Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management &

Gramothan, Jaipur

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Student Name: Prateek
YogendraKumawat
Singh Shekhawat

Roll Number: 19ESKME117

19ESKME175

Sign of Student:
Faculty Name: - Brij Mohan Sharma (Assistant Professor, DME)
Date: - 13th July 2021
URL of Virtual lab experiment: Pelton Turbine
Title of the Virtual Lab Experiment: Performance Characteristics of Pelton Turbine

Aim: - To conduct performance test on pelton turbine under various heads,

speeds and loads and to plot the operating characteristics.

Diagram of turbine: -
Theory: -

Pelton wheel is impulse type water turbine which extracts energy from
impulse of moving water when the water strikes the pelton cup at very high
speed, it induces an impulsive force which makes the turbine rotate. In short
the pelton wheel transforms the kinetic energy of water jet into rotational
energy.

The spoon shaped buckets are mounted on the circumferential rim of drive
wheel called runner. As the high-speed jet of water impinges upon the pelton
cups, the direction of the water velocity is changed to follow the contour of
the bucket. The impulse energy of water exerts torque on the bucket and
makes the wheel to spin, and finally the water takes U-turn and exits at the
sides of pelton cup with low velocity.

Control of the turbine is maintained by hydraulically operated needle nozzles

in each jet. In addition, a jet deflector is provided for emergency shutdown.
The deflector diverts the water jet from the buckets to the wall of the pit liner.
This feature provides surge protection for the penstock without the need for a
pressure relief valve because load can be rapidly removed from the generator
without changing the flow rate. Control of the turbine may also be
accomplished by the deflector alone. On these units the needle nozzle is
manually operated and the deflector diverts a portion of the jet for lower
loads. This method is less efficient and normally used for speed regulation of
the turbine under constant load.

The main parts of Pelton Turbine are:

(1) Nozzle and Flow regulation arrangement: The amount of water flowing
out from the nozzle is regulated by providing a spear in the nozzle. The spear
is a conical shaped needle which is operated by manually or automatically in
an axial direction depending upon the size of the

(2) Runner and Buckets: Runner consists of a circular disc on the periphery
of which number of buckets are attached with equal spacing. The pelton
buckets are in cup or bowl shape and each bucket is divided into symmetrical
parts by a wall called splitter. The splitter divides the jet of water into two
equal parts. The buckets are designed in such a way that the water jet gets
deflected through 160° or 170°. The buckets are made of bronze, cast iron or
stainless steel depending upon the head at the inlet of the turbine.

(3) Casing: The function of water is to prevent the splashing of water and to
guide the discharged water to tail race. The casing of Pelton Wheel does not
perform any Hydraulic function.
(4) Breaking Jet: When the nozzle is closed completely by moving the spear
in forward direction, the amount of water striking the bucket reduces to zero.
But due inertia, the runner goes on revolving for some more time. To stop the
runner in a short time, a small nozzle is provided which directs the water from
the back of the buckets. This water jet is known as breaking jet.

Important Terms

Headrace: A dam constructed across a river or a channel to store water. The

reservoir is also known as Headrace.

Tailrace: It is the channel which conveys the water out from the turbine
casing after hitting the pelton bucket.

Gross head (Hg): It is the vertical difference between headrace and tailrace.

Net head (H): It is the actual head available at the inlet of the turbine to work.

H = Hg- hf
Where,

hf= total loss of head due to friction during the transit of water from headrace
to tailrace and is given by,

hf=4fLV2
2gd
Where,

f = coefficient of friction of penstock depending on the type of material of

penstock

L = total length of penstock

V = mean flow velocity of water through the penstock

d = diameter of penstock and

g = acceleration due to gravity

Governing mechanism in Pelton Wheel:

A governing mechanism which controls position of the spear head meets the
power demand requirement. With lowering power demand the spear head at
water inlet nozzle is moved in. So that water flow rate get reduced. If power
demand increases spear head is moved out this will increase the flow rate.
So, in pelton wheel, the power supply can be made to meet the power demand
by controlling the water flow rate. So this governing mechanism in turn will
balance the power supply and power demand and will make sure that the
turbine will rotates at the constant speed. This speed is also conforms to
power supply frequency. So this mechanism acts as speed governing
mechanism in pelton wheel.

Number of buckets in pelton wheel:

Number of buckets in pelton wheel is one of the most important parameter in

the design of pelton turbine. If the number of buckets are inadequate, then,
this will result in loss of water jet. That is, when one of bucket comes in
contact with water jet, the next bucket may not get engaged with water jet.
This will result in loss of water jet for a short duration which later tends to
sudden drop in efficiency.

Number of buckets = 15 + D = 15 + 0.5m

2d

Where, m = jet ratio = D/d

Since the water jet is always open to atmosphere, the pressure at inlet and
outlet will be same as atmospheric pressure. However absolute velocity of
fluid will have huge drop from inlet to exit of the bucket. This drop of kinetic
energy is the maximum energy that the bucket can absorb.

So it is clear that, pelton turbine gains mechanical energy purely due to

change in kinetic energy of jet, not due to pressure energy change. Which
means, pelton turbine is a pure impulse machine.

Power extraction:

If the pelton wheel buckets are held stationary, then the power extraction is
zero. If the pelton wheel buckets are rotating with the same speed of water jet,
the jet won’t be able to hit the bucket. Hence in this case also the power
extraction will be zero. Hence the power extraction is zero both at speed of
bucket is zero and when bucket speed is same as jet speed.

Types of efficiencies:

Depending on the considerations of input and output, the efficiencies can be

classified as

1. Hydraulic Efficiency
2. Mechanical Efficiency
3. Overall Efficiency
Hydraulic Efficiency(ηh):

It is the ratio of the power developed by the runner of a turbine to the power
supplied at the inlet of a turbine. Since the power supplied is hydraulic, and
the probable loss is between the striking jet and vane it is rightly called
hydraulic efficiency.

ηh=Runner Power
Water Power

Mechanical Efficiency(ηm):

It is the ratio of the power available at the shaft to the power developed by the
runner of a turbine. This depends on the slips and other mechanical problems
that will create a loss of energy between the runner in the annular area
between the nozzle and spear, the amount of water reduces as the spear is
pushed forward and vice – versa and shaft which is purely mechanical and
hence mechanical efficiency.

ηm = Shaft Power
Runner Power

Overall Efficiency(η):

It is the ratio of the power available at the shaft to the power supplied at the
inlet of a turbine. As this covers over all problems of losses in energy, it is
known as overall efficiency. This depends on both the hydraulic losses and
the slips and other mechanical problems that will create a loss of energy
between the jet power supplied and the power generated at the shaft available
for coupling of the generator.

η=Shaft Power
Water Power
Procedure: -
Image Showing Result for the given input parameters: -

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Observation Table: -

Gate Sp. Wt Discharge Constant Speed of Torque

Trial opening of Water Q Head Motor (τ)
(γ) (H) (N)

1 50% 9810 0.0036 18.5 m 960 rpm 1.18 N

N/m3 m3/sec

2 50% 9810 0.0036 18.5 m 910 rpm 1.32N

N/m3 m3/sec

3 50% 9810 0.0036 18.5 m 860 rpm 1.62N

N/m3 m3/sec
Calculation: -
Image of Student Performing Experiment: -
Screen shot of the screen Photo of student while performing
the experiment on virtual lab

Result and Discussion: -

Screenshot of Post Test, after attempting it

Your score: 5 out of 5

..The End..