Abstract :

In this experiment, we studied the characteristics of the Pelton wheel

turbine. These included the efficiency of the turbine, power generated by the
turbine and the Torque. We actually studied their trends with the RPM of the
turbine as they vary when the RPM of the turbine vary. Graphs were drawn of
these characteristics separately with the RPM of the turbine.
Results showed the experimental trend of these characteristics was
somehow similar to the theoretical trends.
From the results, it was seen that the maximum efficiency of the turbine was 66.33
% when it was rotating at 1051 RPM.
The maximum Torque generated by the turbine was 4.7 N-m when rotating at the
lowest speed of 916 RPM.
The maximum Output Power produced by the turbine was 459 W when rotating at
1051 RPM
Introduction:
Pelton Wheel Turbine is a type of impulse turbine which is among the most
efficient types of water turbines. This turbine was invented by Lester Allan pelton
in 1870. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse (momentum) of
moving water, as opposed to its weight like traditional overshot water wheel.
Pelton's paddle geometry was designed so that when the rim runs at the speed
of the water jet, the water leaves the wheel with very little speed, extracting
almost all of its energy, and allowing for a very efficient turbine. In this type of
turbine, pressure head is completely transformed into velocity head by a nozzle at
an atmospheric pressure. The water jet is directed towards the turbine runner
buckets. With proper design, the velocity of water leaving the buckets should drop
to nearly zero. The turbine runner consists of buckets placed radically side by side.
Each bucket has two identical and adjacent spoons as shown in Figure



Procedure:
The Apparatus consists of a Pelton Wheel Turbine along with a Dynamometer. As
the water is allowed to enter in Turbine through Valve, the propeller starts to
rotate, which in turn rotate the shaft connected to Rotor of Dynamometer.
Dynamometer consists of Two Plate Discs, one is stationary and one is rotor which
is connected to turbine through shaft. Water is present in between the two plates.
As the rotor turns, it churns up the water and creates a resisting torque by fluid
friction. By changing the load we can control rpm.
Experimental Procedure was quite simple. For nearly Fixed flow rate, load was
changed continuously, and Pressure, Turbine speed, flow rate, and force on


Dynamometer were measured through pressure gauge, Speed indicator, flow rate
indicator and spring balance respectively.
Observations And Calculations:
Radius of Dynamometer = r = 0.2m.
Unit conversions: 1 psi = 0.07264 kgf/cm
2
. 1 rpm = 0.104 rad/sec.
Formulas used:
Input Power = Wi = 1.635 Q.P
Q = Flow rate(lpm).
P = pressure(kgf/cm
2
).
No.
of
obs
Pressure
P(kgf/cm
2
)
Flow
Rate
Q(lpm)
Turbine
Speed(rpm)
Force
(N)
Torque
T(N-m)
Input
PowerW
i

(watt)
Output
Power
W
o
(watt)
Efficiency
%

1 1.968595 221 1820 3.5
0.7 711.3223 132.496 18.62672
2
1.968595
221 1675 6
1.2 711.3223 209.04 29.38752
3
1.968595
217 1584 9
1.8 698.4477 296.5248 42.45483
4
1.968595
219 1513 10.5
2.1 704.885 330.4392 46.87846
5
1.968595
221 1405 13
2.6 711.3223 379.912 53.40926
6
1.968595
221 1340 15
3 711.3223 418.08 58.77504
7
1.968595
215 1051 21
4.2 692.0104 459.0768 66.33958
8
1.968595
217 916 23.5
4.7 698.4477 447.7408 64.10513










0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0 500 1000 1500 2000
T
O
R
Q
U
E
(
N
-
m
)

SPEED (rpm)
SPEED VS TROQUE
Series1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 500 1000 1500 2000
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y


SPEED (rpm)
SPEED VS EFFICIENCY %
Series1









Discussion:
Characteristics of Pelton Wheel Turbine are studied in this experiment. Objective
of this Experiment is to relate the following parameters of Turbine with Turbine
Speed:
1-Torque.
2-Output Power.
3-%Efficiency.
These parameters are related to Turbine Speed in Graphs.
Maximum Efficiency of Pelton wheel Turbine was found to be 66.33 %.
Maximum Output Power was found to be 459 watt.
Maximum torque was found to b 4.7 N-m.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 500 1000 1500 2000
O
u
t
p
u
t

P
o
w
e
r

W
o
(
w
a
t
t
)

SPEED (rpm)
SPEED VS OUTPUT POWER
Series1


Pelton wheel turbine is the most efficient turbine and is used where heads
are high and the flow rate is low. More power can be extracted from a water
source with high-pressure and low-flow than from a source with low-pressure
and high-flow, even though the two flows theoretically contain the same power.
This turbine is used mainly for the electricity production.

From the experiment, we see that the maximum efficiency of the Pelton
Wheel turbine is 80% which is less then that found in literature. . The size of the
turbine was small due to which the turbine was not machined properly hence its
working was not efficient. Furthermore the readings of flow rate and RPM on the
digital meter fluctuated a lot due to which an average reading was taken
resulting in an error. Moreover, the force on the dynamometer was not
measured accurately by the spring balance. The frictional losses also results in
the loss of energy.
We also noticed that the Torque, efficiency and output power decreases
with the increase in the RPM of the turbine. So the pelton wheel turbine is more
effective at low RPM. The best efficiency point lies at 1045 RPM.