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Pelton wheel
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Old Pelton wheel from Walchensee Power Plant, Germany

Assembly of a Pelton wheel at Walchensee Power Plant

Figure from Pelton's original patent (October 1880)

Plan view of a Pelton turbine installation

The Pelton wheel is among the most efficient types of water turbines. It was invented by Lester
Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse (momentum) of
moving water, as opposed to its weight like traditional overshot water wheel. Although many
variations of impulse turbines existed prior to Pelton's design, they were less efficient than
Pelton's design; the water leaving these wheels typically still had high speed, and carried away
much of the energy. Pelton' paddle geometry was designed so that when the rim runs at ½ the
speed of the water jet, the water leaves the wheel with very little speed, extracting almost all of
its energy, and allowing for a very efficient turbine.

Contents
 Function
 Applications

o Specific speed
 Turbine physics and derivation
 o Energy and initial jet velocity
o Final jet velocity
o Optimal wheel speed
o Torque
o Power
o Efficiency
 Examples and design data
 System components


Function
The water flows along the tangent to the path of the runner. Nozzles direct forceful streams of
water against a series of spoon-shaped buckets mounted around the edge of a wheel. As water
flows into the bucket, the direction of the water velocity changes to follow the contour of the
bucket. When the water-jet contacts the bucket, the water exerts pressure on the bucket and the
water is decelerated as it does a "u-turn" and flows out the other side of the bucket at low
velocity. In the process, the water's momentum is transferred to the turbine. This "impulse" does
work on the turbine. For maximum power and efficiency, the turbine system is designed such
that the water-jet velocity is twice the velocity of the bucket. A very small percentage of the
water's original kinetic energy will still remain in the water; however, this allows the bucket to
be emptied at the same rate it is filled, (see conservation of mass), thus allowing the water flow
to continue uninterrupted. Often two buckets are mounted side-by-side, thus splitting the water
jet in half (see photo). This balances the side-load forces on the wheel, and helps to ensure
smooth, efficient momentum transfer of the fluid jet to the turbine wheel.

Because water and most liquids are nearly incompressible, almost all of the available energy is
extracted in the first stage of the hydraulic turbine. Therefore, Pelton wheels have only one
turbine stage, unlike gas turbines that operate with compressible fluid.

Applications
Pelton wheels are the preferred turbine for hydro-power, when the available water source has
relatively high hydraulic head at low flow rates. Pelton wheels are made in all sizes. There exist
multi-ton Pelton wheels mounted on vertical oil pad bearings in hydroelectric plants. The largest
units can be up to 200 megawatts. The smallest Pelton wheels are only a few inches across, and
can be used to tap power from mountain streams having flows of a few gallons per minute. Some
of these systems utilize household plumbing fixtures for water delivery. These small units are
recommended for use with thirty meters or more of head, in order to generate significant power
levels. Depending on water flow and design, Pelton wheels operate best with heads from 15
meters to 1,800 meters, although there is no theoretical limit.

The Pelton wheel is most efficient in high head applications (see the "Design Rules" section).
Thus, more power can be extracted from a water source with high-pressure and low-flow than
from a source with low-pressure and high-flow, even though the two flows theoretically contain
the same power. Also a comparable amount of pipe material is required for each of the two
sources, one requiring a long thin pipe, and the other a short wide pipe.

Specific speed

The specific speed ns of a turbine dictates the turbine's shape in a way that is not related to its
size. This allows a new turbine design to be scaled from an existing design of known
performance. The specific speed is also the main criterion for matching a specific hydro-electric
site with the correct turbine type.

The formula suggests that the Pelton turbine is most suitable for applications with relatively high
hydraulic head, due to the 5/4 exponent being greater than unity, and given the characteristically
low specific speed of the Pelton.

Turbine physics and derivation

Energy and initial jet velocity

In the ideal (frictionless) case, all of the hydraulic potential energy (Ep = mgh) is converted into
kinetic energy (Ek = mv2/2) (see Bernoulli's principle). Equating these two equations and solving
for the initial jet velocity (Vi) indicates that the theoretical (maximum) jet velocity is Vi =
√(2gh) . For simplicity, assume that all of the velocity vectors are parallel to each other. Defining
the velocity of the wheel runner as: (u), then as the jet approaches the runner, the initial jet
velocity relative to the runner is: (Vi − u).

