Introduction There are two types of turbines, reaction and the impulse, the difference being the manner

of head conversion. In the reaction turbine, the fluid fills the blade passages, and the head change or pressure drop occurs within the runner. An impulse turbine first converts the water head through a nozzle into a high-velocity jet, which then strikes the buckets at one position as they pass by. The runner passages are not fully filled, and the jet flow past the buckets is essentially at constant pressure. Impulse turbines are ideally suited for high head and relatively low power. The Pelton turbine used in this experiment is an impulse turbine. The Pelton turbine consists of three basic components, a stationary inlet nozzle, a runner and a casing. The runner consists of multiple buckets mounted on a rotating wheel. The jet strikes the buckets and imparts momentum. The buckets are shaped in a manner to divide the flow in half and turn its relative velocity vector nearly 180. The primary feature of the impulse turbine is the power production as the jet is deflected by the moving buckets. Assuming that the speed of the exiting jet is zero (all of the kinetic energy of the jet is expended in driving the buckets), negligible head loss at the nozzle and at the impact with the buckets (assuming that the entire available head is converted into jet velocity), the energy equation applied to the control volume shown in Figure 1 provides the power extracted from the available head by the turbine. Pavailable = Q(H-available) where Q is the discharge of the incoming jet, and (H-available) is the available pressure head on the nozzle. By applying the angular momentum equation (assuming negligible angular momentum for the exiting jet) to the same control volume about the axis of the turbine shaft the absolute value of the power developed by the turbine can be written as P = T = 2NT where w is the angular velocity of the runner, T is the torque acting on the turbine shaft, and N is the rotational speed of the runner. The efficiency of the turbine is defined as the ratio between the power developed by the turbine to the available water power n=P/P(available) Under ideal conditions the maximum power generated is about 85%, but experimental data shows that Pelton turbine are somewhat less efficient (approximately 80%) due to windage, mechanical friction, backsplashing, and nonuniform bucket flow. The purpose of the present experiment is to determine the efficiency of a laboratory-scale Pelton turbine.

Objectives The experiment was carried out with the expectations of becoming familiar with the concept of a fluid machine, in this case through the examination of a Pelton wheel hydraulic turbine. The objectives of the investigation were to examine the performance (power and efficiency) of a Pelton wheel turbine as the ratio of the wheel/jet velocity is varied from 0 to 1. Also to plot the shaft torque, power developed and efficiency of the Pelton wheel turbine. Essentially the objective was to determine the operating characteristics of a Pelton turbine at various speeds.

Theory The Pelton turbine is the most visually obvious example of an impulse machine. A spear valve directs a jet of water at a series of buckets which are mounted on the periphery of a rotor. As the water exiting the spear valve is at atmospheric pressure, the force exerted on the rotor is entirely due to changes in the direction of the flow of water. The Pelton turbine is therefore associated with considerable changes of kinetic energy but little change in pressure energy. The spear valve allows the jet diameter to be varied which allows the water flow rate to be varied with a constant jet velocity. The operating characteristics of a turbine are shown by plotting torque, brake power, and overall turbine efficiency against turbine rotational speed for a series of volume flow rates. The optimum conditions for operation occur when the required 'duty point' of head and flow coincides with a point of maximum efficiency.

The basic terms used to define, and therefore measure turbine performance in relation to rotational speed includes:

-volume flow rate, the flow rate of fluid through the turbine is the volume passing through the system per unit time. Qv = V/t [m3/s]

-head, the term 'head' refers to the elevation of a free surface of water above or below a reference datum. In the case of a turbine we are interested in the head of the water entering the rotor, which of course has a direct effect on the characteristics of the unit. In this apparatus the head of water is generated by the pump on the hydraulics bench rather than an elevated reservoir.

-torque, power output and efficiencies. The torque itself is given by the equation: T = Fb r

[Nm]

where Fb is the brake force reading on the spring balances and r is the pulley radius.

