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Aškerčeva 6

University of Ljubljana SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija


Faculty of mechanical engineering tel.: +386 1 4771200
fax: +386 1 2518567
www.fs.uni-lj.si
e-mail: dekanat@fs.uni-lj.si

Laboratory for Heat and Power

Characteristics of pelton turbine

Laboratory practicum

Author: Dr. Mitja Mori

Ljubljana, november 2010


CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

TARGET OF STUDENT WORK


 To measure parameters and calculate Pelton turbine characteristics;
 To show characteristics in a diagram form;
 To comment various regulation possblities;

BASICS
Energy conversion in Pelton turbine
Turbine are divided in two main groups:
 Impuls turbines;
 Reaction turbines;

For both types fluid flows through the rotor blades. By passing the rotor the moment of the fluid is
changed in the circumferential direction and the effect is the tangential force on the rotor. The rotor
is then rotated and perform technical work, while the fluid leaving the rotor with low energy.

For impulse turbines there is no change of static pressure through the rotor. In reaction turbine
static pressure drops, when the fluid passes through the rotor. In both cases the energy is initially
stored in the form of potential energy (elevated tank). Impulse turbine has one or more jets in
which the pressure energy is converted into kinetic energy. In blade passage the jet is diverted and
due to changes in impulse kinetic energy is transformed into mechanical work. Fluid jets push
blades and lose most of there kinetic energy. In reaction turbine conversion from pressure to
kinetic energy is taking place gradually.

General interdependence of different forms of energy, based on the first law of thermodynamics
refering to the unit mass passing through the balance border (the turbine), is:

 v2 
 WS  d     g  dz   v  dp  W fr (1),
 2 

where:
WS transformed energy of the fluid,
d  v / 2 fluid kinetic energy change,
2

g∙dz fluid potential energy change,


 v  dp fluid pressure energy change (v ... specific volume of fluid),
W fr the loss of energy due to friction (in the form of heat transfered in surroundings)
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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

PELTON TURBINE – Basic description


Pelton turbine (Figure 1) is a turbine that is suitable for large drops and small volume flows. The
water is leaving the pressure pipeline through special nozzles in which the potential energy is
converted to kinetic energy. Usually the number of nozzles is two to six. The turbine is in vertical or
horizontal position, while the water jet is always directed tangentially to the rotor.

The rotor has special double rotor blades, the sharp blade in the middle of the blade divide the water
jet into two parts (inflow of water without impact). Cut out in the middle part of the double blade
extend the effect of jet on the middle part of the previous blade. Inflow is partial, the pressure in the
blade passage is not changed, therefore Pelton turbine is impulse turbine!

Fig. 1: Pelton turbine

The volumet flow of water and the power of Pelton turbine is controlled by moving the needle in
the nozzle, which is located in turbine stator (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The needle in pelton turbine nozzle


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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIT FM3SU


FM3SU unit with installed Pelton turbine consists of (Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5):
 carrier base,
 acrylic water tank (1),
 circulation pump (2), driven electric motor (3),
 pipeline,
 turbine unit that is attached on the top of the tank (Fig. 5) and consists of:
o Pelton turbine (4), which is attached to the carrier plate. Rotor has 10 blades. Roots
of blades are on the diameter of 70 mm. The rotor is mounted on narjavečo shaft
which is mounted in sealed ball bearings, which do not require additional lubrication.
o needle valve (4a), which has a diameter of 4.5 mm with an adjustable stem that
serves to change the jet diameter with minimum friction losses. It is possible to
change the mass flow at a constant output speed of the jet. The rotor and the valve
are in an acrylic body (4b).
o Braking system (5).

Rotational speed Inlet


Brake [Hz] pressure [kPa]
12
force [N] 0,000
Sensor
(strain gauge) 11
Optical
10 6
5 sensor

Brake Turbine Pressure regulative


sensor valve

8 4

2 3

Pump Motor
PC 1

9
REZERVOIR
Orifice 7
Flow

Diferencialni
pressure sensor

Outflow
valve Orifice pressure
difference

Figure 3: Shema merilnega preizkuševališča.


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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

 control valve (6), which is coupled with a pipe on the pressure side of pump,
 sensors to monitor the performance of Pelton turbine,
 differential pressure sensor (7) SPW1, which indicates the volume flow of water mounted
on the suction side of the pump,
 data acquisition IFD4 (8),
 PC (9) for data processing.

To monitor the performance of Pelton turbine the following sensors are available:
a) pressure sensor (10): It consists of piezo-electric sensor and appropriate signal converter.
The sensor measures pressure at the valve inlet.

b) rotational speed meter (11): It consists of infrared optical switch that is connected to signal
converter and used to measure the rotational speed of the turbine rotor. Optical switch is
mounted next to the rotor hub on which is reflective tape to facilitate the measurement of
speed.

Figure 4: Measuring facility

c) the braking force sensor (12): At brakes bar are resistance strain gages, which are linked to
the corresponding signal converter. The sensor is designed to measure the braking force
applied to the rotor. Turbine speed is controlled by adjusting the tape tension brake through
bolt.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

Figure 5: Detail 1 on figure 4

THEORY: Measuring and analysis syntax


The FM3SU unit enables measuring/monitoring following parameters:
 differential pressure at the orifice [kN/m2]
 pressure at the turbine inlet [kN/m2]
 rotational speed n [Hz] and
 braking force [N].

