Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 89-104, 2024.

Available online at www.jafmonline.net, ISSN 1735-3572, EISSN 1735-3645.

https://doi.org/10.47176/jafm.17.1.2126

Parametric Investigation of Pelton Turbine Injector under

Hydro-abrasive Erosion Conditions
N. Shrivastava† and A. K. Rai
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal 506004, India

†Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In high-head Pelton turbines, the injector faces severe erosion due to suspended Article History
sediment leading to a reduction in turbine efficiency and higher maintenance
Received July 1, 2023
costs. Here, the effects of design parameters such as the bend angle of the nozzle Revised August 30, 2023
pipe, nozzle angle, and needle angle along with an operating parameter stroke Accepted September 12, 2023
ratio on hydro-abrasive erosion of Pelton turbine injector are numerically Available online November 1, 2023
investigated. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) model was implemented for capturing
the interphase between air and water; whereas, the SST k-ω model is used for
modelling the turbulence effect. For tracking the discrete phase, a Eulerian-
Lagrangian based Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is considered. The bend angles Keywords:
led to flow circulations in the nozzle pipe causing the non-uniform distribution
Hydropower
of sediment concentration and uneven erosion patterns. Irrespective of the bend Hydro-abrasive erosion
angle, the erosion hotspot in the needle is observed toward the bend side. Pelton injector
Further, for larger sediment particles, higher bend angles lead to more erosion Bend angle
rate in both the nozzle and needle and must be avoided to prevent excessive Nozzle and needle angle
damage. As the needle angle increases from 40° to 60° for a constant nozzle
angle, the nozzle erosion rate increases by 70% and the needle erosion rate
decreases by 99%. Hence, an injector design can be optimized in hydro-abrasive
erosion conditions by selecting a needle angle between 40° and 60°. Further, the
operation of the injector at too high and low a stroke ratio results in excessive
erosion of the nozzle and needle, respectively. In this study, a stroke ratio of 0.45
is found to be the most suitable for hydro-abrasive erosion conditions. Moreover,
the asymmetricity in the erosion pattern of the needle increases with needle angle
and stroke ratio resulting in jet quality degradation, one major reason for
efficiency reduction in Pelton turbines.

1. INTRODUCTION storage capacity in reservoir based HPPs (Bajracharya et

al., 2008; de Miranda & Mauad, 2015; Luis et al., 2016;
Among all renewable-based energy, hydropower Rai et al., 2017; Arora et al., 2022).
contributes the most in power generation and accounts for Hydro-abrasive erosion is a destructive process that
around 53.7% of all renewable-based power produced alters the profile of hydraulic turbine components
worldwide in year 2021 (IEA, 2022). The suspended resulting in efficiency reduction and renewable energy
sediments present in the water restricts the power generation loss (Padhy & Saini, 2012; Felix, 2017). For
generation, especially in hydropower plants (HPP) the Chilime Pelton turbine HPP, Bajracharya et al. (2008)
situated in the geologically young mountain range of the estimated an efficiency loss of 1.21% for the first year and
Himalayas of South Asian region (Sangal et al., 2018; 4% for the successive year at the 3.4 mm/year of the
Shrivastava & Rai, 2023). About 59% of the total erosion rate. For the Jhimruk Francis turbine HPP,
sediment entering the ocean comes from Asian rivers efficiency loss of 4% and 8% were observed due to
(Dedkov & Gusarov, 2006). Especially during monsoon sediment erosion in two months of operation for full load
and snow-melt seasons, a significant increase in sediment and part load conditions, respectively (Thapa et al., 2015).
inflow in the streams leads to higher damages of the Further, in addition to efficiency reduction, hydro-
hydraulic turbine components from hydro-abrasive abrasive erosion results in the increase of maintenance and
erosion in run-of-the-river HPPs; whereas, reduced operating cost of an HPP (Rai et al., 2019). Though hydro-
N. Shrivastava and A. K. Rai/ JAFM, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 89-104, 2024.

