BFL has developed designs of turbine to suit most extreme site requirements. With significant improvements & design upgrades have achieved several milestones in Kaplan turbine installations. The first Kaplan turbine of 1.5m diameter was designed, manufactured and installed in 1985.
Turbines with power outputs ranging from 500kW upto 30 MW with runner diameters from 1.15m upto 4.5m ranging from 3 runner blade to 6 runner blade for both direct driven and gear box driven options have been developed.
Kaplan turbines are suitable for low head applications ranging from 1.5m to 60m and are designed for reliable operation with high efficiency. A number of different configurations are possible depending on the desired layout of the power house. Flow through the turbines can be controlled by adjustable guide vanes & runner blades to maximize the efficiency of the turbine & hence increase the over all generation.
The largest Kaplan turbine of 2 x 27 MW commissioned in 2013.
