Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts.[1] It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts.
Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today. They operate in a water head from 10 to 650 meters (33 to 2,133 feet) and are primarily used for electrical power production. The turbine powered generator power output generally ranges from 10 to 750 megawatts, though mini-hydro installations may be lower. Penstock (input pipes) diameters are between 1 and 10 meters (3 and 33 feet). The speed range of the turbine is from 83 to 1000 rpm. Wicket gates around the outside of the turbine's rotating runner adjust the water flow rate through the turbine for different water flow rates and power production rates. Francis turbines are almost always mounted with the shaft vertical to keep water away from the attached generator and to facilitate installation and maintenance access to it and the turbine.
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Development [edit]
Water wheels of different types have been used historically for over 1000 years to power mills of all types, but they were relatively inefficient. Nineteenth-century efficiency improvements of water turbines allowed them to replace nearly all water wheel applications and compete with steam engines wherever water power was available. After electric generators were developed in the late 1800s turbines were a natural source of generator power where potential hydro-power sources existed.
In 1826 Benoit Fourneyron developed a high efficiency (80%) outward-flow water turbine. Water was directed tangentially through the turbine runner, causing it to spin. Jean-Victor Poncelet designed an inward-flow turbine in about 1820 that used the same principles. S. B. Howd obtained a U.S. patent in 1838 for a similar design.
In 1848 James B. Francis, while working as head engineer of the Locks and Canals company in the water wheeled powered textile factory city of Lowell, Massachusetts, improved on these designs to create a turbine with 90% efficiency. He applied scientific principles and testing methods to produce a very efficient turbine design. More importantly, his mathematical and graphical calculation methods improved turbine design and engineering. His analytical methods allowed confident design of high efficiency turbines to exactly match a site's water flow and water pressure (water head) conditions.
Theory of operation [edit]
The Francis turbine is a reaction turbine, which means that the working fluid (water usually) changes pressure as it moves through the turbine, giving up its energy. A casement around the outside of the turbine is needed to contain the water flow into the rotating part of a turbine called the runner. The water exits through the center of the runner. The runner is located between the high-pressure water source and the low-pressure water exit at the center of the turbine, usually at the base of a dam.
The inlet is spiral shaped. Guide vanes direct the water tangentially to the turbine wheel--runner. This radial flow acts on the turbine's vanes, causing the runner to spin. Separate guide vanes (or wicket gates) around the outside of the runner are made to be adjustable to allow efficient turbine operation for a range of water flow conditions.
As the water moves through the runner, its spinning radius decreases, further acting on the runner's turbine vanes. For an analogy, imagine swinging a ball on a string around in a circle; if the string is pulled short, the ball spins faster due to the conservation of angular momentum. This property, in addition to the water's pressure drop, helps Francis and other inward-flow turbines harness water energy efficiently.
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Francis Turbine (exterior view) attached to a generator
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Cut-away view, with guide vanes (yellow) at minimum flow setting
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Cut-away view, with guide vanes (yellow) at full flow setting
At the exit, water acts on the spinning cup-shaped runner features, leaving at low velocity and low swirl with very little kinetic or potential energy left. The turbine's exit tube is shaped to help decelerate the water flow and recover the pressure.
Application [edit]
Francis turbines may be designed for a wide range of heads and flows. This, along with their high efficiency, has made them the most widely used turbine in the world. Francis type units cover a head range from 20 to 700 meters (100 to 2,300 feet), and their connected generator output power varies from just a few kilowatts up to one gigawatt. Large Francis turbines are individually designed for each site to operate with the given water supply and water head at the highest possible efficiency, typically over 90%.
In addition to electrical production, they may also be used for pumped storage, where a reservoir is filled by the turbine (acting as a pump) driven by the generator acting as a large electrical motor during periods of low power demand, and then reversed and used to generate power during peak demand. These pump storage reservoirs, etc. act as large energy storage sources to store "excess" electrical energy in the form of water in elevated reservoirs. This is one of only a few ways that temporary excess electrical capacity can be stored for later utilization.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
Bibliography
- Layton, Edwin T. "From Rule of Thumb to Scientific Engineering: James B. Francis and the Invention of the Francis Turbine," NLA Monograph Series. Stony Brook, NY: Research Foundation of the State University of New York, 1992.
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