Speed Factor or Ratio, ɸ

The speed factor is the ratio of the peripheral speed of the buckets or vanes at
the nominal diameter, D, to the theoretical velocity of water under the effective head
acting on the turbine:

Where:

= peripheral speed of the bucket

Hn = net effective head

Peripheral Speed vs Velocity of a Point (Review of Kinematics)

Turbine Generator Speed, N

If the turbines are to drive electricity generators, their speeds must correspond to
the nearest synchronous speed for a.c. machines and the correct speed physically
possible for d.c. machines. For synchronous running, the speed N is given by:

Where:

f= is the frequency of the a.c. supply in Hz (50–60 Hz)

p = is the number of poles of the generator (always even numbers)

Specific Equations for Impulse Turbine

Equations:
a) Velocity of the Jet

Where:

vj = velocity of the water jet

Hn = net effective head

g = acceleration due to gravity

Q = volumetric flow of the water jet

Aj = cross sectional area of the water jet

b) Velocity of the bucket

Where:

vb = tangential speed of the bucket or vane

vj = velocity of the water jet

 ɸ = speed factor

use ɸ = 0.5 to developed a maximum power, Daugherty and Franzini

N = angular speed of the shaft in revolution per minute

ω = angular speed of the wheel in radians per second or simply the wheel speed

r = wheel radius

c) Torque on the shaft

Where:

T = torque on the shaft

P = hydraulic power

ω = angular speed of the wheel in radians per second or simply the wheel speed
1. What power in kilowatts can be developed by the impulse turbine shown if the
turbine efficiency is 85%? Assume that the resistance coefficient ƒ of the penstock is
0.015 and the head loss in the nozzle itself is negligible. If the flowrate 500 m3/s
inside the penstock. What will be the angular speed of the wheel, and what torque
will be exerted on the turbine shaft?

Answer:

2. A Pelton wheel is to be designed to run at 300rpm under an effective head of 150m.

the ratio of the nozzle diameter to the diameter of the pitch circle is 1/12. Assuming
efficiency of 84%, what is the size of the wheel in meters? What is the diameter of
the nozzle? Assume speed ratio of 0.45.