Experimental Methods The apparatus is the Water Turbine Demonstration Unit FM3SU located in the Energy Conversions Laboratory, Room 005. The unit consists of a clear acrylic reservoir, a circulating pump and associated pipework installed on a support plinth that is bench mounted. The turbine and turbine brake are attached to a flange on top of the reservoir. A single centrifugal pump, driven by an electric motor, delivers water to the nozzle of the turbine. An orifice plate in the delivery line is used to determine the volume flow rate (Q) of water. A differential pressure transducer is used to measure the pressure drop (dpo) across the orifice plate. The gauge pressure in the delivery line (p1) is also measured using a pressure transducer. A spear valve with an adjustable stem and minimum frictional loss is fitted to the turbine nozzle that has a diameter (dn) of 0.0045 m. The spear valve allows the volume flow rate delivered to the Pelton wheel to be varied by varying the exit flow area but with the velocity of the jet remaining constant. The Pelton Wheel carries 10 buckets each with turning angle (b) of 165 and whose mean radius (rm) are 0.035 m. The rotor is mounted on a horizontal stainless steel shaft. A pulley is attached to the opposite end of the shaft from the rotor and a braking force applied using a belt. The brake force (Fb), and hence the shaft torque (Tshaft), is measured using a load cell. The rotational speed of the rotor (n) is measured using an optical sensor. All of the instrumentation is connected via a data acquisition card to a personal computer. On-line data acquisition is controlled and displayed by software installed on the personal computer. The measured data is processed in the following manner.

It is required to determine the rotor shaft torque Tshaft, the developed power Pout and the efficiency h of the Water Turbine Demonstration Unit FM3SU at volume flow rates Q = 0.3 litres/s. Prior to switching on the demonstration unit, the thumbscrew controlling the braking force on the rotor should be released fully. The demonstration unit can then be started and the spear valve adjusted so that the volume flow rate delivered to the turbine is 0.3 litres/s. The inlet pressure to the turbine p1 should be recorded. The braking force on the rotor should be adjusted to 0.0 N and the rotational speed n of the rotor recorded in Table 1. Thereafter the braking force on the rotor should be increased in intervals of 0.5 N and the rotational speed n recorded at each interval until the rotor wheel comes to rest.

Results Experimental Analysis

Fb (N)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13

n (Hz)
68.41 65.33 62.14 57.87 54.33 52.27 49.56 47.98 45.05 41.23 39 35.5 34.89 33.54 32.12 29.8 28.65 25.75 21.9 18.36 16.6 11.11 9.65 6.43 4.42 2.65 0.11

(rad/s)
429.83371 410.48146 390.43805 363.60878 341.36626 328.42286 311.39539 301.46794 283.05816 259.05634 245.0448 223.0536 219.22085 210.73853 201.81638 187.23936 180.01368 161.7924 137.60208 115.35955 104.30112 69.806352 60.63288 40.400976 27.771744 16.65048 0.691152

U (m/s)
15.04418 14.36685 13.66533 12.72631 11.94782 11.4948 10.89884 10.55138 9.907036 9.066972 8.576568 7.806876 7.67273 7.375848 7.063573 6.553378 6.300479 5.662734 4.816073 4.037584 3.650539 2.443222 2.122151 1.414034 0.972011 0.582767 0.02419

U/V1
0.879658 0.840054 0.799035 0.744128 0.698609 0.67212 0.637273 0.616957 0.579281 0.530161 0.501486 0.456481 0.448637 0.431278 0.413019 0.383187 0.3684 0.331109 0.281604 0.236084 0.213453 0.142859 0.124086 0.082681 0.056835 0.034075 0.001414

Tshaft (Nm)
0 0.012 0.024 0.036 0.048 0.06 0.072 0.084 0.096 0.108 0.12 0.132 0.144 0.156 0.168 0.18 0.192 0.204 0.216 0.228 0.24 0.252 0.264 0.276 0.288 0.3 0.312

Pout (W)
0 4.925777 9.370513 13.08992 16.38558 19.70537 22.42047 25.32331 27.17358 27.97808 29.40538 29.44308 31.5678 32.87521 33.90515 33.70308 34.56263 33.00565 29.72205 26.30198 25.03227 17.5912 16.00708 11.15067 7.998262 4.995144 0.215639

(%)
0 7.143985 13.5903 18.98465 23.76444 28.57922 32.517 36.72706 39.41056 40.57735 42.64739 42.70207 45.78361 47.67978 49.17354 48.88047 50.12709 47.86896 43.10667 38.14645 36.30496 25.51298 23.21549 16.17211 11.60009 7.244589 0.312748