lOS

PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF FRANCIS TURBINES

(TYPE. OJMENSIONS, WEIGHT)
Prc,nmprions for thc: forthcoming discussion are:
Francrs turomc ib choscn hecnuse of the magnitudc and vuriation of thc
nct hcad, as expluined in Clwpter 102.
or thc prcliminary Francis <lesigu is rcquired for a comparibon wilh M nlso
lhrsiblc Pclton ulternntive. provided thal thc head conditions apply lo bo1h
llutions;
- .rnd, furthcr, that no data for a detailcd dcsrgn (model tests andfor ellicicncy
hill diagram for thc rcqmrcd wheel type) are avarl ablc.
Lct us assume 1 hat thc design hcad H,,. the plnnt discharge ct1pacity QP 11nd lhe
numlll:r of units are r,iven on thc of multi-discipline prdrmmary rn,yesliga-
tion,, lf lhc numbcr <f uruts rs not unambiguously clarified, thc en tire proccdurc
has to ht repeatcd by cnvrsagrnj.\ some other un1t numbers wb1ch can be presumed
as JCahslic solutions. Thus thc llnal dccision nhoul Lhe numbcr of u1lits can be thc
rcsuh of a restrictcd tptunization Thus Q= Ovlz will be thc ra tcd dischargc for one
turhinc m lhc planl ol _ umts.
Thc type of thc whccl detincd hy its three-dJmcnsJonal shnping is identificd
cxactly hy the specific speoo and shnpc number, respectively (scc Clwpter 47 in Vol. 1
and l'(J. 6/100 here). On lhc suppositton that thc /imil design JS auned at (the tenn
introduccd by thc wnlwr in Vol!), the permissiblc highest speci!icspeed pcrtaining
to the ullluable nct 1\(nd will be dclcrmioed from Eq. (3/100) nnd Tablc 111/100.
Sincc thc formulae used for prc!Jmmary stllng yield Lhc various
drmcnsioos in corrcluuon with the speciflcspccd, Eq. (3/ 100) has
to he rewritten, by cmploymg lhc conversion according lo Tttble 11/ 100. into the
followrng form ,
3400 1 1145
11
=
2
.
97


=

[rpmJ. (1/ 105)
Sincc 11 1s assumcd that lhe rated discharge Q and the dcsign (rated) hcad 11. 1S
gvcn, lhc thcorctictll {Ideal) valuc of the rated speed i" obtaincd from the dcfinition
equmion of 11.
1
[Eq. (?.0/47). Vol 11 and Eq (1/1 05) as
HO, JS
n'"' 1145 - [rpm). (2/105)
Qo.s
I'RILIMINARY DES!(;!'-
935
thc appropnatc speed 11 will be markc:d out for raPe/ speed,
and by using the dcfinilloo equation
= . Ql /2 .
llv 11-;; [ 1 pml 0/l 05)
fl
the .\'fJ/!C{rc speed will he corrcctcd from 11;, to llq
lt lo he menlioncd that, in some cases, it is notrequirable lo t1im attlll! limit
de.fiyn. i.c lo &clcctthc wheeltypc for thc nct bead rcgardcd as hmil head Tablt
flf/ 100), smcc such an nrrangcmeot might lead, for tconomical rcnsons, tn an
una(;CI.:ptably dccp foundaliou. For example, if for a oct hcad of 319 lll, when
applymg lhc allocatcci lamll whcel type dcfincd by "lkWI- l 07 rp111 a stallc tlraft
hcad or
h,:>;;l0-Jl9X0.05Gl::> -7.9 m (111/l 05)
is roughly oeeded, thc chocc of a lower- spccLiic - specd whccl,lct us say, wnh
!15.7 rpm wonld rcsult in a signi11cantly higher cstinmted as
h,:::::d0--319 x 0.041 3.1 m. (Jb/105)
Al pumptd storagc plcwts endowcd with Lhrec-machinc aggrcga1cs thc
aboul 1 he hm1t of Lhe turbinc scti.Jng usually does not anse bec.1usc the vcry deep
Jocation neecssatatcd for the purnp provides, gencr.tlly w1th a high margm ol'safety,