NOMENCLATURE
DO Nozzle exit diameter V Fluid velocity
dr Reference particle diameter Vi Impact velocity
H Head of plant Vp Particle velocity
Hv Vickers hardness of wall material α Impact angle
p Pressure µ dynamic viscosity
Q̇ Discharge ρ Fluid density
S Stroke length ρp Particle density
U Velocity vector Ø discharge coefficient

abrasive erosion is observed in all types of hydraulic erosion and cavitation (Bajracharya et al., 2008; Din &
turbines in sediment-laden flow, the Pelton turbines are Harmain, 2020). Moreover, during part load conditions,
the most affected due to high heads. The high head (800 the number of sediment particles striking the needle
m -1300 m) leads to high flow velocity in Pelton turbine surface increases as more particles reflecting from the
components like injectors and buckets making even small nozzle surface rebound towards the needle surface
particles with sizes less than 60 µm causing severe damage (Bajracharya et al., 2021). Secondary flow and vortices
(Padhy & Saini, 2008, 2011). formation take place in the Pelton injector due to pipe bend
and needle guide resulting in an asymmetrical erosion
The injector experiences the highest velocities and in
pattern (Guo et al., 2020; Han et al., 2021). However, the
turn, eroded extensively resulting in degraded jet quality.
effect of the inclination of a bend on the secondary flow
The quality of the jet depends on the injector design as
and erosion pattern is not completely explored yet.
well as operating condition and plays a significant role in
the performance of a Pelton turbine (Zhang & Casey, Hydro-abrasive erosion can be mitigated by using a
2007; Staubli et al., 2009a, 2010; Jung et al., 2019). The desilting tank at the inlet of penstock; however, due to
hydro-abrasive erosion in a Pelton injector depends on technical and economical limitations, constructing a
sediment parameters like size, size distribution, desilting tank able to remove particles finer than 200 µm
concentration, shape, and hardness; impact parameters is not considered (Bajracharya et al., 2008; Koirala et al.,
like sediment impact velocity and impact angle; operating 2016; Rai et al., 2016). Therefore, erosion mitigation
parameters like the head of an HPP and nozzle opening; requires other methods such as optimizing the design and
design parameters like bend pipe angle, nozzle angle, flow condition and replacing target material with higher
needle angle, nozzle exit diameter, bucket width, the erosion-resistant material or by surface modification of
radius of the curved region of bucket and material of base material (Messa et al., 2019; Singh & Nath, 2022;
turbine components (Rai et al., 2020; Ge et al., 2021; Tarodiya et al., 2022). Rai et al. (2020) tested the erosion
Bajracharya et al., 2022; Tarodiya et al., 2022). Different behaviour of six different materials of Pelton bucket
empirical correlations relating hydro-abrasive erosion and including softer material brass as well as 13Cr-4Ni
efficiency with different parameters are obtained by the martensitic stainless steel with WC-Co-Cr HVOF coating.
researchers, but they are confined to a specific range (Liu Due to high susceptibility to hydro-abrasive erosion, soft
et al., 2019; Padhy & Saini, 2009; Rai et al., 2020). This is materials like brass are not used in manufacturing high
because hydro-abrasive erosion is a complex and head Pelton turbines; whereas, WC-Co-Cr HVOF coated
progressive process and collecting continuous variable martensitic stainless steel is the most preferred material to
data during HPP operation is a laborious and challenging mitigate hydro-abrasive erosion. Tarodiya et al. (2022)
task (Rai & Kumar, 2015). observed coated Pelton injector with WC-Co-Cr coated
martensitic stainless-steel resists 100 times more than an
Erosion in the Pelton injector is mainly due to cutting
uncoated one. Further, they observed erosion resistance of
action because of the lower angle of impact of sediment
high-velocity air fuel (HVAF) processed WC-Co-Cr to be
particles. From the field study at Chenani HPP, Din and
higher than high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) processed.
Harmain (2020) observed crater formation a little
Messa et al. (2019) and Tarodiya et al. (2022) effect of
upstream of the needle tip and nozzle exit due to a higher
nozzle-needle on its hydro-abrasive erosion rate.
impact angle compared to the needle tip and upper region
However, the effect of bend angle on the severity of
of the nozzle where ripple marks were formed. With the
erosion still needs to be explored. Further, the effects of
increase in sediment concentration, the erosion rate in the
sediment size on the erosion pattern of an injector with a
Pelton injector increases as more particles strike the
bend nozzle pipe are not considered in the earlier studies.
surface. IEC 62634 (2019) gives the linear relation
Tarodiya et al. (2022) compare the erosion rate of the
between hydro-abrasive erosion and sediment
Pelton injector for a different combination of the nozzle-
concentration, also observed by Rai et al. (2020) during
needle angle in pair. However, the effect of a specific
the experimental study of the Pelton turbine. Specific
design parameter i.e., nozzle angle or needle angle has not
regions of the needle and nozzle of a Pelton injector with
been investigated yet.
the maximum flow velocity experience high erosion. For
the needle, the erosion hotspot is a little upstream of its tip; In this study, the Pelton injector with external
whereas, it is at the exit for a nozzle (Messa et al., 2019; servomotor is taken by considering a high head of 820 m
Guo et al., 2020). The Pelton needle is highly susceptible corresponding to the head of Kashang HPP for the
to wear during part load conditions compared to full load simulation. Thereafter, the design parameter of the
conditions due to the synergic effect of hydro-abrasive Pelton injector is optimized with respect to hydro-abrasive

