Pelton Turbine

CE 322
Lab Report #3
December 7th, 2015

Sierra Anderson
Cristobal Ramos-Salazar
Courtney Sell
Geordan Skyles

Table of Content
Introduction................................................................................................................ 3

Theory........................................................................................................................ 3
Approach.................................................................................................................... 5
Results........................................................................................................................ 6
Discussion................................................................................................................ 10
Design of Experiment............................................................................................... 11
Appendix I................................................................................................................ 12
Appendix II............................................................................................................... 13

Introduction
The purpose of this lab was to determine what the water horse power, break horse
power, and the efficiency of a Pelton turbine is. The lab was also designed to show
that a turbine can be operated at a range of speeds and that there is an optimum
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speed that will produce the most power. This report will include the following: a
discussion of the theory behind the Pelton turbine, the lab data and an explanation
of how it was obtained, a discussion of the results, and an experimental design.

Theory
A turbine is a machine that was created to turn fluid movement into energy for use.
A Pelton Turbine catches energy from water tangentially used for power extraction.
A force is produced when a high speed water jet passes through a nozzle and hits
the buckets of the Pelton wheel. The force of the water jet striking the buckets
makes the Pelton turbine rotate. The rotation of the Pelton wheel causes the
attached generator to rotate, which produces electricity. Therefore, the Pelton
turbine transforms kinetic energy into rotational energy (toque), and subsequently
electrical energy.

Figure 1: Working Principle of a Pelton Turbine

The electrical energy produced by the turbine can be either increased or decreased
by adjusting the flow rate of the water that passes through the spear valve. As the
spear rod is closed, the area becomes smaller thereby decreasing the volumetric
flow rate which is shown by a slower velocity leaving the jet since the nozzle area is
constant. With a slower velocity, the bucket speed and power produced by the
turbine will decrease as well.

Figure 2: Spear Valve Assembly

The number of buckets is one of the most important parameters in a Pelton turbine
design. Energy Loss from the water jet to the turbine can be due to inadequate use
of number of buckets; due to water from the jet not filling the buckets fully or over
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filling the buckets. Using too many or too few buckets will cause the efficiency of the
turbine to decrease. The shape of the bucket is another important factor that affects
the efficiency of a Pelton Turbine. As the water jet strikes the center of the bucket, it
is split in half by a raised portion of the bucket known as the splitter which helps
create maximum efficiency by receiving the most water from the jet. The ideal
bucket angle is 165 degrees for maximum impulse force.

Figure 3: Schematic of Turbine Bucket

Pelton turbines are designed to extract maximum power from a water jet. Power
extracted is the product of the impulse force, F, and the velocity of the bucket, u, as
shown in equation 1.
Equation 1

Pmax = F x u

The force exerted on the bucket can be calculated as shown in equation 2 by using
density of the fluid (), velocity of the water jet (V), area of the nozzle (A), velocity
of the bucket (u), and angle of the bucket ().
Equation 2

F = VA(V u)(1 cos)

The velocity head can be calculated using total head (H), the velocity of the water
jet (V), and gravity, as shown in equation 3.
Equation 3

V=

2 gH

Power created by a Pelton turbine is a parabolic function of the velocity of the

bucket. Knowing this, the maximum power will occur at half the run-away water
jet velocity. Power isnt produced by the turbine when the bucket speed equals zero,
since its not moving, or when it equals the jet velocity because the buckets are
moving too fast to fill with water.
Equation 4

V
=0.5 f maximum power
u

The maximum power created by the water jet can also be computed as Equation 5,
were is the specific weight, Q is the flow rate, and H is the total head.
Equation 5

Pmax = QH

Maximum power is never achieved in a Pelton turbine due to minor losses caused
by the drag force of air in the turbine, friction, and the bucket angle. Despite these
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losses, Pelton turbines are still operate with high efficiency. The flow rate plays an
important role in the calculations for maximum power. When doing lab experiment,
adjust the flow rate by changing the diameter of the nozzle or speed of the water jet
for calculating the power desired.
Lastly, power is measured by the torque (). Torque is calculated from Equation 6,
given the force exerted on the bucket (F), and the moment arm (r) or radius of the
Pelton wheel.
Equation 6

