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EngiTech
Renewable Energy Technology Learn
Course Lecture Series Plex

Hydropower 3

Prepared by
Engr. Dr. Muhammad Farhan

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Impulse Turbines
• An impulse turbine consists of a wheel or runner, with a number of buckets
around its periphery.
• Various types of impulse turbines are:
• 1. Pelton turbine (for high head)
• 2. Turgo impulse turbine (for medium head)
• 3. Ossberger crossflow turbine (for low head).

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Pelton Turbine
• Pelton turbines are suitable for power extraction
when water energy is available at a high head and
low flow rate.
• A nozzle is used which increases the velocity of
water and hence increases the kinetic energy.
• Pelton wheel is a tangential flow turbine means
the water jet will strikes the blade of the turbine
tangentially.
• Then nozzles are arranged the wheel and serve
the purpose of introducing water to the turbine.
Jets of water emerge from these nozzles,
tangential to the wheel of the turbine.
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Parts of a Pelton Wheel Turbine

• Nozzle: The amount of water striking the buckets of
the runner is controlled by providing a spear in the
nozzle.
• Runner and buckets: The runner or blade consists of
a circular disc on the Periphery of which several
buckets evenly spaced are fixed. The bucket is made of
cast iron, cast Steel bronze or stainless steel
depending upon the head at the inlet of the turbine
• Breaking jet: Braking jet is used to stop the running
wheel when it is not working. This situation arises
when the nozzle inlet is closed with the help of spear
then the water jet is stopped on the buckets. But Due
to inertia, the runner will not stop revolving even
after complete closure of inlet nozzle.
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Pelton Turbine
• Pelton turbines are suitable for high heads in the range of 60 m-
700 m with an output capacity of 50-10,000 kW.
• The advantages of pelton turbine are:
• Maintains high efficiency (85-90%) irrespective of load variation.
• Reduced cavitation effect on buckets.
• It is a high head turbine.
• It is a tangential flow turbine.

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Turgo Impulse Turbine

• The Turgo turbine was first designed in
1919 by a young engineer named Eric
Crewdson who graduated from McGill
University in Canada.
• It is a free jet impulse turbine where the
water jet impinges on the runner cup at
one side and is discharged at the other
end into the tail race.
• The Turgo impulse turbine is ideal for
heads in the range of 30-210 m.
• This turbine usually operates at twice
the speed of a Pelton turbine when
operating on a head similar to a Pelton.
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Advantages of turgo impulse turbine

• The jet in Turgo turbine strikes three buckets simultaneously which increases
the speed, whereas in Pelton turbine the jet strikes only one bucket at a time.
• High water pressure is converted to velocity due to the special nozzle
structure.
• Being a free jet turbine, there is no cavitation damage to Turgo runner.
• Governing the Turgo impulse turbine with a long penstock is possible
without making a provision for surge tank/relief valve
• The generator connected to the shaft converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy without the need for a mechanism to increase the rotational
speed, due to the high speed of the Turgo turbine wheel.

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Ossberger Crossflow Turbine

• The crossflow turbine is another form of impulse wheel that can be used in low head
applications. It was designed by Ossberger Falirik Co. of Germany.
• Crossflow turbines are used in smaller hydroelectric applications where the maximum
power output typically does not exceed 2,000 kW and costs are critical. The head is
usually between 10 m and 150 m, but the flow is relatively high.

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Crossflow Turbine
• The average efficiency is about 80% for smaller units and 86% for larger
ones.
• Because the water passes through the turbine across its blades, the water
provides power once when it enters the blades and again as it leaves the blades
on the opposite side, which improves its efficiency.
• Crossflow turbines are free from cavitation
• Crossflow turbines are suitable for low-head applications where flow is
fluctuating
• Runners are self cleaning
• Crossflow turbines have a less complex structure, hence there is savings in
cost.
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Specific Speed
• The ‘specific speed' is a figure which gives a fundamental basis of comparison between
turbines of different types. It may be defined as the speed at which the turbine would run
(at its desired efficiency) under unit head so as to produce unit power. The specific speed
is calculated as

• The specific speed depends on the turbine type and design. The ranges of ns are given in

It infers that high-head operational

turbines have a low value of specific speed
while low-head turbines have a high value
of ns.
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Example
• It is required to develop 15,000 kW at 214 rpm under a head of 100 metre
with a single runner. What type of turbine should be installed?

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Range of application of various types of turbines

for a small hydro project
• Having explained the various turbines
suitable for small hydropower, it is necessary
to select a suitable turbine for a given
project. The types of turbines that would be
useful at various combinations of head and
desired power output are plotted in Figure
over a range of heads and power from 3-300
m and 10-1000 kW.
• Figure is constructed with the following
assumptions: The rpm is in the range of
600-3600, Direct drive, Specific speed in the
range of optimum efficiency for a given
design

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Civil works for small hydropower facilities

• Small hydropower projects have distinct attractive features, simplicity in
design, short gestation period, environmental friendly with no submergence,
resources available locally and suitable for decentralized application.
• Having identified a potential site, a feasibility study is conducted to decide
whether the project be designed and constructed after considering four major
parameters
• Water flow record: Water flow in river or canal should be available round the
year to make the project viable to the users.
• Available head: High water head schemes (in hilly areas) need smaller
quantity of water to produce the desired power. Low-head schemes (in
plains) have to handle large quantities of water, consequently the civil
structures and the generating plant tend to be comparatively costly.
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Civil works for small hydropower facilities

• Location:
• The project site should be located within a reasonable distance from the
users.
• This is particularly applicable to independent schemes in isolated hilly
areas.
• In plains, the generated power can be fed into the existing grid.
• Economic analysis:
• Economic feasibility is the evaluation of project’s costs and benefits.
• The project is deemed feasible when the benefit exceeds cost.
• In our context of power shortage, small hydropower is always
encouraged.
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