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Abstract: The performance of Pelton turbine is tested and evaluated in the University of San Carlos Hydraulic Laboratory. The Pelton turbine
was tested by varying the pressure inlet at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2 2. With these values, each pressure inlet correspondingly was also varied
the spear setting resulted the analysis of effects of varying the area of the water jet before it flow and impacts to the runner. The generated
power output was investigated with constant load resulted a constant torque analysis for this experiment. At lowest pressure inlet resulted
an ideal high efficiency for turbine performance but resulted a minimum power generated by the turbine. For the four pressure inlets that is
held to observe in this experiment, pressure inlet at 2 2 yielded a maximum power output of 360 Watts with an efficiency of 67.9%. The
optimum operation for the Pelton turbine to run efficiently is found to be and must be at pressure of 2 2 with a spear setting set to 1.
Author keywords: Pelton Buckets; Shaft Power; Pressure; Water Jet; Prony brake; Runner
Introduction
The experimental studies on Pelton hydro turbines that have been
In nature, hydraulic energy is a type of usable energy which can be
published in the literature are not many. The high complexity of
directly converted into mechanical energy. It has since more than
the unsteady jetbucket interaction in the rotating runner and,
one hundred years mainly been utilized for the production of
moreover, the contaminating effects of the outflow that splashes on
electricity. As a most important type of the renewable energy,
the casing walls make the measurements of the flow in the interior
hydraulic energy shows its very broad perspective in the future.
of the casing practically impossible. Hence, the existing
More and more hydropower plants will be built or refurbished
experimental works concern either flow visualization studies
worldwide (Zhang 2016).
(Perrig 2006) or flowbucket interaction in non-rotating buckets
Among various types of hydraulic turbines, the Pelton turbine
(Kvicinsky 2002; Zoppe 2006)
which is also called the constant-pressure turbine, represents an
important and probably also the most widely applied turbine type.
The first Pelton turbine was invented by Lester Allan Pelton in Perrig et al. used flow observation techniques to study the unsteady
1879 and tested successfully. The turbine is mainly used in evolution of the free-surface flow in a single-injector Pelton runner.
mountainous areas where the available water, for example, is They found that the impact of the droplets released from the
stored in a lake or reservoir which lies a few hundred to 1800 m buckets causes perturbations on the jet surface, which may result
above the turbine machines. The turbine power ranges from several in reduced bucket efficiency. Also, some more complex and not
kilowatts to 400 MW (Angehrn 2000). well understood mechanisms during the jet cut process were
Pelton turbine is an impulse turbine as there is no pressure drop identified and showed that they can influence considerably the
subsequent evolution of the flow in the bucket and the energy
across the buckets. The flow is axial, i.e., there is no change in
exchange efficiency (compressibility effects, spray and water
peripheral velocity and water enters and leaves the buckets at threads formation, Coanda effect, etc.) (Perrig 2006).
the same radius (Zoeb Hussian and et.al. 2009).The amount of
water striking the buckets is controlled by providing a spear in the
nozzle. The spear is a conical needle operated in the axial direction
depending up on the size of the unit. When the spear is pushed
forward (see Fig.1), the amount of water striking the runner is
reduced and when the spear is pushed back, the amount of water
striking the runner increasesThe space of the buckets is of a double
hemispherical cup or bowl. Each bucket is divided into two
symmetrical parts by dividing wall which is known as Splitter. The
Splitter divides the jet into two equal parts. The buckets are shaped
in such a way that the jet gets deflected through 160 or 170. The
buckets are made of cast iron, cast steel bronze or stainless steel
depending upon the head at the inlet of the turbine. The function of
water is to prevent the splashing of water and to discharge water to
tail race. The casing of Pelton Wheel does not perform any Fig.1 Diagrammatic arrangement of a Pelton wheel.
hydraulic function (theconstructor.org 2016) (Source: Zoeb Hussian, Mohammad Z. Abdullah, Zanial Alimuddin-Basic
Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines (2009))
Fifth-Year Student in Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of San Carlos,
Cebu City 6000, Philippines. Email: limdarwin17@gmail.com
allow the water to flow into the Pelton turbine. After which the gate
Experiment Set-up valve for the supply of the prony brake is opened to allow it to
operate smoothly considering that it is exposed into so much
friction during high torques. Also that water lubrication was needed
to prevent a magnetic drag or eddy-current brake (Muller-Girard et
al. 2003). The performance test of the Pelton turbine is then applied
by loading it with weights near the arm length to evaluate its
braking power to determine its power output and efficiency. The
pressure of the water is set which comprises of four namely 1 ,
2
1.5 ,2 , and 0.5 . Each pressure was evaluated for the
2 2 2
performance test of the Pelton turbine. The yielded parameters of
the experiment namely the inlet pressure, speed, and weir height is
directly recorded. The torque is measured by using the weights.
Also the experiment enables to analyze the effects of adjusting the
spear at any pressure used. Thus the performance of the Pelton
turbine is justified according to the data gathered.