Final jet velocity

Assuming that the jet velocity is higher than the runner velocity, if the water is not to become
backed-up in runner, then due to conservation of mass, the mass entering the runner must equal
the mass leaving the runner. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible (an accurate assumption
for most liquids). Also it is assumed that the cross-sectional area of the jet is constant. The jet
speed remains constant relative to the runner. So as the jet recedes from the runner, the jet
velocity relative to the runner is: −(Vi − u) = −Vi + u. In the standard reference frame (relative to
the earth), the final velocity is then: Vf = (−Vi + u) + u = −Vi + 2u.

Optimal wheel speed

We know that the ideal runner speed will cause all of the kinetic energy in the jet to be
transferred to the wheel. In this case the final jet velocity must be zero. If we let −Vi + 2u = 0,
then the optimal runner speed will be u = Vi /2, or half the initial jet velocity.
Torque

By newton's second and third laws, the force F imposed by the jet on the runner is equal but
opposite to the rate of momentum change of the fluid, so:

F = −m( Vf − Vi) = −ρQ[(−Vi + 2u) − Vi] = −ρQ(−2Vi + 2u) = 2ρQ(Vi − u)

where (ρ) is the density and (Q) is the volume rate of flow of fluid. If (D) is the wheel diameter,
the torque on the runner is: T = F(D/2) = ρQD(Vi − u). The torque is at a maximum when the
runner is stopped (i.e. when u = 0, T = ρQDVi ). When the speed of the runner is equal to the
initial jet velocity, the torque is zero (i.e. when u = Vi, then T = 0). On a plot of torque versus
runner speed, the torque curve is straight between these two points, (0, pQDVi) and (Vi, 0).

Power

The power P = Fu = Tω, where ω is the angular velocity of the wheel. Substituting for F, we
have P = 2ρQ(Vi − u)u. To find the runner speed at maximum power, take the derivative of P
with respect to u and set it equal to zero, [dP/du = 2ρQ(Vi − 2u)]. Maximum power occurs when
u = Vi /2. Pmax = ρQVi2/2. Substituting the initial jet power Vi = √(2gh), this simplifies to Pmax =
ρghQ. This quantity exactly equals the kinetic power of the jet, so in this ideal case, the
efficiency is 100%, since all the energy in the jet is converted to shaft output.

Efficiency

A wheel power divided by the initial jet power, is the turbine efficiency, η = 4u(Vi − u)/Vi2. It is
zero for u = 0 and for u = Vi. As the equations indicate, when a real Pelton wheel is working
close to maximum efficiency, the fluid flows off the wheel with very little residual velocity.
Apparently, this basic theory does not suggest that efficiency will vary with hydraulic head, and
further theory is required to show this.

Examples and design data

A working Pelton wheel was used to generate electricity in Southern California. The system had
the following specifications. Pitch diameter, 162 inches (13.5 ft; 4.11 m); operating speed, 250
rpm (26.2 rad/s); head, 2200 ft (671 m). The theoretical jet velocity Vi = √(2gh), is calculated to
be 376 ft/s (115 m/s), and the wheel edge speed u = 176.7 ft/s (53.9 m/s). Because u ≈ Vi/2, this
data is consistent with the theoretical model. The ratio of the runner velocity u to the ideal jet
velocity √(2gh) is usually denoted φ. As the theoretical model suggests, for a Pelton wheel
working at maximum efficiency, φ is about 1/2. This wheel is estimated to have produced about
60,000 hp (45 MW) on a flow of about 7 m3/s.

System components
The conduit bringing high-pressure water to the impulse wheel is called the "penstock".
Originally the penstock was the name of the valve, but the term has been extended to include all
of the fluid supply hydraulics. Penstock is now used as a general term for a water passage and
control that is under pressure, whether it supplies an impulse turbine or not.

 This page was last modified on 13 April 2011