the requtrcd for the turbinc, too. ll.g., on !he basas of data recctwu
by courtcsy of K. Hiller (SulzPr Escher Wyss), thc autlwr csl1ma1cs thc ncccssary
submcrgence fo1 the Francis turbme& mstalled in thc Hiiusling pumpcd swrage
proJCCI (FiJ: W/104, Tahle VI/100) al aboul 19m, wl11lc tho
suhmergcncc 1s 82.5 m Simllatly. tbe author's rcckoning of thc rcquasite submer-
gencc of thc wlu.:cb al the Waldeck ll pumped :.toragc stalion (FRG)
resulh m 14m, nnd thc actual selling prov1dcs a stalic suction hc<acl of rounJ 40 m.
1-'or sizing thc turbinc the runner diametcr has to be dctcrmined lirstly. For this
thc 1clauon betwccn thc spccific speed and Lhe roe_{ficimr u( pcnpheral
JJe/ucill' basto be cstabhsbed. In referencc lo the slalistical nnaly.scs carried out by
F. tle Sieno and F. de Leua, atl(llatcr by A. Lug(lrtsi and ..1 Mas.w, the l(n.,)
function. found as
k,.-0.293 1 0.0081 n,, f- J. (4/1 05)
This cquauon c:1n be acccptcd as a fairly cxact relationship bctwccn the two
para for its rcliability mnnifestcd by an extreme! y htgh cu1 rclation c;oeffi-
cicnl of 0.99 antl by a slnndard dcviation of 0. 18. From thc dcfinit ion
" x Dl
60 j2gH.
u
(5/105)
lhe runner daamcli..T appcars in the 1'01 m
936 t:IIAI'r,R 1115
[m]. (6/ 1 05)
By substitutmg Eq. (5/!05) and thc pc1missiblc limiL value of llq, we obtam
n - s 6 (o ., ... o o 1s
1145
) H,?
5
r 1 (7/ 1 O'J .1- . 4. __ .,_, + . ( l ---o:;s -- lll l
H., n
Th.: conj uga te valuc of the rotutionnl speed n can also he expressecl in the funclion
of TI, and Q from thc cquality
_ l l45 _ Q
0
'
5
n,, u:-
6
- -11
0
_
15
[rpm]
H.. !-1,
(8/ 1 05)
lcf. Eq. (2/105)J:
H<l.t'
n = l145 Q'o.s lrpm] .
(()/105)
The subslitution of this vnJue in lo Eq. (7/1 05), :tfler some simplifications, yields !he
fomwlu proposed hy the rwthnr:
Le.,
TAULE lfl05
cueUichmt.t Jo,. t!Jt! dt.t-
dtmge 11inmeter oj ltigh-hend Frnncs wheels by
rt.rmg jimt'IUJII rlertved bv thtt amhor
<11(11.) =0.0216 t,;-J> 0.685
Dcsogn heud Runner coeffic1ent
IT.[mJ 1>(H.)
5 0.343
100 0.125
-
200 0.320
--
.100 0.324
0.335
700 0347
'1110 O.J59
( 10/105)
( 1 0!1/105)
I'RIJLIM INA 1\ Y l),l;SION 01' t'lv\NCIS TURBINBS
1-----DJ----!
/'111 1/10.5. Dcflninon oflbc dischHIJ>C domoter ol d1Verse Frnnc1s runner
Thc firsl am.l sccond lcrms of thc rt> (H .. } funcuon vary w1th Lhc H .. 111
a way Lhallhe magnitude of thc cnli rc funclion shows a vcry slighl ch1nge only.
Values of lhe 1'111//ll!r ('Oefficient rfJ (fl. ) corresponding to somc sclected hcads are
listcd 111 Tuble 1/ 105.
lflhc ratcd N s givcn, by assumi ng an c.:ITic.:icncy ol 0.90 (scc Clwpter 1113},
lhc 'E4. (10/105) appears as

