Thermofluid Lab

MEHB 221
Experiment No. 1
Pelton Wheel Turbine

Name Id. Number

Mohd Saiful Bin Zakaria ME 079690
Amir Hamzah Bin Nazri ME 079649
Tengku Muhammad Asraf
Bin Tengku Amran ME 079729
Syed Mohd Ghaddafi B.
Syed Noor ME 080081
Puana Kumar A/L
Supramanium ME 080129
Group : D
Section : 05
Instructor Name : En. Muhamad Ibrahim
Bin Mahmod
Date Performed : 12 February 2009
Due Date : 19 February 2009
 Content

No. Items Page

1 Summary 3

2 Objective 3

3 Data And Observations 4-9

4 Analysis And Discussions 9-10

5 Conclusions 10-11

6 References 11

7 Appendices 11

2
SUMMARY

This experiment is to investigate the performance of the Pelton Wheel with

different range of flow rates and rotational speeds. It is mainly about how Pelton Wheel
performed under different conditions. Pelton Wheel is actually an impulse type of
hydraulic turbine. The wheel basically converts portion of kinetic energy of a high
velocity jet to mechanical work delivered to the shaft. Different range of flow rates and
rotational speed is used in order to investigate the behavior of the wheel.

The experiment procedure starts by zero the tension gauge with no load and then
applying the weight hanger to it. While the pump speed regulator keep increasing until
the maximum, the nozzle spear valve was adjusted until the inlet pressure reads
approximately 0.7 bar. Next after the pressure is stable, the speed of rotation of the wheel
is measured using the non-contact optical tachometer. Then the process was repeated by
different weight before the flow rate is measured. The experiment is done after the steps
is repeated for 0.9 bar and 1.1 bar inlet pressure.

From the obtained result, we can observe some differences between theoretical
parts n measured parts. The percentage error also quite high in that sense. There are some
factors that may cause this lack of accuracy which include the machine and the optical
tachometer.

As a conclusion, Pelton Wheel reacts differently to different flow rates n pressure.

The right velocity jet and pressure must be choosing in order to get the best performance
out of it.

OBJECTIVE

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 To investigate the performance of the Pelton Wheel with different range of flow rates and
rotational speeds.
DATA, OBSERVATION & CALCULATIONS OF RESULTS

Table 1

Inlet pressure P = _0.7_bar

Inlet Head H = _7.136_ m
Volume of water collected Vol = _10_ liter
Time taken t = _13.12_ s
Discharge Q = _45.732_ liter/min
Power Input Win = _53.354_ Watt

Weight Tension Speed Measured Measured Measured Theoretical Theoretical Theoretical

W S ω Torque Power Efficiency Torque Power Out Efficiency
(g) (g) (rpm) τ m (Nm) Out ηm τ th (Nm) Wout,th η th U/V1
Wout,m (Watt)
(Watt)
350 50 1386 0.088 12.772 0.239 0.254 36.866 0.691 0.652
450 60 1300 0.115 15.656 0.293 0.284 38.663 0.725 0.612
550 70 1210 0.141 17.866 0.335 0.315 39.914 0.748 0.570
650 80 1136 0.168 19.986 0.375 0.340 40.447 0.758 0.535
750 90 1007 0.194 20.458 0.383 0.385 40.599 0.761 0.474
850 100 888 0.221 20.551 0.385 0.426 39.614 0.742 0.418
950 110 753 0.247 19.477 0.365 0.472 37.219 0.698 0.354
1050 120 733 0.247 21.032 0.394 0.479 36.768 0.689 0.345

Table 2

Inlet pressure P = 0.9 bar

Inlet Head H = 9.174 m
Volume of water collected Vol = _10_ liter
Time taken t = 17.00 s

