VA TECH HYDRO

New Technologies for Pelton Turbines

www.vatech-hydro.com

New Technologies
for Pelton Turbines
New Technologies for Pelton Turbines
The predecessor companies of VA TECH HYDRO on the mechanical side, Voest MCE/Hydro Vevey and
Sulzer Hydro/Escher Wyss, both were key players in the market of Pelton turbines. Now, unified under one roof,
VA TECH HYDRO is undoubtedly the supplier with the largest market share for Pelton units. What does the
market leader contribute to the technological development of Pelton units?
The following main areas can be pointed out:

Feedback from new

installations, rehabilitations
and field tests

are the two field tests performed by independent

experts in Norway:

Out of the new Large Hydro installations the most

impressive is certainly the power station BIEUDRON,
Switzerland (3 units with 423 MW each, H = 1869 m).
Now, 2 years after the commissioning of these world
record units we can proudly report that the turbines
operate to the full satisfaction of the client, for further
details see [1].

In the power plant SKJOMEN (vertical, 6-jet units)

2 new Pelton runners with an output of 105 MW each
were delivered.

In the field of Pelton upgrading and refurbishment a

large number of successful commissionings have
taken place in 2000, see also [2]. Of special interest

The performance guarantees had been based on

a detailled loss analysis of the existing components
and a recently developed new bucket profile.
No specific model test for Skjomen has been carried
out due to a very tight delivery schedule: the
new runners had to be delivered on short notice as
the original runners had cracks that even led
to the breaking away of parts of the bucket. Under
such circumstances the Microguss-technology
with its superior material quality and very
short delivery time provided important values to
the client. The field tests have proven that the
guaranteed efficiencies have been met and that
3

these refurbished units show efficiencies

that are even beyond the level of many new
plants.

For another Norwegian project NORE

(horizontal, 2-jet units) model tests have
been carried out to optimize modifications
of the existing casing together with a newly
developed bucket profile. Thanks to this
model development it was possible to
exceed the guaranteed efficiencies at site,
again verified in a field test by an independent expert.
These experiences confirm the validity of
our upgrading methodology and the
performance prediction including step-up
from model to prototype, not only
for new plants but also for rehabilitation
projects.

Continuous R&Defforts in
the Laboratory
In 2000 the Pelton test rigs in Vevey and
Zrich have been occupied with the following contractual model tests:
4

STALDEN/ Switzerland:
upgrading of the horizontal single-jet units
(with 100 MW per jet!) including optimization
of the bucket casing interaction.
FIONNAY and MOTTEC/ Switzerland:
further 2 Pelton rehabilitation projects for
horizontal units in Switzerland,
the first one: single jet with 2 runners
per unit,
the second one: twin-jet with 2 runners
per unit (both runners on the same side of
the generator!)
BASPA/India:
development for the 3 new vertical 4-jet units
with 113 MW each.
BRIDGE RIVER/Canada:
model tests for the upgrading of existing
6-jet units including a comparison between the
old bucket profile and a modern one.
In the framework of these contractual model tests
further developments with respect to fine-tuning
of bucket profiles and interactions between
components have been carried out. In the near
future these experimental developments will
be more and more supplemented by numerical
investigations.

Break through in the

numerical flow analysis for
Pelton units
The advanced numerical tools of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) have been extended from the
application in axial and radial machines also to
Pelton turbines. The impact of secondary flows in the
distributor and injector on the quality of the jet are
analyzed numerically and verified by experiments.
Modeling the unsteady, free surface flow in
the buckets is an extremely difficult task. First
promising results have been achieved recently [3].

This break-through in the field of Pelton-CFD

opens up a new era in the development of Pelton
runners.

Life cycle
optimization based on fracture
mechanics
The experts of VA TECH HYDRO in the field of safety
analysis have been involved in the development
of an advanced Pelton technology from the very
beginning. Know-how in the field of material fatigue,
fracture mechanics and finite element stress analysis
are the basis of outstanding new runner designs [4]
as well as for a prediction of the residual life of
runners and other components of old power plants to
be refurbished.