=Fxr

Approach
For this lab the Pelton turbine was mounted onto a hydraulic bench so that the
water could recirculate through the system. This set up also made it easier and
more accurate to measure the volume of water that was needed for the flow rate
calculation. The hydraulic bench draws the water from the sump tank and feeds it to
the spear valve which then shoots the water through the jet and into the turbine.
The water then flows from the turbine to the measuring tank and back into the
sump to be recirculated.
To begin the lab the head in the spear valve was set to 20 meters and the flow rate
was calculated by measuring the time it took for the measuring tank to fill to a
given volume- 25 liters in this case. The flow rate was then used to calculate the
horsepower in the jet stream. Once this was done the turbine speed was measure in
revolutions per minute (RPM). Since the spring balance was not attached at this
time, and therefore no load was applied to the turbine, the recorded turbine speed
was considered to be the runaway speed. Resistance was then applied to the
turbine through the spring balance until the turbine was barely moving, and the
tachometer read a minimum value. This was done to determine the range of the
load that the turbine could sustain and to assure that the necessary data could be
collected at fifteen, evenly-spaced intervals. The load was then recorded. The
difference between the two spring readings was the force that was recorded. The
difference between the two forces multiplied by the radius equals the torque applied
to the shaft. This was done for a variety of different loads so that we were able to
construct a graph that showed the optimum load to produce the maximum power.
Once this was completed the process was repeated at a head of ten meters. Since
the tachometer does not produce a single reading, but rather provides a range, for
each data point the maximum and minimum values were noted so that the bounds
could be determined (e.g., +/- 3 RPM). This allowed the error associated with each
measurement to be calculated.

Results
Before collecting results from the turbine, the flow rate was calculated before and
after taking readings and the average was used for calculations, an example from
10 m Head flow rate is below:

Q=

V 25103
=
=0.00053 m3 / s
t
47.04

Table 1: Flow Rate Calculations

10 m
Head
20 m
Head

Time
(Before)

Flow Rate (Before)

m3/s

Time
(After)

Flow Rate
(After) m3/s

47.04

0.00053

47.31

0.00053

Average
Flow rate
(m3/s)
0.00053

93.85

0.00027

93.84

0.00027

0.0027

After collecting the data the angular velocity, torque, and bucket speed were
calculated to determine the power generated by the turbine. Below are example
calculations for the 10 m of head setting:

=RPM2

1
1
rad
=1042
=10.89
60 sec
60
s

= Fr =( 16.53.125 )0.03=0.40 N m
u=r=10.89.05=0.54

m
s

P=0.00134102=0.410.890.00134102=.0059 hp

Power vs. Bucket Speed (10 m Head)

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05

Power (hp) 0.04

0.03
0.02
0.01
0

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bucket Speed (m/s)

Power turbine (hp)

Theoretical Power (hp)

Maximum Inlet Power

Figure 4: Power vs. Bucket Speed Graph for 10 m Head

Power vs. Bucket Speed (20 m Head)

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05

Power (hp) 0.04

0.03
0.02
0.01
0

10

15

20

25

Bucket Speed (m/s)

Theoretical Power (hp)

Power turbine (hp)

Maximum Inlet Power

Figure 5: Power vs. Bucket Speed Graph for 20 m Head

The graphs for power versus bucket speed shows that the power generated by the
turbine is less than the theoretical power. As the bucket speed increases the power
increases until around .5v, where maximum power occurs, the power starts to drop.
The decrease in power is a steeper slope than the theoretical graph.

To calculate the efficiency, the power generated and inlet power are compared.
Below is a sample calculation for the maximum power and efficiency of the turbine
with 10 m head:

Max Inlet Power=QH =98100.000510.00134102=0.069 hp

Efficiency=

P
0.0059
100=
100=8.5
Max Inlet P
0.069

Efficiency vs Bucket Speed (10 m Head)

120
100
80
Efficiency (%)

Efficiency

60

Theo Efficiency

40
20
0
0

10 12 14 16

Bucket Speed (m/s)

Figure 6: Efficiency vs. Bucket Speed for 10 m Head

Efficiency vs Bucket Speed (20 m Head)

120
100
80
Efficiency (%)

Efficiency (%)

60

Theo Efficiency

40
20
0
0

10

15

20

25

Bucket Speed (m/s)