Experiment Methods where, T is the torque and N is the shaft speed which is directly
measured. According to the present turbine it has an arm length
Pump Priming and Start-up
equal to 72cm.
Priming is the process in which the impeller of a centrifugal pump
will get fully sub merged in liquid without any air trap inside. The For measuring the Flow rate, the Rectangular-notch weir was used.
process of priming the pump is first to ensure that other gate valves The length of the weir is measured using the tape measure.
connecting in the axial pump is closed. After which all the valves
are checked, the axial pump is turned on. Together the gate valve 2 3
= 2 2 (2)
supply is opened to let the water flow in the centrifugal pump to 3
begin priming. After some time, the priming cup is opened to check
if the water is nearly full. The shaft is also rotated to allow any air where, is the flow rate, Cd is the Rectangular-notch weir
trapped in the centrifugal pump to escape. After which the water coefficient of discharge, g is the gravitational acceleration, H is
pouring out, the priming cup is then closed to allow water to be height of the opening of the weir.
stable inside the pump. One person must stand before the gate valve
for the supply of the water in the turbine to prepare it to open in a The velocity at the inlet and outlet can then be calculated using the
counter-clockwise direction after the push button is pressed. When Bernoullis equation.
the centrifugal pump starts, the primary bypass line must be fully
2 2
open. The axial pump is then safely turned off. The shaft of the
+ + 1 = + + 2 (4)
Pelton turbine connecting to the prony brake was rotated to check 2 2
where, is the cross sectional area of the pipe, Q is the flow rate of
the water 0.009
Assuming that the momentum of the water is all transferred into 0.008
rotative energy to the buckets. Thus the total head of the turbine
0.007
Fig.5 shows the water power vs spear setting graph. The spear
The turbine efficiency is calculated by dividing the power
setting is designated by numbers with 1 as the lowest which means
generated by the prony brake over the power available by the
the sphere is located almost near into the tip diameter which closes
water.
the flow almost zero. 8 is the largest opening of the spear setting.
At higher opening of the spear, the shaft power tends to increase
= 100% (9)
this means that there is enough flow and energy that hits in the
buckets of the Pelton wheel. Fig. 6 explains why this shaft power
tend to increase. As the opening of the spear increases the discharge
Results and Discussion flow also increases thus according to Eq. 8 where the power of
water is proportional to the flow rate.
As shown in Fig.3, the shaft power and spear settings graph is
shown. The Pelton turbine yields a maximum shaft power when the 2000
spear setting is at a fully open state which is in the 8th setting. The 1800
pressure at inlet also indicates a maximum shaft power at 2 2.
Water Power (Watts)
1600
The lowest pressure inlet at 0.5 2 has a direct proportional effect 1400
1 kg/cm2
on shaft power. 1200
1000 1.5 kg/cm2
500 800 2 kg/cm2
450 600 0.5 kg/cm2
400 400
350 1 kg/cm2 200
Shaft Power (watts)
0.006 1 kg/cm2
0.005 1.5 kg/cm2
0.004 2 kg/cm2
0.003 0.5 kg/cm2
0.002
0.001
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Spear Settings
Fig.6 Spear setting vs Flow rate results
80
110
70 1 kg/cm2
100
60 1.5 kg/cm2
2 kg/cm2 90
Turbine Efficiency (%)
50
0.5 kg/cm2 80 1 kg/cm2
40
1.5 kg/cm2
30 70
2 kg/cm2
20 60 0.5 kg/cm2
10
50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Spear settings 40
30
Fig.7.Spear setting vs Turbine Efficiency Results
20
0 0.005 0.01
Fig. 8 shows the typical performance of the Pelton turbine given Flow rate (m3/s)
flow rate and turbine efficiency. According to Zhang that the
Fig.9. Power specific speed Cavitation Results
performance of the turbine can degrade over time due to cavitation
and/or erosion damage resulting to weld repairs. Perdiodic
performance checks, through absolute or relative testing, are The relation of output power generated in the shaft with respect to
necessary for maintaining accuracy and must be made at a number the turbine efficiency is illustrated in Fig.10. As seen in the graph,
of operating heads in order to be comprehensive. Turbine increasing the shaft power would result an opposite decrease in
performance parameters for Pelton units are defined in ASME and turbine efficiency. As seen in the performance curves conducted by
IEC 60041 and typically include the following: Generator Output, Gass (1998) in Fig.11 where the efficiency of the turbine as it tends
Turbine Discharge, Headwater and Tailwater Elevations, Inlet to increase much further will result in to lower turbine efficiency
Head, Discharge Head, Gate Position, and Water Temperature. due to overdriving the shaft into its limits. Therefore an optimum
Typical vibration measurements may include: shaft displacement Efficiency and power output is chosen for safer and life lasting
(x and y) at turbine and generator bearings and thrust bridge applications of the turbine.
displacements (z). Acoustic emission on
110
Notation
100
The following symbols are used in this paper:
90
Turbine Efficiency (%)