[m], (IOIJ/ 105)
whe::rc N has lo be subslllutcc.J ul ntef!CIIvatrs.
lL has lo be pointed oullha t always lhedi.w:harge diameter, lcrmed bndly runner
dinmeter, is oblained from Eqs (10(105) lo ( lOb/105), enlighlened hy Fl!f 1/ IOS.
nll thcsc scmi-cmpirical CQllaLions do no! rcvca l truc dimcnsions, it should
be poiutcd out tha Q has to be subsl1tutcd in m
3
fscc and H., in mctrc:. inlo all
Clj u a IUIIS.
In lhc case ora conscrvalivc J.C. whcn l he actual spcci lic spct:d is
rcmarkably lowcr choscn lhan ils limil va lue, lhc r unner uiamctcr wi.l l be larger.
ror such a design, by adopting lhe suggcstion orA. Lugart!si and A. M,ls.w, the
valut cvaluatcd from Eq. (10/105) should be multi plicd by a factor
e= ( limil spccd )o.s _ n;l = 11'
actual speed 11,
1
n
(11/105)
L./:.'. Lul<ie>lrlim, assoclated wlth thc NOIIABKMW Turbm i\1.1, suscsts the formul;
(
N)"'
D, =3A H. lrnJ
( 1 !/105)
wluch. by u;,unung 11 0.90. oppears as
DJ-0.319./Q [mi ( 1 1/105)
11. IAIIJOFP,tl :md A Ata.v,w rccommcncl Lhc
(14/IOS)
-,
;: 1
'tb
"
e
..
" e
o'
RunnH
...... 1-':o-------l- - ---+::...-T-<:JI :5!. re!'!.!"""'
D--
ttntrt 1
- -02-
- 03
( Dts cflarrr:- rtmm frr 1
Fotr 1/ /IJJ Denth<ln <k.,teh rur thc tlu ec mmn ur lite Fo nucos o unncr Tite l'ieurc
,, unurr which hao d sped " > I>S rpm. With 1 unner or lower >pced the rclauon IS
inverse 0
1
> n,
funcunn which muy he "'duccd to .1 more'"mplcr funoo;
n, - OJ4../Q [mJ. (15/105)
&:sodts, severl othcr >uggc.tium hc bc:t-11 made nver lhe last dcc.des for tstim>ning tc ruuner
und otbeo dtmcnstons ol the C<)mplclc turbine asscmbly
The other main dimension of the runncr, i.l:. thc inlet di u meter can be cstimntcd
hy the empiric::al (!t.uation proposcd by F. Sc/HVeier and J. Gregor. Si ncc these
authnrs lhc para mete s in relation to tJ1c inlct da meter ( Fig. 2/105).
thcir f)mntla appcars he reinan othcr form, i.e. thc in/el diamnr given
by
(
1 ) D,= . D3
0.460 1-0.00829 n,,
[m] (11>/105)
wilh .t corrcl:tliOn coeffidenl of r-0.96 anda standard devialion of s=0.22.
From Eq. (12/105) thnt Ds = DJ when 11
9
is about 65 and n,
1
kw
1
::::: 193.
rt'SJ'l('l'liwly lf the S[X'<:ific spccd higher thnn this valuc thc inlet dinmeter is
smallcr lhan the<lischargcdiamctcr, i.c. D
1
<DJ, and vice ucrsu, l'nq<65 rptn then
D, "> D3 These fairly comply wilh Fiu. 6/100.
The hetg/11 of runner, according to thc author's cxpc11ence, can roughly be

0.5 D3 [m]
wil h a range of dcvtaton of nhoul :1:: 1 O per cenl.
( 17/105)
S.ral 'gse
PRFitr.IINAR\ DESICN OF FRANCIS TURUINI!S
939
- 1
p

(fJCJidt
f)rnff
.---------
.. _ -- --
z
fiy. 3{ /115 !:iketch for esumHutg !he main tlimc:miun> uf thc >pornl c..1sc and thc draft tu be of lughh'-"'u
Francos turbone5. (A ftcr A 1 "'Y'l''''"' and JI. \ftr>MJ)
...
Thc hei{ht cif thf' gUidP vanes (tenncd also as water passage height) can be
evaluatc<.l from two cmptrical equations suggcste<.l by Schweiya and Greyori in the
followtng form:
bo= ( - O.OU702+0.00380n)D
3
(m]
0.460+ 0.00829/lq .
(18/105)
where thc funcllon in thc dcnominator is verilied by and Accord-
ing to Eq. (18/105) thc b
0
valuc varies between 0.11 (al aboutll,-20) andO. JI (at
about 11- 120).
T'bc otlwr tluncnsionr. by W>mg thc mcasurcs and denoLations ot' Fiy. jf/05. cun
be cstimlllcd by thc empiric:;al el.[ualions ptcsenled by Lugaresr m<.l Massa:
Spiral c:aw
-0.0813+0.773 (19/105)
B- (0.362+ 1.889 (20/105)
e-(0.162 -t 2.2ss n j> (21/105)
Draft luhe
P-0.428+2.812DJ (22/105)
Q=0.273+0.670 DJ
z- - 0.568+2.741 D3 (24/105)
940 CHAI"TER lOS
1
,.
Drolt tullo 1
-oJ/1 -j
Ft< .105 Skch:lt for outliuin the profilc of a lmnd turhme
All are ohtaincd in melrcs. The corrclation coelficicnts vary between
0.91 and 0.99.