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Fig. 1 Design and computational domain without needle guide vane considered for analysis

erosion. This paper consists of four sections. First is an as 100 mm and the stroke ratio is considered constant as
introduction with having literature review of studies 0.45. Here, the x-x section at the exit of the needle rod is
related to the hydro-abrasive erosion process in the Pelton named as needle neck as shown in Fig. 1.
turbine, second is the methodology, discussing
A structured mesh is generated using Ansys meshing
geometrical and numerical modelling used in the study,
software having minimum orthogonal quality and
third is the results and discussion section where obtained
maximum skewness of 0.32 and 0.71, respectively. To
numerical results are described in detail and last is the
capture the erosion and flow phenomenon, a dense
conclusion, presenting the major findings observed while
meshing is used near the area of interest i.e., the nozzle
caring out this study.
exit region - erosion hotspot region and the needle tip
region - boundary layer formation as shown in Fig. 2 (Guo
2. METHODOLOGY et al., 2020). A mesh with 2.81 million elements is
considered for simulation after carrying out a mesh
This section elaborates on the design and meshing independence test for saving the computational time since
details of the Pelton injector considered in this study along the mass flow rate barely varied after 2.81 million mesh
with the different numerical techniques implemented for elements as shown in Fig. 3.
obtaining hydro-abrasive erosion. Further, details of the
validation of the numerical scheme are also provided. 2.2 Numerical Schemes and Mathematical Model
2.1 Geometrical Model and Meshing Pelton turbines situated at a high head experience
severe erosion - one of such hydropower plants is Kashang
In this paper, the Pelton injector with external HPP. Therefore, at the inlet, pressure equivalent to the
servomotor is considered for investigation and is designed head of the Kashang HPP was taken. At the outlet, zero-
using inlet Design Modeler software. To observe the effect gauge pressure was selected while operating pressure of
of pipe bend angle on the erosion rate and pattern for two 1atm was considered. At inlet turbulence effect is included
different sediment sizes (10 µm and 100 µm), various by giving values for turbulent intensity and hydraulic
bends considered in the injector design are shown in Fig. diameter as per Ansys Fluent User Guide manual
1. Other design parameters investigated include nozzle assuming fully developed flow (Ansys Fluent User’s
angle and needle angle variation. Further, the effect of Guide 15.0). The Kashang HPP, consists of 3 units of 5 jet
loading on erosion is also observed by varying the stroke Pelton turbines with 8.99 m3/s unit discharge and a
ratio which is a ratio of stroke length (S) and nozzle exit designed head of 820 m, with a total installed capacity of
diameter (DO) as shown in Fig. 1. For investigating various 195 MW (3 x 65 MW). The present study considers the
design cases, the exit diameter of the nozzle (DO) is taken inlet pressure equivalent to the high head of the Kashang

