§ 187. General Description of a Reaction Turbine.—Professor James Thomson’s inward flow or vortex turbine has been selected as the type of reaction turbines. It is one of the best in normal conditions of working, and the mode of regulation introduced is decidedly superior to that in most reaction turbines. Figs. 185 and 186 are external views of the turbine case; figs. 187 and 188 are the corresponding sections; fig. 189 is the turbine wheel. The example chosen for illustration has suction pipes, which permit the turbine to be placed above the tail-water level. The water enters the turbine by cast-iron supply pipes at A, and is discharged through two suction pipes S, S. The water on entering the case distributes itself through a rectangular supply chamber SC, from which it finds its way equally to the four guide-blade passages G, G, G, G. In these passages it acquires a velocity about equal to that due to half the fall, and is directed into the wheel at an angle of about 10° or 12° with the tangent to its circumference. The wheel W receives the water in equal proportions from each guide-blade passage. It consists of a centre plate p (fig. 189) keyed on the shaft aa, which passes through stuffing boxes on the suction pipes. On each side of the centre plate are the curved wheel vanes, on which the pressure of the water acts, and the vanes are bounded on each side by dished or conical cover plates c, c. Joint-rings j, j on the cover plates make a sufficiently water-tight joint with the casing, to prevent leakage from the guide-blade chamber into the suction pipes. The pressure near the joint rings is not very great, probably not one-fourth the total head. The wheel vanes receive the water without shock, and deliver it into central spaces, from which it flows on either side to the suction pipes. The mode of regulating the power of the turbine is very simple. The guide-blades are pivoted to the case at their inner ends, and they are connected by a link-work, so that they all open and close simultaneously and equally. In this way the area of opening through the guide-blades is altered without materially altering the angle or the other conditions of the delivery into the wheel. The guide-blade gear may be variously arranged. In this example four spindles, passing through the case, are linked to the guide-blades inside the case, and connected together by the links l, l, l on the outside of the case. A worm wheel on one of the spindles is rotated by a worm d, the motion being thus slow enough to adjust the guide-blades very exactly. These turbines are made by Messrs Gilkes & Co. of Kendal.
| Fig. 190. |
Fig. 190 shows another arrangement of a similar turbine, with some adjuncts not shown in the other drawings. In this case the turbine rotates horizontally, and the turbine case is placed entirely below the tail water. The water is supplied to the turbine by a vertical pipe, over which is a wooden pentrough, containing a strainer, which prevents sticks and other solid bodies getting into the turbine. The turbine rests on three foundation stones, and, the pivot for the vertical shaft being under water, there is a screw and lever arrangement for adjusting it as it wears. The vertical shaft gives motion to the machinery driven by a pair of bevel wheels. On the right are the worm and wheel for working the guide-blade gear.
| Fig. 191. |
§ 188. Hydraulic Power at Niagara.—The largest development of hydraulic power is that at Niagara. The Niagara Falls Power Company have constructed two power houses on the United States side, the first with 10 turbines of 5000 h.p. each, and the second with 10 turbines of 5500 h.p. The effective fall is 136 to 140 ft. In the first power house the turbines are twin outward flow reaction turbines with vertical shafts running at 250 revs. per minute and driving the dynamos direct. In the second power house the turbines are inward flow turbines with draft tubes or suction pipes. Fig. 191 shows a section of one of these turbines. There is a balancing piston keyed on the shaft, to the under side of which the pressure due to the fall is admitted, so that the weight of turbine, vertical shaft and part of the dynamo is water borne. About 70,000 h.p. is daily distributed electrically from these two power houses. The Canadian Niagara Power Company are erecting a power house to contain eleven units of 10,250 h.p. each, the turbines being twin inward flow reaction turbines. The Electrical Development Company of Ontario are erecting a power house to contain 11 units of 12,500 h.p. each. The Ontario Power Company are carrying out another scheme for developing 200,000 h.p. by twin inward flow turbines of 12,000 h.p. each. Lastly the Niagara Falls Power and Manufacturing Company on the United States side have a station giving 35,000 h.p. and are constructing another to furnish 100,000 h.p. The mean flow of the Niagara river is about 222,000 cub. ft. per second with a fall of 160 ft. The works in progress if completed will utilize 650,000 h.p. and require 48,000 cub. ft. per second or 211⁄2% of the mean flow of the river (Unwin, “The Niagara Falls Power Stations,” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., 1906).
| Fig. 192. |
§ 189. Different Forms of Turbine Wheel.—The wheel of a turbine or part of the machine on which the water acts is an annular space, furnished with curved vanes dividing it into passages exactly or roughly rectangular in cross section. For radial flow turbines the wheel may have the form A or B, fig. 192, A being most usual with inward, and B with outward flow turbines. In A the wheel vanes are fixed on each side of a centre plate keyed on the turbine shaft. The vanes are limited by slightly-coned annular cover plates. In B the vanes are fixed on one side of a disk, keyed on the shaft, and limited by a cover plate parallel to the disk. Parallel flow or axial flow turbines have the wheel as in C. The vanes are limited by two concentric cylinders.
Theory of Reaction Turbines.
| Fig. 193. |
§ 190. Velocity of Whirl and Velocity of Flow.—Let acb (fig. 193) be the path of the particles of water in a turbine wheel. That path will be in a plane normal to the axis of rotation in radial flow turbines, and on a cylindrical surface in axial flow turbines. At any point c of the path the water will have some velocity v, in the direction of a tangent to the path. That velocity may be resolved into two components, a whirling velocity w in the direction of the wheel’s rotation at the point c, and a component u at right angles to this, radial in radial flow, and parallel to the axis in axial flow turbines. This second component is termed the velocity of flow. Let vo, wo, uo be the velocity of the water, the whirling velocity and velocity of flow at the outlet surface of the wheel, and vi, wi, ui the same quantities at the inlet surface of the wheel. Let α and β be the angles which the water’s direction of motion makes with the direction of motion of the wheel at those surfaces. Then