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The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type
water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor
Viktor Kaplan Viktor Kaplan (27 November 1876 – 23 August 1934) was an Austrian engineer and the inventor of the Kaplan turbine. Life Kaplan was born in Mürzzuschlag, Austria into a railroad worker's family. He graduated from high school in Vienna in 1895 ...
, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to achieve efficiency over a wide range of flow and
water level Water level, also known as gauge height or stage, is the elevation of the free surface of a sea, stream, lake or reservoir relative to a specified vertical datum.ISO 772: 1996. Hydrometric determinations – Vocabulary and symbols. See also * ...
. The Kaplan turbine was an evolution of the
Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. 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, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...
. Its invention allowed efficient power production in low-
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
applications which was not possible with Francis turbines. The head ranges from and the output ranges from 5 to 200 MW. Runner diameters are between . Turbines rotate at a constant rate, which varies from facility to facility. That rate ranges from as low as 54.5 rpm (
Albeni Falls Dam Albeni Falls Dam is located on the Pend Oreille River between Oldtown, Idaho, and Priest River, Idaho. It is located on the site of a natural waterfall named Albeni Falls, named after early pioneer Albeni Poirier. Construction on the dam began in ...
) to 450 rpm. Kaplan turbines are now widely used throughout the world in high-flow, low-head power production.


Development

Viktor Kaplan, living in Brünn,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now
Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
, Czechia), obtained his first patent for an adjustable blade propeller turbine in 1912. But the development of a commercially successful machine would take another decade. Kaplan struggled with
cavitation Cavitation is a phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapour pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When subjected to higher pressure, these cavities, cal ...
problems, and in 1922 abandoned his research for health reasons. In 1919 Kaplan installed a demonstration unit at
Poděbrady Poděbrady (; german: Podiebrad) is a spa town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Elbe. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an u ...
(now in Czechia). In 1922
Voith The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...
introduced an 1100 HP (about 800 kW) Kaplan turbine for use mainly on rivers. In 1924 an 8 MW unit went on line at
Lilla Edet Lilla Edet is a locality and the seat of Lilla Edet Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,862 inhabitants in 2010. Lilla Edet was the smallest of three settlements that were burnt down in Sweden on 25 June 1888. The wooden to ...
, Sweden. This launched the commercial success and widespread acceptance of Kaplan turbines.


Theory of operation

The Kaplan turbine is an inward flow
reaction Reaction may refer to a process or to a response to an action, event, or exposure: Physics and chemistry *Chemical reaction *Nuclear reaction *Reaction (physics), as defined by Newton's third law *Chain reaction (disambiguation). Biology and me ...
turbine, which means that the working fluid changes pressure as it moves through the turbine and gives up its energy. Power is recovered from both the hydrostatic head and from the kinetic energy of the flowing water. The design combines features of radial and axial turbines. The inlet is a scroll-shaped tube that wraps around the turbine's wicket gate. Water is directed tangentially through the wicket gate and spirals on to a propeller shaped runner, causing it to spin. The outlet is a specially shaped
draft tube Draft Tube is a diverging tube fitted at the exit of runner of turbine and used to utilize the kinetic energy available with water at the exit of runner. '. This draft tube at the end of the turbine increases the pressure of the exiting flu ...
that helps decelerate the water and recover
kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its accele ...
. The turbine does not need to be at the lowest point of water flow as long as the
draft tube Draft Tube is a diverging tube fitted at the exit of runner of turbine and used to utilize the kinetic energy available with water at the exit of runner. '. This draft tube at the end of the turbine increases the pressure of the exiting flu ...
remains full of water. A higher turbine location, however, increases the suction that is imparted on the turbine blades by the draft tube. The resulting pressure drop may lead to
cavitation Cavitation is a phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapour pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When subjected to higher pressure, these cavities, cal ...
. Variable geometry of the wicket gate and turbine blades allow efficient operation for a range of flow conditions. Kaplan turbine efficiencies are typically over 90%, but may be lower in very low head applications. Current areas of research include
computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...
(CFD) driven efficiency improvements and new designs that raise survival rates of fish passing through. Because the propeller blades are rotated on high-pressure hydraulic oil bearings, a critical element of Kaplan design is to maintain a positive seal to prevent emission of oil into the waterway. Discharge of oil into rivers is not desirable because of the waste of resources and resulting ecological damage.


Applications

Kaplan turbines are widely used throughout the world for electrical power production. They cover the lowest head hydro sites and are especially suited for high flow conditions. Inexpensive micro turbines on the Kaplan turbine model are manufactured for individual power production designed for 3 m of head which can work with as little as 0.3 m of head at a highly reduced performance provided sufficient water flow. Large Kaplan turbines are individually designed for each site to operate at the highest possible efficiency, typically over 90%. They are very expensive to design, manufacture and install, but operate for decades. They have recently found a new application in offshore wave energy generation, see
Wave Dragon Wave Dragon is a floating slack-moored energy converter of the overtopping type, developed by the Danish company Wave Dragon Aps. Wave Dragon is a joint EU research project, including partners from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Swe ...
.