Sincc, ac:cordtng ll1 Fig . .J/105: it can be accepted m thc phasc of general planntng
that lhe crown of thc runner ts fiushed with the top of thc wit;ket gntc, and thc P
tncasurc is rclated to the .uis of the wickct gate, thc profilc of the en tire nrrangc-
nlcnt ts dclmed .t nd can be outlincd.
Tt is also nece,-;ary to check the cntrance velocity to the spiral case. ncpending
c>n thc quantity (ttmccmrution) and quulity ofthc silt possibly curricd by thc water.
limit for 'be so-caBed .1'/r1b vc/orily is assessed. This value can be calculatcd in thc
knowlcdgc of stuh cross-section aod stub diameter A, respectJvely (sec Fig. 3/ /05);
(25/105)
Thc highest stuh velodty of about 12 rn/sec might be considcred as mnximum
pcrmissibk valuc for avotdiog abrasoo by suspended scdimenl.
Finally, for dctcrminlflg Lhe clcvation of lhe runncr, i e for establishing tite
prolile or lhe enur" turbme assemhly, rhe static dratl hcnd and thc nccessnry
submcr{J<'IIn, respective! y, are l."Slitnatcd according to lhe principies dcscribed tn
Clwpll!r 100.
Whcn ot companng d;un on submcrgcncc it should always be checked
whal are lhc pertninmg rl'/erence lrvels. Statrc drafl hcads reponed in papers or
supplicrs' pamphlcts are, m sorne cases, relatcd to the ccntrcline ofthe wickct gate,
while i11 thc aullwr's hooks lhe herghl of the runncr exit is the rcfcrence leve l. Thus
lhe sucttnn hcad lo thc ccntrclinc ofthe wtcket gntc (h,(w) can be cxprcssed
Fg. 5: JOJ. V chicle for lranSJ)Ortmg p:cces of2SO-Ion \\eiglu .. ~ d during installauoo oflhe Clrurclnll Falls powerhOU$C, Ca nada. H, 313m. eleven uniiS .
.V,=6000 MW. (By courtts) oi Prof H . .Vttch, Lruverstle L:mtl. Qubec). Tbe projecl is d e s r i ~ d in Chrrptu 96i.>ee Flgs 71ai96 and "2b!96)
...
:o>
"' !:
3:
7
>
~
;::
~
i
z
o
':l
..,
s;
z
n
;;
-l
e
"'
=
z
~
<C
~
942
by using the symbols of Figs 4/105 and 4/102:
h1f\v,= Ir,+ 11, t b-bo/2 [m] (2Sa/105)
wiHch is valid for both positivo and negntivc h, valucs.
1 nasmuch as Francas turbine runoers are-excepting spccial cases -transport-
eJ an fully assembled coodition to the site of installation, thc exact weaght and
dmmeter of tite runncr must be known nlso in order to determine Lhc necessary
provisions for transport (F(q. 5/105). Runners for turbincs nf extrcmcly high
c;tpacity may weigh up to 100 300 (Jtaipu) tons. Fig. 6/105 shows the Fr:tncts-type
runner of thc Sun{ari hydroelectnc powcr station: the spiral case is shown in Fiy.
5/1114
l're-eslimating thc wcight of the wbccl and the spiral case is a more unccrtain
task Sorne c:mpirical lormulac are known from the literaturc; they, howcver, are
apphcahle for earlicr only. Furthermon:, thc present::ttion of such formulae
prctcudcd n certain exactness which con dcfinitcly be douhtcd. (The mahor citcd
similar cquahons for nssessing thc specific weight of thc en tire turbine asscmbly in
the previnus cdit10ns of this book). NevcrtlJeless, it has to be born in mind tbat thc
spccific weight the traditional form of Go(kgfHP)- f(H., N) can yield
a value with a largcly varymg factor, bccausc bcside these two parameters the
wctght ;tnd the wctgbt, respectively, coustdcrably depend on the strength
or thc steel materials of thc and on some individual feallJrCS of thc
fg. /105 Cusl franc1s runner at lhc Sungun power stallon, Manchun. The diamcter JS 4.7 m,
lhe we1gh1, wnhout $lmft, i< SS Ion, lhc dimneter of lhe sbaO is 960 mm. Points where cavttaiJun pilling
