Inline pipe Francis type turbine design

In this thesis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based analyses are carried out in order to determine the applicability of inline pipe Francis type turbine as an alternative to classical turbine design based on CFD. The aim of the study is to determine the feasibility of the inline pipe Francis turbine and to increase the operating range of the actual turbine. Inline pipe turbine has several advantages, when compared to classical design. It does not have a spiral case, therefore it takes up less space, in the hydroelectric power plant, design and manufacturing costs are less than of classical turbines with a spiral case. The turbine components are positioned in a pipe and the design of the turbine is performed using the same boundary conditions as the actual turbine design. The stay vanes and guide vanes are redesigned; however,the same runner and draft tube geometries are used. Inline pipe turbine design results and actual turbine perfomance and operating range results are compared and differences are determined. It is demonstrated that inline pipe turbine has a wider operating range for maximum efficiency than actual turbine.