BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to hydraulic turbines having runners with generally horizontal axes of rotation. Particularly, this invention relates to a vibration-dampened discharge ring surrounding the runner to reduce noise and vibration emanating from the ring during operation of the turbine.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the prior art, hydraulic turbines are well known for the production of hydroelectric power. Such turbines typically are constructed with cylindrical discharge rings surrounding the turbine blades for guiding flowing water past the blades.

Such turbines are constructed for either vertical or horizontal operation. In vertical turbines, the discharge ring is commonly embedded in a concrete foundation. Examples of such vertical turbines are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,833,146 to Woodard dated Nov. 24, 1931; 1,934,636 to Martin dated Nov. 7, 1933 and 2,701,313 to Obrist dated Feb. 1, 1955. On horizontal turbines, the discharge ring is commonly exposed within an access chamber formed within the foundation such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,540 to Boulogne dated Oct. 20, 1970.

Exposing the discharge ring to the atmosphere, as is common in horizontal turbines, has resulted in undesirable effects. Namely, vibrational forces caused by flowing water and operation of the turbine are transmitted to the discharge ring resulting in a great deal of noise emanating from the discharge ring. This noise is particularly troublesome when the turbines are installed near populous areas and to workers in the turbine powerhouse.

To deaden the noise, it has been suggested to coat the discharge ring with styrofoam or other insulating material. However, such attempts are only moderately successful since they fail to dampen the vibration which is the major source of the noise.

It is well known to dampen the vibration, and hence the noise, of an object by increasing its mass. However, such a suggestion applied to hydraulic turbines presents additional problems. Adding to the thickness of a discharge ring would increase its mass but such rings are formed from structural steel which is expensive and costly to shape.

Additionally, adding to the thickness of the discharge ring or permanently filling the discharge ring with a massive material greatly adds to the weight of the ring. At the time of installation of the ring, and at times during the life of the turbine, removal of the ring is necessary. By increasing the mass of the ring, the weight is so great that removal is impossible or requires very costly, heavy cranes and other equipment as well as costly modifications to foundations to support the equipment.

The object of the present invention is to provide a discharge ring of sufficient mass to eliminate the vibration of the ring and resulting noises.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a massive discharge ring which is susceptible to easy removal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a discharge ring for a hydraulic turbine. The discharge ring has a cylindrical inner ring coaxial with a generally horizontal axis of rotation of a turbine runner equipped with turbine blades. An outer ring, surrounding the inner ring, is supported by spacer ribs affixed to the inner ring.

The outer ring includes removable fill plates for permitting the introduction of massive granular material into cavities within the discharge ring. Removable discharge plates along the lower portion of the outer ring permit the granular material to be removed by allowing it to spill out of the cavities due to the influence of gravity. During the operation of the turbine, noise and vibration emanating from the discharge ring are absorbed and reduced by the massive granular material within the ring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a runner of a hydraulic turbine showing a discharge ring;

FIG. 2 is a view of the discharge ring taken along line II--II of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view of a spacer rib.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a rotary runner 10 of a hydraulic turbine with a generally horizontal axis of rotation X--X. Runner 10 is equipped with a plurality of adjustable runner blades 11. A generally cylindrical discharge ring 12 surrounds turbine blades 11. An inner ring 13 of plate steel or other suitable material defines a hydraulic passageway 14 for guiding water past turbine blades 11. As shown in FIG. 2, inner ring 13 is formed by an upper half ring 13a and a lower half ring 13b. Half rings 13a, 13b are provided with flanges 16, 17, 18 and 19. Inner ring 13 is formed by joining upper half ring 13a and lower half ring 13b along the flanges 16, 17, 18 and 19.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of axial and circumferential spacer ribs 15 are provided affixed to inner ring 13 and extending radially outwardly therefrom. Spacer bars 15 extend radially outwardly from inner ring 13 of like distance with, as shown in FIG. 3, spacer ribs 15 defining self-contained openings to permit communication between cavities formed within discharge ring 12 as will be described hereafter.

A generally cylindrical outer ring 20 is provided surrounding inner ring 13 and supported upon spacer ribs 15. Outer ring 20 includes an upper outer half-ring 20a supported upon spacer ribs 15 affixed to upper half-ring 13a and a lower outer half-ring 20b supported upon spacer ribs 15 affixed to lower half-ring 13b. Outer half-rings 20a, 20b, inner half-rings 13a, 13b, and spacer bars 15 cooperate to define a plurality of interconnected cavities, such as at 21, within discharge ring 12. Cavities 21 are filled with suitable granular vibration attenuation material such as sand or perlite.

Outer half-rings 20a, 20b include a plurality of axially disposed removable fill plates 23a, 23b, and 23c. Fill plates 23a, 23b and 23c are joined to outer half-rings 20a, 20b along spacer ribs 15 by bolts or other suitable means such as at 24.

Fill plates 23a, 23b and 23c are joined to outer half-rings 20a, 20b at the upper most portions of said rings 20a, 20b. Likewise, a plurality of removable discharge plates 25a, 25b, 25c are provided axially disposed along outer rings 20a, 20b at lower most portions of said rings.

In the operation of the invention, fill plates 23a, 23b and 23c are removed. Sand or other suitable granular material is introduced to cavities 21 where the plates are removed. Since cavities 21 are interconnected, gravity causes the sand to tumble downwardly filling all of cavities 21 within discharge ring 12. During operation of the turbine, vibratory forces produced by water flowing through passageway 14 and rotation of runner 10 are absorbed by the sand contained in cavities 21. When desirable to remove discharge ring 12, discharge plates 25a, 25b and 25c are removed and the sand is permitted to spill out of cavities 21 thereby reducing the weight of discharge ring 12 and facilitating easy removal.

From the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, it has been shown how the objects of the present invention have been attained in a preferred manner. However, modification and equivalents of the disclosed concepts, such as readily occur to those skilled in the art, are intended to be included in the scope of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention is intended to be limited only by the scope of the claims such as, or may hereafter be, appended hereto.