Variations

The Kaplan turbine is the most widely used of the propeller-type turbines, but several other variations exist: * ''Propeller turbines'' have non-adjustable propeller vanes. They are used where the range of flow / power is not large. Commercial products exist for producing several hundred
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s from only a few feet of
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
. Larger propeller turbines produce more than 100 MW. At the
La Grande-1 generating station The La Grande-1 (LG-1) is a hydroelectric power station on the La Grande River that is part of Hydro-Québec's James Bay Project. The station can generate 1,436 MW and was commissioned in 1994–1995. A run of the river generating station, ...
in northern Quebec, 12 propeller turbines generate 1368 MW. * ''Bulb'' or ''tubular turbines'' are designed into the water delivery tube. A large bulb is centered in the water pipe which holds the generator, wicket gate and runner. Tubular turbines are a fully axial design, whereas Kaplan turbines have a radial wicket gate. * ''Pit turbines'' are bulb turbines with a gear box. This allows for a smaller generator and bulb. * ''Straflo turbines'' are axial turbines with the generator outside of the water channel, connected to the periphery of the runner. * ''S-turbines'' eliminate the need for a bulb housing by placing the generator outside of the water channel. This is accomplished with a jog in the water channel and a shaft connecting the runner and generator. * The ''VLH turbine'' is an open flow, very low head "kaplan" turbine slanted at an angle to the water flow. It has a large diameter >3.55 m, is low speed using a directly connected shaft mounted permanent magnet alternator with electronic power regulation and is very fish friendly (<5% mortality). *The ''DIVE-Turbine'' is a vertical propeller turbine with double regulation by wicket gates and speed variation. It covers a range of application up to 4 MW with efficiencies comparable to standard Kaplan-Turbines. Due to the propeller design with fixed blades it is considered a fish friendly turbine.DIVE-Turbine
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Tyson turbine The Tyson turbine is a conical water turbine with helical blades emerging partway down from the apex gradually increasing in radial dimension and decreasing in pitch as they spiral towards the base of the cone. This design doesn't need a casement, ...
s'' are a fixed propeller turbine designed to be immersed in a fast flowing river, either permanently anchored in the river bed, or attached to a boat or barge. File:Kraftwerk Ybbs-Persenbeug 7829 retusche.jpg, model of a bulb or tubular turbines File:Kaplan-Rohrturbine modell-1 retusche.jpg, model of a S-turbine File:StrafloSketch.svg, schematic of a straflo-turbine File:Turbines VLH de la centrale du Rondeau à Échirolles.jpg, VLH turbines File:DIVE-TurbineSketch.svg, schematic of a DIVE-Turbine


See also

*
Banki turbine A cross-flow turbine, Bánki-Michell turbine, or Ossberger turbine''E.F. Lindsley,'' Water power for your homePopular Science, May 1977, Vol. 210, No. 5 87-93. is a water turbine developed by the Australian Anthony Michell, the Hungarian Donát ...
*
Draft tube Draft Tube is a diverging tube fitted at the exit of runner of turbine and used to utilize the kinetic energy available with water at the exit of runner. '. This draft tube at the end of the turbine increases the pressure of the exiting flu ...
*
Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. 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, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...
*
Gorlov helical turbine The Gorlov helical turbine (GHT) is a water turbine evolved from the Darrieus turbine design by altering it to have helical blades/foils. It was patented in a series of patents from September 19, 1995''A. M. Gorlov''Unidirectional helical reac ...
*
Hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...
*
Hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
*
Pelton wheel The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the trad ...
*
Screw turbine A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...
*
Sensor fish A sensor fish is a small, plastic tubular device containing sensors. It is designed to record information such as the physical stresses that a fish experiences while navigating currents from dam turbines. Description Created by the US Department ...
, a device used to study the impact of fish
travelling through the Francis and Kaplan turbines *
Three-dimensional losses and correlation in turbomachinery Three-dimension losses and correlation in turbomachinery refers to the measurement of flow-fields in three dimensions, where measuring the loss of smoothness of flow, and resulting inefficiencies, becomes difficult, unlike two-dimensional losses w ...
*
Turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
*
Water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...


References

https://www.wws-wasserkraft.at/en


External links


National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark Kaplan Turbine
retrieved 2010 June 24
Bently Nevada Application Note on Hydro turbine vibration
retrieved 2014 August 14
3D model Kaplan turbine
retrieved 2021 February 10 {{Hydropower Water turbines Austrian inventions 20th-century inventions