The effect of runner blade loading on the performance and internal flow of a Francis hydro turbine model

As a core component of a hydropower station, hydro turbines play a vital role in the integration of a power station. Research on the technology of hydro turbine is continuously increasing with the development of water electricity. It is effective and successful to design a Francis turbine runner blade with good performance by one-dimensional hydraulic design method. For the one-dimensional hydraulic design, the runner blade angle at leading and trailing edges can be defined by calculation of Euler’s head. Design of the runner blade profile at several cross sections is needed to design a runner shape. In this study, there are three different blade loadings conducted to compare the internal flow characteristics and performance. The result shows that the front loading achieves the best efficiency in comparison to other loadings, which is good at suppressing the loss at draft tube.