Supervisor: Dr. B.W. Botha

The development of computer technology makes it increasingly possible to start designs through simulation and making it possible to address technical problems before manufacturing. This not only saves cost, but also the design time needed to develop a new product. In order to stay competitive within the market, designers are forced to make use of simulation in various fields by means of specialist software packages. Specialist software packages usually have the disadvantage of being expensive and that the designer must already have a good basis in order to significantly make use of it. Thus, a need exists to guide young turbo-machine designers in making reasonable assumptions during the design of a new turbo-machine, in this case a radial-inflow turbine. The aim is to give the designer meaningful initial design parameters making it possible for the designer to start a new design within a current available simulation packag;! with some degree of assurance that it will solve. This is achieved by completing the following three steps: 1. Do a thorough literature study concerning radial-inflow turbines in order to determine which parameters are important during the design of a radial-inflow turbine. 2. Develop a simple tool to determine the initial design parameters of a radial-inflow turbine by making use of the Engineering Equation Solver (EES). 3. Verify the constructed EES radial-inflow turbine design tool. After these steps have been completed, the designer will be able to determine "ball-park values for the design of a radial-inflow turbine and in doing so, will be able to state the economical feasibility of a system before proceeding to a detail design. MEng- A. Rossouw I December 2006 Defermmng the initial design parameters of a radial-inflow turbine Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge those who supported me during the completion of this thesis, my family as well as my mentor for his guidance. In particular to my wife Charmaine, for her patience and support during the moments of frustration. Finally, I would like to thank the Lord for his blessings