The Kaplan Adjustable-Blade Turbine

Abstract

Abstract In this paper the author gives details of construction of the Kaplan adjustable-blade hydraulic turbine, and tells of the advantages obtained by adjusting the blades and the wicket gates simultaneously. This turbine differs from the ordinary wicket-gate turbine in the shape of the top plate and the construction of the runner and shaft. The top plate is shaped so as to form a transition space free from vanes between the wicket gates and the runner, in which the direction of flow of the water is changed from radial to axial. The runner hub carries the movable blades, and the operating connections for moving the blades are inside the single-piece hub casting.