Figure 7: Efficiency vs. Bucket Speed for 20 m Head

The efficiency results are similar to the power versus bucket speed results
compared to the theoretical curves. The peak efficiency theoretically is when the
bucket speed (u) equals half the jet velocity (v). The peak efficiency found in this lab
was when the bucket speed was 8.23 m/s where the efficiency was 56.02% for the
20 meter head reading, and 6.44 m/s for the bucket speed resulted in 67.82%
efficiency for the 10 m head reading.
The relationship between the rotational speed that was measured (in rpm) versus
the torque was graphed below:

RPM vs. Torque (10 m Head)

12
10
8

Tprque (N-m)

6
4
2
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

RPM

Figure 8: Torque vs. Bucket Speed for 10 m Head

RPM vs Torque (20 m Head)

12
10
8

Torque (N-m)

6
4
2
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

RPM

Figure 9: Torque vs. Bucket Speed for 10 m Head

These results show that there is a correlation between the torque and rotational
speed, as the speed increases the torque decreases. With this relationship it shows
that the less force difference acting on the turbine, which creates the rpms to
increase, results in less torque which decreases power due to the torque, but
increases it at a difference rate due to the angular speed.

Discussion
Overall the results from our lab were as expected based on the theories discussed
previously. At 10 meters and 20 meters of head, the relationship between the power
and the bucket speed, as shown in figure 4 and figure 5, is less than that which
would theoretically be expected. This is due to the fact that the theoretical
calculation does not account for the energy loss, or inefficiency, due to wind drag on
the buckets and friction forces. These effects would cause the maximum power to
be lower than the theoretical, as well as to decrease the velocity at which the
maximum power is found. .
Potential sources of error include the readings of the force applied to the turbine
and the readings of the turbine speed. These were all taken into account and the
associated error bounds for 20 meters of head were 0.07 horsepower and the error
for 10 meters of head were 0.07 horsepower for power calculations. The error in the
power calculations sums up the error in all other sources which can be found
separately in Appendix II.
Figures 4 and 5 also show that the least amount of break power generated by the
turbine is at the highest or lowest of turbine speeds. The 10 meter head shows that
it took more horsepower at a slower speed and didnt run as long as the 20m head.
This shows that the higher the head and the more momentum the longer it takes
the turbine to stop.
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Figures 6 and 7 were then constructed that showed bucket speed verses efficiency.
These are then compared to the horse power of the jet to determine the efficiency
of the turbine. The two parabolas look very similar indicating that there is a
relationship between efficiency and brake horsepower and brake horsepower and
bucket speed. This is to be excepted do to the jet horsepower being a constant. The
graphs also show that the 10m head data is more efficient at a lower bucket speed
than the 20m head data since the peak was 67.82% for the 10m and 59.02% for the
20m. Thus there is less loss in the turbine.
Figures 8 and 9 shows the relationship between turbine speed and torque. It shows
that as the turbine speed increases, the torque decreases. This makes sense
because torque is equal to the force times the radius, as shown in Equation 6. The
radius is a constant but the force on the other hand is not. As the force on the shaft
increases, it slows the turbine speed, proving the inverse relationship between
torque and turbine speed.

Design of Experiment
The efficiency of a Pelton turbine could be determined using the system shown in
Figure 10 on the next page. It is very similar to the one used in this lab, but the belt
with the two attached spring balances that applies tension to the Pelton wheel are
replaced by friction-applying plates and an attached torsion pendulum. The plates
will be loosened (tightened) to decrease (increase) friction on the shaft of the wheel.
The pendulum will deflect when friction is applied and the torque can be calculated
from equation 7.
Equation 7

Where is the deflection angle in radians and

is a given coefficient of the

torsion spring (the spring that the weighted end of the pendulum is attached to) in
Nm/rad.

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Similarly to this lab, the alternate design will use a digital tachometer to measure
the speed of the turbine in rpm. The spear valve will also be opened to various
degrees to change the pressure head.

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Appendix I

(See Attachments)

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Appendix II
References
Fitzpatrick, Richard. "The Torsion Pendulum." The Torsion Pendulum. N.p., 2 Feb.
2006. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
"Torsion Spring." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Dec. 2015. Web. 03 Dec.
2015.

Prasuhn, Alan L. Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering. New York: Oxford UP, 1992.
Print.

Liou, Jim. "Hydraulic Machinery." Pelton Turbine. Moscow, ID. 1 Nov. 2015. Lecture.

(See Attachments)

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