Parts of Pelton Turbine

Pen stock
Pen stock is a solid pipe which take water from the dam( structure which store water on its one side)
and take it to the turbine at very high speed.

Spear
A spear is provided with in the pen stock and its main function is to increase and decrease the speed
of water entering into the turbine. If more water is needed spear move back and allow more to enter
into the turbine and if less water is needed spear moves forward to spot excess water from entering in
to the turbine.

Nozzle
Nozzle is provided at end of pen stock and its main function is to increase the velocity of the water
and to direct it to the buckets of the turbine.

Buckets
Each pelton turbine has a specific number of buckets attached to its runner. Buckets take the impact
of water and start to rotate along the runner

Runner
Runner is a heavy circular disc on which buckets are attached. Runner is further attached to the
shaft. 

Brake nozzle
When turbine is need to be stopped then water is thrown at the back of the buckets from another
nozzle called brake nozzle

Casing
The whole setup of the turbine is enclosed in a structure called the casing of the turbine
Working of the pelton turbine
Dam store water at its one side when water level is increased at a specific height then the gates of the
dam is open and water start to flow through the pen stock. Nozzle at the end of the pen stock convert
this high speed water into a water jet which on striking the bucket convert its kinetic energy into the
rotation energy of the buckets and the runner. Runner is attached to the shaft which is further
attached to a generator. Rotating runner rotates the shaft which rotates the generator. 

Different efficiency
Hydraulic efficiency 
It is the ratio of the power developed by runner to the power supplied at in let of turbine

Mechanical efficiency
It is the ratio of the power available at turbine shaft to the power available at turbine runner

Volumetric efficiency 
It is the ratio of volume of water actually striking the runner to the total water supplied by the jet to the
turbine

Overall efficiency
It is the ratio of the power available at the turbine shaft to the power available from the jet

Advantages of Pelton turbine

 Most efficient of all turbines
 High overall efficiency
 Easy assembly 
 Operate at low discharge
 Flat efficiency curve
 Can be operation in silted water

Disadvantages of Pelton turbine

 Decrease in efficiency with time
 Components have large size
 Variation in the operating head is very difficult to control
 The operating head cannot be utilized even when the variation in the tail water level is
relatively large when compared to total head
why bucket of pelton wheel turbine is hemispherical??

The 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° or
almost 180 degree. This produces an impulsive force on bucket. Force so produced can easily be
derived from Newton’s 2nd law of motion. Blade outlet angle close to 180 degree is usually used in
order to maximize impulsive force.

A cut is provided on bottom portion of buckets. This makes sure that water jet will not get
interfered by other incoming buckets.

difference between pelton turbine and kaplan turbine

major differences are

PELTON WHEEL- high working head, tangential water flow, low specific speed, low
discharge and impulse type of turbine

KAPLAN TURBINE- low working head, axial water flow, high specific speed, very high
discharge and reaction type of turbine

Comparison of Hydroelectric turbines

Pelton, Francis and Kaplan are the most commonly used turbines in the production of
hydroelectricity. Each of the turbine is unique in its characteristics and must be used in
suitable operating conditions.

Suitability of Pelton, Francis and Kaplan

turbines
In Pelton pure impulse force of the water jet is responsible for the rotation of the impeller.
Water stored at high altitude can produce high impose force due to its high velocity. So Pelton
turbines are suitable for operation when water energy is available at high head and low flow
rate.
 Fig.2 Impulse action in produced in Pelton bucket due to the jet impingement.

Whereas Kaplan turbines are suitable for the reverse case. In Kaplan reaction force is produced
by airfoil action of the runner blades. A high water flow guarantees efficient production of
reaction force. So when water is available and high flow rate and low head, Kaplan turbine is
the best choice. Following is the operating condition preferable for Kaplan turbines.

 Head = 2-25 m
 Flow rate = 70-800 m3/s

Fig.3 Flow around the runner blades produce a reaction force due to the airfoil action

Francis turbine comes in between for medium head to medium flow rate applications.
Following is the operating condition Francis turbine is suitable for.

 Head = 45-400 m
 Flow rate = 10-700 m3/s
Francis turbine is not a pure reaction turbine a portion the force comes from the impulse
action also. The specially curved impeller blades of Francis turbine extract energy from the
water via reaction and impulse action.
 Fig.4 In Francis turbine major amount of the force is induced to airfoil reaction, but a portion of force comes due to the impulse action also

Turbine Selection graph

The following graph gives a clear idea about when to use which turbine depending upon the
available water head and flow rate. It is obvious that Francis turbine covers a wide range of
operating conditions or they can work efficiently under wide range of operating conditions.

Fig.5 Head verses Flow rate graph where each turbine is suitable for operation

This is why Francis turbine is the most preferred hydraulic turbine. The following graph shows
variation of turbine efficiency as a function of specific speed of the turbine. If you use a
turbine out if it's recommended operating range it will work but less efficiently.
 Fig.6 Variation of each turbine efficiency as a function of the speicif speed

It is also interesting to note the direction a fluid flow with respect to the axis of rotation in
each case. In Pelton the jet flow is tangential to the axis of rotation. In Kaplan fluid flow
through the runner is axial in nature. While in Francis, fluid enters radially and leaves axially;
they are also referred as mixed flow turbines.

Fig.7 In a standard differential power from the engine is transferred to the wheel with low traction
Why is the Pelton wheel suitable only for high heads?
Pelton wheel is a kind of impulse turbine. As in case of impulse turbine pressure
throughout turbine is constant and equal to atmospheric pressure, so only energy
available for turbine is kinetic energy of fluid. So higher is the kinetic energy, higher is
the turbine output finally higher power output from turbine and higher is overall
efficiency (as friction losses remains same ). As initial kinetic energy of fluid is
KE = 1/2(m*v^2)
And v = √(2*g*h) { Bernoulli's equation }
Here, g = gravitational acceleration
           h = water head available
So higher is the head higher is velocity and thus higher power output.