New manufacturing
technology
VA TECH HYDRO has initiated the trend away from
integrally casted Pelton runners towards fabricated
runners. Since the first Pelton runner manufactured
by roboter-controlled weld deposits on a forged disc
(MicroGuss-technology [5] ) in 1992, 107 runners
have been manufactured and the total number of
orders for MicroGuss-runners has already reached
140. Together with the more recently developed
HIWELD-technology [6] VA TECH HYDRO has
now 2 advanced technologies available that have
the key advantage versus cast runners: the most
sensitive part of the runner from point of view of
safety and life time, i.e. the root section of the
buckets, is made from forged material which is far
superior to any casting with respect to life cycle
fatigue. Currently, both technologies are under careful
investigation to further exploit their respective
potential also with respect to cost reduction and
shortening of delivery times.

MicroGuss, forged Pelton wheel with robot-welding of outer

parts of buckets.

For small units, a very innovative alternative has been

developed: The FiberGuss-technology [7].
Here the buckets are made from reinforced fiber

HIWELD, colours indicate the different parts of the buckets

welded to a forged disc..
5

(plastics) and are attached to a stainless

steel disc by a special clutching device.

Exchanging buckets is very simple and fast.

The application range of FiberGuss is currently
limited to heads below 400 m and bucket
width below 300 mm. Besides the technological
innovation the FiberGuss-concept also opens
up new interesting business models, such as selling
of the steel disc only and leasing of the fiber
buckets.

Conclusion

FiberGuss, fiber buckets in a steel disc (picture

taken during an inspection after 15000 hours of
operation).

The MicroGuss-Process
The runner disc including the root
section of the buckets is NC-machined
out of a full block of forged stainless
steel (X5 CrNi 13 4/ F 6NM). The outer
parts of the buckets are created by
roboter-controlled deposit welding.
The final bucket shape is obtained by
NC-machining and grinding.

Whether in ultra-large or small plants, whether for

new installation or rehab projects the Pelton
technology is currently undergoing a rapid change
with VA TECH HYDRO being in the forefront of the
innovation.

The HIWELD-Process
The inner part of the runner (disc and inner root
section of the buckets) is NC-machined out of a
full block of forged stainless steel (13/4). The
remaining parts of the buckets, consisting of a
central piece for the bucket tip and two lateral
pieces for the bucket side walls, are either cast or
forged pieces and are welded to the disc in a
special sequence to minimize geometrical
distortions. The final bucket shape is obtained by
NC-machining and grinding.

References:
[1] H. Keck, G. Vullioud, P. Joye:
Commissioning and Operation Experience with the worlds largest Pelton turbines Bieudron, HydroVision
2000, Charlotte/ USA
[2] H. Keck, Ch. Schrer, L. Geppert, G. Vullioud, L. Chapuis:
Upgrading of Pelton turbines additional benefits compared to conventional runner replacement,
Hydropower & Dams, Issue 5, 2000
[3] M. Sick, H. Keck, G. Vullioud, E. Parkinson:
New Challenges in Pelton Research, Hydro 2000 Conference, Bern, 2000
[4] R. Angehrn:
Safety Engineering for the 423 MW Pelton Runner of Bieudron, 20th IAHR Symposium,
Charlotte/ USA, 2000.
[5] A. Kalberer, M. Krause:
A review of experience with MicroCast Pelton wheels, Hydropower & Dams, Issue 1, 1996.
[6] L. Chapuis, K. Frschel:
Optimized fabrication of Pelton turbine runners, MTM Conf. Aix-en-Provence, 1998 and
HydroVision 1998, Reno/USA.
[7] Th. Weiss, W. Keiser, R. Dekumbis:
Erhhung der Wirtschaftlichkeit des Betriebs von Peltonanlagen durch den Einsatz auswechselbarer
Peltonbecher aus kohlefaserverstrktem Kunststoff, 11. Int. Seminar Wasserkraftanlagen, Wien, 2000.

VA TECH HYDRO worldwide

Set ups in Austria, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia,
Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, South-Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela and Vietnam

VA TECH HYDRO
Penzinger Strasse 76
A-1141 Vienna, Austria
Phone (+43/1) 89 100-2659
Fax (+43/1) 89 46 370

8
www.vatech-hydro.com

Lunzerstrasse 78
A- 4031 Linz, Austria
Phone (+43/732) 6987-3451
Fax (+43/732) 6980-2554

Obernauerstrasse 4
CH-6010 Kriens
Phone (+41) 41 329 51 11
Fax (+41) 41 329 51 52

e 21.87.30 ZD-00

e-mail: contact@vatech-hydro.com