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 Discharge Q = 35.294 liter/min
Power Input Win = 52.941 Watt
Weight Tension Speed Measured Measured Measured Theoretical Theoretical Theoretical
W S ω Torque Power Efficiency Torque Power Out Efficiency
(g) (g) (rpm) τ m (Nm) Out ηm τ th (Nm) Wout,th η th U/V1
Wout,m (Watt)
(Watt)
350 60 1537 0.085 13.681 0.258 0.232 37.341 0.705 0.638
450 70 1440 0.112 16.889 0.319 0.257 38.755 0.732 0.598
550 80 1338 0.138 19.336 0.365 0.284 39.793 0.752 0.556
650 90 1233 0.165 21.305 0.402 0.312 40.285 0.761 0.512
750 100 1112 0.191 22.242 0.420 0.344 40.058 0.757 0.462
850 110 954 0.218 21.779 0.411 0.386 38.562 0.728 0.396
950 120 771 0.244 19.700 0.372 0.435 35.121 0.663 0.320
1050 130 446 0.271 12.657 0.239 0.521 24.333 0.460 0.185

Table 3

Inlet pressure P = 1.1 bar

Inlet Head H = 11.213 m
Volume of water collected Vol = _10_ liter
Time taken t = 20.65 s
Discharge Q = 29.056 liter/min
Power Input Win = 53.269 Watt

Weight Tension Speed Measured Measured Measured Theoretical Theoretical Theoretical

W S ω Torque Power Efficiency Torque Power Out Efficiency
(g) (g) (rpm) τ m (Nm) Out ηm τ th (Nm) Wout,th η th U/V1
Wout,m (Watt)
(Watt)
350 60 1635 0.085 14.553 0.273 0.225 38.524 0.723 0.614
450 70 1541 0.112 18.074 0.339 0.245 39.536 0.742 0.579
550 80 1396 0.138 20.174 0.379 0.277 40.494 0.760 0.524
650 90 1267 0.165 21.892 0.411 0.305 40.467 0.760 0.476
750 100 1240 0.191 24.802 0.466 0.311 40.384 0.758 0.466
850 110 928 0.218 21.185 0.398 0.379 36.831 0.691 0.349
950 120 841 0.244 21.489 0.403 0.398 35.052 0.658 0.316

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Graph

Graph Of Measured Power (Wout,m) Against Wheel

Speed (ω)
30

25
Measured Power (Watt)

20
0.7 Bar
15 0.9 Bar
1.1 Bar
10

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Wheel Speed (rpm)

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 Garph Of Measured Efficiency (nm) Against Wheel Speed (ω)

0.50

0.45

0.40

0.35
Measured Efficiency

0.30
0.7 Bar
0.25 0.9 Bar
1.1 Bar
0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Sample Calculation Wheel Speed (rpm)

Example for Table 1:

Density, ρ = 1000kg/m³
Gravity acceleration, g = 9.81 m/s²
Volume, V = 10 liter
Time, t = 13.12 s
Pressure, P = 0.7 bar
Applied weight, W = 350 g
Tension gauge reading, S = 50 g
Radius of dynamometer wheel, R d = 0.03 m
K1 = 0.8
θ = 25°
R = 0.05m
Cv = 0.94

Inlet head:

H = (Px10 5)
ρg
= (0.7x105)

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 (1000)(9.81)
= 7.136 m

Discharge or flow rate:

Q = V x 60
T
= 10 x 60
13.12
= 45.732 liter/min

Power output:

Win = (Px10 5)(Qx10 -3)

60
= (0.7x105)(45.732x10-3)
60
= 53.354 Watt

Measured torque:

τ m = (W− S) x[gRd ]
1000
= (350-50) x [9.81x0.03]
1000
= 0.088 Nm

Measured power output:

W out, m = τ mω2 π
60
= 0.088x1386x2xπ
60
= 12.772 Watt

Measured efficiency:

η m= Wout,m
Win
= 12.772
53.354
= 0.239

Theoretical output torque:

