Kaplan Hydro Turbine
Kaplan Hydro Turbine
(OP)
Hello,
I'm hoping someone who is experienced in hydro power can answer this question.
On a Kaplan hydro turbine, the proper manual sequence is to open the blades partially and then the wicket gates.
My question is if the sequence is reversed (wicket gates opened, then blades, would the turbine spin in the wrong direction briefly?
I'm hoping someone who is experienced in hydro power can answer this question.
On a Kaplan hydro turbine, the proper manual sequence is to open the blades partially and then the wicket gates.
My question is if the sequence is reversed (wicket gates opened, then blades, would the turbine spin in the wrong direction briefly?





RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
Is this a pumped storage facility?
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If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
We got about 1 full revolution in the wrong direction prior to the unit then spinning in the correct direction.
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
Is this a conventional design with scroll case, stay vanes, and wicket gates or is it an open radial entry with just wicket gates? How big is this unit?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Tom Moritz
Mechanical Engineer
US Bureau of Reclamation
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
The unit had been taken down for annual maintenance which consists of:
Blade to case clearance checks
Wicket gate alignments
Hub oil check
Clean out debris
Wicket gate timing check
Blade timing checks
Generator megger
Cooling water strainer cleaning
Lube oil cooler cleaning
among some other tasks.
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
The tainter gates should be imparting signifcant swirl at small gate openings. I assume you have stay vanes too. They will contribute to swirl too. Had you unstacked down to the turbine level it is possible to reverse the direction of the wicket gates, very low probability. This would impart alot of swirl in the reverse direction that could eventually be overcome by the reaction force at the runner. I could see something like this happening if you had two units side-by-side but designed to run in opposite directions, you unstack one then reassemble using the adjacent unit as a reference. If this were the case you would see a significant reduction in unit efficiency and it would run very rough.
Generation of a reaction force counter to normal unit rotation would require an extreme blade angle, well beyond vertical. This is also a very low probability probably to the point of impossible but at this point you are probably considering all suggestions/ideas. I could see a scenario where the hub seals had to be replace and this required removing the blades. When the blades are reinstalled the bolt pattern is indexed one bolt hole clockwise or counter-clockwise.
I'm not questioning the capabilities of your tradesmen here, I am just brainstorming possible causes.
Regards,
Tom Moritz
Tom Moritz
Mechanical Engineer
US Bureau of Reclamation
RE: Kaplan Hydro Turbine
Cheers
Niallnz