Heliciel propeller software tutorials

Episode 12: A Kaplan turbine for a small hydro site

Heliciel video tutorial, episode 12

Sizing a Kaplan turbine and the whole structure around it with Heliciel's Hydro Turbine design workshop, for a site of 4 m gross head and 12 m³/s: specific speed and Kaplan range, spiral casing and distributor, guide vane opening controlling flow and losses, the two balancing solvers (imposed 1,700 mm runner: 371 kW; full sizing: 1,868 mm runner, 391 kW, no cavitation), draft tube, piezometric graph, 3D installation, STL fabrication kit and the runner sent to the project.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:50 The site and the penstock
1:41 Specific speed: is it a Kaplan?
3:05 Spiral casing and distributor
3:46 The guide vanes control the flow
4:55 Solver 1: an imposed runner
5:47 Solver 2: the full sizing
7:07 Draft tube and piezometric graph
7:49 Results and cavitation diagnostic
8:15 The installation in 3D
9:01 Fabrication kit and Heliciel project
10:00 Conclusion

Also on YouTube, with English and French audio tracks and subtitles: https://youtu.be/0jzVFf701VU

The Mecaflux Suite licence activates Kaplan hydro turbine design in Heliciel: https://www.mecaflux.com/suite/en/suite.php

Going further: Hydro Turbine design, the user guide of the workshop

Previous episode: Episode 11: A duct fan for a heat exchanger, driven by AI prompts

Next episode: Episode 13: A Kaplan turbine from a specification, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) prompts

The whole series: Heliciel video tutorials