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τ = ( ρ Qx10 -3) (Cv√(2gH) - ω R2 π ) ( 1+k1 cosθ ) R
th
60 60
= (1000x45.732x10 ) (0.94x√(2x9.81x7.136) – 1386x0.05x2π ) (1+0.8cos25°)
-3

(0.05)
60 60
= 0.254 Nm

Theoretical power output:

W out, th = τ mω2 π
60
= 0.254x1386x2π
60
= 36.866 Watt

Theoretical efficiency:

η th = Wout,th
Win
= 36.866
53.354
= 0.691

Velocity ratio:

U= ωR___ x 2π
V1 [Cv√(2gH)] 60
= 1386x0.05 x 2π
[0.94x√(2x9.81x7.136)] 60
= 0.652

DISCUSSION

The working principle of Pelton wheel turbine is water flows along the tangent to
the path of the runner. Nozzles direct forceful streams of water against a series of spoon-
shaped buckets mounted around the edge of a wheel. As water flows into the bucket, the
direction of the water velocity changes to follow the contour of the bucket. When the

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water-jet contacts the bucket, the water exerts pressure on the bucket and the water is
decelerated as it does a "u-turn" and flows out the other side of the bucket at low velocity.
In the process, the water's momentum is transferred to the turbine. This "impulse" does
work on the turbine. For maximum power and efficiency, the turbine system is designed
such that the water-jet velocity is twice the velocity of the bucket. A very small
percentage of the water's original kinetic energy will still remain in the water; however,
this allows the bucket to be emptied at the same rate it is filled, thus allowing the water
flow to continue uninterrupted.

From the graph 1, we can observe that while the wheel speed decreasing, the
measured power output is increasing until it reaches certain point where the power will
drop unexpectedly. For the graph 2, we can experience the same result like the first
graph. Both of its not gives us huge differences. This wheel speed also decreasing while
the output power is increasing until it reaches the maximum point before it drop. We can
conclude that both output power and efficiency is inversely proportional to the wheel
speed.
From the results obtained, we can see how Pelton Wheel reacts to different kind
of input. Different flow rates give different value of work input. The slower the flow
rates, the larger the work being put into the wheel. The efficiency of the slower flow rates
is also better than faster one. The speed of the wheel also dropped when much weight
being dropped until it stopped suddenly when the weight is too much for it to go against.

According to theoretical value calculated, we can observe the percentage errors is

quite high compare to the measured results that have obtained. This proves that measured
values are varied so much from theoretical values and lead to inaccuracy.

There are some possible sources of errors in the experiment. Firstly we can look
into device itself, the friction band is seemed to be quite used. Therefore maybe the grip
is less and not the same as new. The tension in the band also might be lesser. Then when
taking the rpm reading of the wheel, it maybe not accurate because the water that flows
out from the wheel’s bucket is interrupting the reading taken by the optical tachometer.

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We are told to wait for the wheel to rotate steadily before taking any readings. This is
because the need stabilized itself because at this stage the loading is much heavier than
before.

CONCLUSIONS

As a conclusion from the experiment that had been performed, we can conclude
that different range of flow rates and rotational speeds influences the performance of
Pelton wheel turbine. In order to get the maximum output from the turbine, we must
design a bucket that will reflect the exit water at 180 degrees. But in practice there is no
such thing can be achieved so far. There must always still be an axial component of
velocity. The combination of flowrate and jet velocity manipulates the power or work
input. The bigger the diameter nozzle the faster the flow rates but lower in velocity jet.
Therefore we need the perfect combination of both. In general, impulse turbine is high-
head, low-flowrate device. So we can assume that our experiment is successful due to the
result we obtained.

REFERENCES

1) Lab manual

2) Book :
- Frank M. White. 2008. Fluid Mechanics. Sixth Edition. New York: Mc Graw Hill
International Edition. pp341-446.

3) Internet

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-2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelton_wheel
-2008. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pelton-wheel-d_237.html

APPENDICES

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