wn nnticpnlc"<1 nrc protecled by an elcctracnlly wcldcd luyer. (E.rcilfr Wyss- 100 lnhrc Wn"cJturbinen)
1'1(11 IMINARY DESJGl\ OF FRANC'IS TUiliiiNI.S
design. as overprcssurc due Lo water hammer, specifications conceming salety
factors. tl is a most uncertain task to prc-cstimatc thc weight or thc
whcd ami Lhc spiral case. According to thc latest expericnce or thc author thc
cquatwn suggcsted by A J'oot, airead y citcd in lhe former editions of tbis book,
can be applied bul n <.:onsldcrably higher value und a o1uch w1der range of thc
coellicien 1 k hns lo be lakcn in account. Thus thc wcight of the spitol ca.w can
roughly be as
(26/105)
whert>
JJ
1
= Lhc inlcl diameter of thc runm:r m mctrcs,
A thc.: diameler of thc mlci stub in mc.:trcs ( Fig. 3/ 105).
(j thc menn wull thickncss of ilic spiral case in mm,
k = 11 constant depcnding u pon the mntcriul uscd and thc mcthods of jomting,
varymg bet ween 150 and 300
Empmcal formulae wcrc al so propost:d for assessing the wc1ght of tht: complct
turbinc as.ft'mh!y, includu1g runncr, wickel gafe, head cover, slay vanes and spiral
hui not coo1prising inlct valve, govcrnor and a11y uxiliury equipmenl.
Inveshgn1ions carricd out rccently by thc autlwr rwe.llcd lhal lhe equntion anu
dingrnm prcscntcd in lhe fom1er editions are not applicablc for up-to-dnte machi
nes anymorc. The uutlrnr uses for an ordcr-of-magnitude estima te of tbc wctght of
thc compl<'lt wrbme assemb/.1 the followmg emprica! formula.
G-
N N 1 n, ooo r l J
me 11c tons ,
H.
(27f105}
wherc
N thc lurb1ne oulput 111 MW,
H.- the nct head in mctrcs.
Comparisons of this csllmate with ilie wcight of exist111g lurbines show thnt the
possiblc variallon or !he coefficient <X is vc1y largc. IL may cover a rangc of from
0.5 lo 1.5. This is plausible whcn consicring Lhat simil nrly great muy
resull from lhe divcrsity of thc design criteria mentioocd aforchcad. Finully it hus
lo be notcd that the aulhor checked thc rcliability or thc ahovc cqualion for
high-hcad l'ranc1:. mstallat1ons only.
Thc sp<'ci}ir wt>iglu of thc complete turbinc a!>sembly, a lcrm quoted
m publications about turbuu:s, follows from Eq. (27/105)
Go- (0.5 ..;-1.5) + l Z,OOO [l/MW].
fi.N
(28/105)
In lhc first phase of planmng, if an estima le about the we1ght ne<.:d<.:d. a valuc of
a= 1 .O to 1 1 Jmghl be chosen.
CIIAI''II 1\
l'he rated output )f thc tnrhine will be ;ppmximarely
N=9.1!1 O.IJO Q/f,.=R.83 QH. fkW] (29/ 105)
and thc output of rhr. unit in lo lhc gnd, by assumiog a gencrator efficiency ol 0.97
11111i a lr.msform.:r ctllciency of 0.91!5. w11l bccome
N.,., !l.44 Q fl. (kWI (30/ 105)
11 lllliM not be clisrcgarded, howcvcr, that tht output uj tlu: 1/t"lll!rator is limited
hy th.: pcripheral vck'<:ity and 1hc ccnlnfug<tl force. cspecrivcly. l lcncc
thc capacity of lhe uml has lo be checkcd accurdingly Thc mwdmum poss1ble
output thc: unit expr.:sscd m func11on of thc raled spccd and depends on the
expectable ovcrspccd as wcll. as dt:duccd 111 C'lwpter /OY (st:c Eqs (7{109) lo
( 11/1 09)1. lf lhc N,., power in a grcatc1 vn lue thun the gcncrator-dependcnt
hmit. thc calculatlon has lo be repcated with modified Q nnd/nr 11
will result 111 an allero!d rurh1ne destgn.
Thus rhe plant c.tpac11y (uf: umts) ava1lable for lbc gnd wall be
0 1/ 105)
11 ovcdoad operation is prcsu111cd, an 1ncrc;ment of the plant viz. by
;bout 8 lo 1" n'nl, 1s auanable