The runner of a hydraulic turbine — the component found in every hydroelectric power plant — is not just bulky; it’s highly complex. The history of how the runner was designed and improved is full of fascinating stories.
One such episode took place in Novocherkassk about 30 years ago, when Professor Milovich of the Polytechnic Institute was calculating the most effective arrangement for the blades. He needed to position the blades so the water could do as much useful work as possible.
Back then, electronic calculators didn’t exist, so Milovich had to do his calculations on paper. One day, looking for a break from his calculations, he visited the local museum and noticed a nautilus shell divided into chambers. Intrigued by the shell’s partitions, he realized something remarkable: over millions of years, nature had mathematically optimized the nautilus’s buoyant shell. Its chamber arrangement matched the pattern he needed for the most efficient turbine runner.
That lucky coincidence helped him complete the intricate calculations for the turbine runner much faster.
