet, Sweden. This marked the commercial success and adjusted wicket gates to achieve efficiency over a wide widespread acceptance of Kaplan . range of flow and water level. The Kaplan turbine was an evolution of the Francis tur- bine. Its invention allowed efficient power production in 2 Theory of operation low-head applications that was not possible with Fran- cis turbines. The head ranges from 10–70 metres and the output from 5 to 200 MW. Runner diameters are The Kaplan turbine is an outward flow reaction turbine, between 2 and 11 metres. Turbines rotate at a con- which means that the working fluid changes pressure as it stant rate, which varies from facility to facility. That moves through the turbine and gives up its energy. Power rate ranges from as low as 69.2 rpm (Bonneville North is recovered from both the hydrostatic head and from the Powerhouse, Washington U.S.) to 429 rpm. The Ka- kinetic energy of the flowing water. The design combines plan turbine installation believed to generate the most features of radial and axial turbines. power from its nominal head of 34.65m is as of 2013 the The inlet is a scroll-shaped tube that wraps around the tur- Tocoma Power Plant (Venezuela) Kaplan turbine gener- bine’s wicket gate. Water is directed tangentially through ating 235MW with each of ten 4.8m diameter runners.[1] the wicket gate and spirals on to a propeller shaped run- Kaplan turbines are now widely used throughout the ner, causing it to spin. world in high-flow, low-head power production. The outlet is a specially shaped draft tube that helps de-

1 2 4 VARIATIONS

Viktor Kaplan Turbine Technisches Museum Wien

over 90%. They are very expensive to design, manufac- ture and install, but operate for decades. Vertical Kaplan Turbine (courtesy Voith-Siemens). They have recently found a new home in offshore wave energy generation, see Wave Dragon. celerate the water and recover kinetic energy. The turbine does not need to be at the lowest point of water flow as long as the draft tube remains full of water. 4 Variations A higher turbine location, however, increases the suction that is imparted on the turbine blades by the draft tube. The Kaplan turbine is the most widely used of the The resulting pressure drop may lead to cavitation. propeller-type turbines, but several other variations exist: Variable geometry of the wicket gate and turbine blades allow efficient operation for a range of flow conditions. • Propeller turbines have non-adjustable propeller Kaplan turbine efficiencies are typically over 90%, but vanes. They are used in where the range of flow may be lower in very low head applications.[2] / power is not large. Commercial products exist for producing several hundred watts from only a Current areas of research include CFD driven efficiency few feet of head. Larger propeller turbines produce improvements and new designs that raise survival rates of more than 100 MW. At the La Grande-1 generat- fish passing through. ing station in northern Quebec, 12 propeller turbines Because the propeller blades are rotated on high-pressure generate 1368 MW.[4] hydraulic oil bearings, a critical element of Kaplan design is to maintain a positive seal to prevent emission of oil into • Bulb or tubular turbines are designed into the wa- the waterway. Discharge of oil into rivers is not desirable ter delivery tube. A large bulb is centered in the because of the waste of resources and resulting ecological water pipe which holds the generator, wicket gate damage. and runner. Tubular turbines are a fully axial de- sign, whereas Kaplan turbines have a radial wicket gate.

3 Applications • Pit turbines are bulb turbines with a gear box. This allows for a smaller generator and bulb. Kaplan turbines are widely used throughout the world for • Straflo turbines are axial turbines with the generator electrical power production. They cover the lowest head outside of the water channel, connected to the pe- hydro sites and are especially suited for high flow condi- riphery of the runner. tions. • Inexpensive micro turbines on the Kaplan turbine model S-turbines eliminate the need for a bulb housing by are manufactured for individual power production de- placing the generator outside of the water channel. signed for 3 m of head which can work with as little as This is accomplished with a jog in the water channel 0.3 m of head at a highly reduced performance provided and a shaft connecting the runner and generator. [3] sufficient water flow. • The VLH turbine an open flow, very low head “ka- Large Kaplan turbines are individually designed for each plan” turbine slanted at an angle to the water flow. site to operate at the highest possible efficiency, typically It has a large diameter >3.55m, is low speed using 3

a directly connected shaft mounted permanent mag- net alternator with electronic power regulation and is very fish friendly (<5% mortality).[5] • Tyson turbines are a fixed propeller turbine designed to be immersed in a fast flowing river, either perma- nently anchored in the river bed, or attached to a boat or barge.

5 See also

• Archimedes’ screw • • • Turbine • Water turbine • • • Banki turbine • • Draft tube • Three-dimensional losses and correlation in turbo- machinery • Sensor fish, a device used to study the impact of fish travelling through the Francis and Kaplan turbines

6 References

[1] Hydropower project Tocoma (PDF). IMPSA (Report).

[2] Grant Ingram (30 January 2007). “Very Simple Kaplan Turbine Design” (PDF).

[3] “1000W Low-Head Kaplan Hydro Turbine”. Aurora Power & Design. Retrieved 2015-09-15.

[4] Société d'énergie de la Baie James (1996). Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière : Réalisation de la deuxième phase (in French). Montreal: Société d'énergie de la Baie James. p. 397. ISBN 2-921077-27-2.

[5] VLH Turbine

7 External links

• National Historic Mechanical Engineering Land- mark Kaplan Turbine, retrieved 2010 June 24 • Bently Nevada Application Note on Hydro turbine vibration, retrieved 2014 August 14 4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text

• Kaplan turbine Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaplan_turbine?oldid=715516807 Contributors: Heron, Michael Hardy, Evgeni Sergeev, Fuelbottle, Jorge Stolfi, WhiteDragon, Cornischong, ESkog, Austronaut, AJP, Duk, Stephen G. Brown, Wtshymanski, Tony Sid- away, Japanese Searobin, Fingers-of-Pyrex, GregorB, Jeffmcneill, FlaBot, Imagine, Wavelength, VIGNERON, GrinBot~enwiki, Smack- Bot, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Thumperward, MalafayaBot, Bluewind, Iridescent, Ramskjell, CmdrObot, Skittleys, WilliamH, Bouchecl, Leon7, Jdclevenger, JAnDbot, Kaboldy, Ironicon, CommonsDelinker, Salih, D-Kuru, Inwind, Tetris L, Sdsds, Anna Lincoln, Marvel52, OKBot, ClueBot, Arjayay, Agor153, Runefrost, Skarebo, Addbot, Olli Niemitalo, Jncraton, Lightbot, Zorrobot, Ben Ben, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Fraggle81, Palamabron, Reinraum, Daniele Pugliesi, Xqbot, Psyoptix, Anna Frodesiak, GrouchoBot, Imveracious, D'ohBot, Di- vidingbyzerofordummies, Tucvbif, NortyNort, EmausBot, Dewritech, ZéroBot, Middlelee89, Alborzagros, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gunnarkristian, MusikAnimal, John Daglish, Fylbecatulous, ChrisGualtieri, Shyncat, BrightStarSky, Epicgenius, Soham, Adhish24, Akash090791, Mario Castelán Castro, JJMC89 and Anonymous: 66

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