c1 u Pjet PT F Q rT Pel j nozzle p g ajet dnozzle m = dm dt p

[m/s] [m/s) [W] [W] [N] [m3 /s] [kg/m3 ]

[m] [W] [kgm/s] [n/m2 ] [m/s2 ] [m2 ] [m] [kg/s] [1/s] [N/m2 ]

linear velocity of water jet runner speed at PCD kin power in the jet dE dt power of turbine dj force F = dt discharge, volume ow density of water (f(T)) angle of deected jet radius of turbine (PCD/2) power output of generator impulse, momentum conversion eff. of nozzle pressure gravitational constant cross-section area of jet nozzle diameter mass ow Q M 2f = 2 RP 60 pressure

Table 1: Glossary Useful Symbols

1
1.1
1.1.1

Theoretical Background of P ELTON Turbine

Physics of Water Turbines (Impulse Turbines)
Basic Assumptions

The power output of an ideal turbine PT is derived from (a simplied) B ERNOULLI s equation with the following assumptions: no friction no viscosity incompressible medium laminar ow steady ow The only parameters that have to be taken into account are the pressure and velocity differences at inlet and outlet of the turbine.1 PT = where p1 p2 stands for the specic potential energy of the water ow, whereas
2 c2 1 c2 2

p1 p2 c2 c2 2 + 1 2

dm dt

denotes the specic kinetic energy. Thus the expression PT =

2 c2 1 c2 2

dm dt

describes the net power output of an ideal impulse2 turbine, where all potential energy is transformed into velocity (i.e. kinetic) energy.
1 2

ci =linear ow velocity in [m/s]; p1 =pressure in [N/m2 ]; dm =m : mass ow in [kg/s] dt impulse turbines are e.g. P ELTON , T URGO & BANKI -O SSBERGER -M ITCHELL crossow turbines

Figure 1: Flow of Jet in Bucket (Vane) of P ELTON turbine 1.1.2 Impulse Turbine

Impulse (i.e momentum) is dened as product of velocity and mass j = m v , thus being a quantity of motion. The pulse force is dened as the rst derivative of the momentum: dj d(m v ) = =F dt dt In a closed system the sum of all acting forces equals zero, thus the forces of deection, acceleration (positive or negative) are in equilibrium with the pulse force(s). The runner of the turbine is driven by the negative acceleration of the periphal ow of the jet, with ow velocity c1 . The product of torque MT and the rotational speed of the turbine , which equals the power output PT , can be related to the ow rate 1 dm dt and the periphal velocity u of the runner by means of: Q= PT = MT = Q (c1 c2 ) u with c1 and c2 the velocity components of the jet in the direction of u before and after touching the bucket. The efciency of the turbine is given by the ratio of the power output at the turbine shaft PT and the kinetic power Pjet of the water jet. This leads to a general equation for the turbine efciency: = PT Q (c1 c2 ) u = 1 2 Pjet 2 Q c1

and then a variable k k= u c1

is dened, which gives the ratio between the periphal velocity of the runner u and the linear velocity of the jet c1 (before hitting the runner). The optimal rotational speed opt can be calculated from the rst derivative of the efciency over k : d = 0 ( = opt ) dk and the solutions for the P ELTON turbine are given below.

Figure 2: P ELTON turbine wheel plus nozzles

1.1.3

P ELTON runner

If the vane of a P ELTON turbine does not move, the only effect is to reverse the jets direction. Apart from some energy lost to friction (can be introduced by a bucket efciency b ), the energy of the jet, and the magnitude of its velocity, stay the same as before. If the vane moves towards the jet, the water gains speed; if it pushes a vane moving away, it loses speed. In particular, if the water drives a vane moving at half its speed, then (neglecting friction) it loses all its velocity (and thus its kinetic energy) and just dribbles out of the moving vane. The velocity of the jet is reduced by the friction losses in the nozzles these losses are expressed by the friction loss coefcient n (0.96-0.99 for polished surfaces and well designed nozzle shapes), giving the jet velocity c0 as c0 = n 2 g H = n 2p

a function of head H or pressure p and it is generally assumed that c1 = c0 the inlet velocity at the runner equals the jet velocity at the nozzle (see below how to determine the nozzle efciency). It is possible to calculate the shaft power of the P ELTON runner, assuming a deection of the jet of = 165 (this axial component of the reected jet is necessary to prevent the deected water from hitting the following buckets). PT = MT = F u = Q (1 cos) (c1 u) u The efciency of a P ELTON turbine is then calculated from the following equation = PT Q (1 cos) (c1 u) u = 1 2 Pjet 2 Q c1

and this equation can be simplied by using the above given denition for k : = 2 (1 cos) (c1 u) u c2 1

= 2 (1 cos) (1 k ) k showing us, how the efciency depends on the ratio k = u/c1 3 . As pointed out above, with the rst derivative set to zero, we obtain the value of k for maximum efciency k (max ) = 0.5 = u c1

i.e. for maximum efciency the runner tip speed u should be equal half the jet velocity c1 4 . The maximum theoretical efciency max = 1 2 (1 b cos 2 ) 2 n

is in the range of 0.95 for optimal values of the nozzle efciency n . Well designed P ELTON reach an efciency of 88-91% when they operate at 60-80% of full design ow.

1.2

Some Useful Relations for P ELTON Turbines

In the following some useful relations are listed. Some are needed to evaluate the experimental results.
3 4

Please see g. 3 for a graph of this function In real systems the optimal value for k is between 0.45 and 0.49

Figure 3: Theoretical P ELTON Runner Turbine Efciency vs. k Value

Figure 4: P ELTON Runner Relative Efciency vs Rated Flow.

1.2.1

Pressure and Head

Pressure and Head in a hydropower plant are related by p=H g or H= with H2 O 1000 kg m3 p g (1)

g = 9.81 p[

m s2

N ] m2 H [m] kg m [N ] = [ 2 ] s 1.2.2 Hydraulic Power

We assume the absence of friction losses

1 2 mc 2 1 kinetic power of jet ow equals hydraulic power of the water ow Pjet = =pQ =pV and =m Q=V

(2)

thus PH = H g m the power PH of the falling water can be expressed as PH = QgH 1.2.3 How to calculate Turbine parameters (3)

The speed of the turbine runner at pitch circle diameter (PCD) is given by u = P CD/2 with = 2 RP M/60 Whereas the the speed of the jet c1 has to be calculated by = c1 ajet Q=V d2 jet 4

ajet =

(4)

c1 =

Q 4Q = ajet d2 jet 6

Nozzle efciency If we divide the kinetic energy of the jet by the hydraulic energy from the pressure. we get an idea of the nozzle efciency:
1 2 2 Qc1

nozzle = and c1 already known.

pQ

c2 1 2p