Based on these measured parameters following quantities are calculated:


 The volumetric flow, V
 pressure height, H
 moment M, the power output PG and efficiency of the turbine t .

Volume flow, V
The volume flow through the turbine is the volume that goes through the system per unit of time. It
is expressed in cubic meters per second, m3/s. The unit uses orifice built-in suction tube for the
measurement of V . The calculation uses well-known equation, which relates the pressure drop
through the aperture to volume flow:

 C d    d 2  2    p 0
V (2),
4

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

where C d  0,63 orifice coefficient, d  0,009 m orifice diameter and   998,2 kg/m 3 fluid
density.

Pressure height, H
The term head refers to the geodetic
height of the water level measured from
the base level. In the case of turbines is
an interesting amount of water pressure
at the inlet to the rotor, which of course
has a direct impact on the turbine
characteristics.

Pressure head, H is the height that


turbine uses for producing work and is
calculated by equation:

H  H m1  H m2 (3).

Hm1 ... manometer inlet height is the


pressure at the entrance at the nozzle
inlet in meters according to the centerline
of the turbine rotor
Hm2 ... manometer outlet height is Figure 6: Definition of pressure drop through turbine
the pressure at the outlet nozzle in meters
according to the centerline of the turbine rotor.

In the model FM3SU pressure is measured at the inlet to the turbine p1. Since pressure at turbine
outlet is at a atmospheric pressure, we can say that it is differential pressure through the turbine. So
the pressure is actually measured height H in the form of differential pressure p1, which is later
converted into water column height p1 /   g .

Power and efficiency


The brake power (power on the shaft) PG, which is produced by the turbine through torque M at
rotational speed n is given by the equation:
PG  2    n  M (4),

M  Fb  r (5),
where Fb is breaking force and r  0,024 m diameter of breaking wheel.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

Turbine overall efficiency is:

t  h  m (6),

where h hydraulic efficiency and m mechanical efficiency of the turbine:

power on turbine shaft P


t   100 %  G  100 %
theoretica l power of fluid Ph
(7).
M  M  2   n
t   100 %   100 %
p tot  V   g  H  V

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

EXERCISE PROTOCOL
80

turbine efficiency t %
Our purpose in practice is to establish 1,2k turbine efficiency
60
t
the characteristic curves of the turbine in 40
two different water volume flows. 1k 20
Characteristic curves give the dependence 0
Moment M

Moment M Nm
of torque, braking force and the efficiency 0,8k

from the turbine rotational speed at a


60
constant fluid volume flow (Figure 7). 0,6k
50
Power Pg 40
Manufacturers provide information 0,4k

Power, Pg W
regarding the operation of their turbines in 30

the form of characteristic curves as shown 0,2k 20

in the following diagram (Fig. 8). 10

0 0
0 40 80 120
Manufacturers provide information Rotational speed n , min-1
regarding the operation of their turbines in
the form of characteristic curves as shown Figure 7: Characteristic curves
in the following diagram (Fig. 8).

10,0

7,5

75,0
power, W

5,0 62,5
= 50 %
50,0

45 37,5

2,5 25,0
40
.
35 V = 12,5 cm 3

0,0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
rotational speed, 1/s

Figure 8: The actual design of the operational characteristics of Pelton turbine at different volume flows

This diagram (Fig. 8) allows the determination of velocity and volume flow at which the turbine is
operated to have requested power and best efficiency.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF PELTON TURBINE

PROTOCOL

1. Close the throttle valve and run the pump (engine is thus running at minimum load). Open the
throttle valve to the end.
2. Adjust the volume flow through the needle valve to 0.000310 m3 / s.
3. Determine the appropriate steps so that you gradually increase the force on the shaft and record
8 to 12 measuring points before the turbine is completely stopped (speed drop of the turbine -
step approx. 5Hz).
 Loosen the screw that the braking force is equal to zero. When the measured parameters
are stabilized start measurement. Save the first item of characteristic curve. Perform
measurements with the push on the button “Take Sample''. All four output signals are
recorded in the table ( p 0 , p1 , n in Fb ).
 Lightly tighten the screw, let the system to stabilize and record the second measuring
point.
 Repeat to the smallest possible speed so that the turbine does not stop, according to the
previously selected step.
4. Now reduce the volume flow by the throttle valve to 0.000260 m3 s and do the measurements
again.
5. The latest measurements do with a fully open throttle valve and reduce the volume flow to
0.000260 m3/s with needle valve.

TASKS
 Use the appropriate formulas for each measured point to calculate:

o volume flow
o pressure altitude
o torque
o output power
o available power
o and finally turbine efficiency.

 Draw appropriate characteristic curves


o efficiency,
o torque and
o power versus speed for all three measurements.
o
 Compare the characteristic curves and make some comments on the results.
 Explain the difference that occurs when volume flow is regulated through the throttle or through
needle valve.

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