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Fig. 2 Structured mesh of computational domain

operating parameters considering the entire distributor

would have been computationally expensive. For
capturing the interface between continuous phases of air
and water, the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model was
selected, and its continuity and momentum governing
equation is given by equation (1) and equation (2)
respectively. In the VOF model, the properties of the
mixture (ɱ) depend on the volume fraction of the phases
and are represented by equation (3) (Hirt & Nichols 1981).
▽. (ρU) = 0 (1)
▽. (ρUU) = − ▽ p + ▽. [µ(▽ U + ▽ U T )] + ρg (2)
ɱ = ɱa Փa + ɱw Փw (3)
In the above equation the symbols ρ, U, p, µ, and g
represent mass density, velocity vector, pressure, dynamic
Fig. 3 Mesh independence test viscosity, and acceleration due to gravity, respectively.
Whereas ɱa , ɱw represent general properties and Փa , Փw
HPP since limited CFD studies on injector considering represent the volume fraction of air and water
head value greater than 500 m is available. In actual respectively.
hydropower plants with high capacity 65 MW turbine,
internal servomotor design is frequently used; however, For tracking the discrete phase i.e., sediment
the erosion behavior of such designs was already available particles, Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is considered. In
in the literature (Messa et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2020). the DPM model, continuous and discrete phase is
Thus, the present study considers the reference of Kashang modelled using Eulerian and Lagrangian based approach,
HPP for qualitative validation of erosion patterns and respectively. The governing equation depicting the DPM
selecting a high value of plant head i.e., 820 m for model is represented by equation (4).
simulation. Accordingly, single bend is considered with dVp g(ρp − ρ)
simplification for simulation rather than an entire = FD (V − Vp ) + +F (4)
dt ρp
distributor. Moreover, simulating various design and

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Fig. 4 Validation of obtained numerical result with experiment of (a) Benzon et al. (2015) and (b) Zhang
(2016)

In the above equation, V, Vp , t, ρp and F represents near and away from wall regions, giving benefits of both
fluid velocity, particle velocity, time, particle density, and k-ω and k-ɛ turbulence model. Further, for simultaneously
additional force per unit mass, respectively; whereas solving the continuity and momentum equation, and
FD(V-VP) term represents the drag force per unit particle linking pressure and velocity Coupled algorithm was
mass and the term FD is given by equation (5). selected.
18µCD Re Vi k1 dP k2
FD = (5) E = E90 ( ) ( ) f(α) (9)
ρP d2P 24 Vr dr
where, CD, Re, and dP are drag force coefficient, Reynolds where E90 is the reference erosion ratio at normal impact,
number, and particle diameter, respectively. To calculate Vi is the impact velocity of a particle, Vr is reference
the drag coefficient, the Spherical Drag law is used velocity, dr is reference particle diameter, k1, and k2 are
assuming sediment particles to be smooth and spherical in velocity exponent and diameter exponent respectively and
shape as provided in equation (6). f(α) is impact angle function and is given by equation
a2 a3 (10).
CD = a1 + + (6) n2
Re Re2 f(α) = (sinα)n1 (1 + Hv (1 − sinα)) (10)
where, a1 , a 2 , and a 3 are constants. The mass density of
where, α, Hv, n1, and n2 are impact angle, Vickers hardness
sediment particles is taken as 2650 kg/m3 i.e., equal to the
(Gpa) of wall material, and angle function constants,
density of quartz which is present in abundance in
respectively. To account for the loss in the momentum of
sediment-laden water reaching HPP (Rai et al., 2017; Din
sediment particles after rebounding from the injector wall,
& Harmain, 2020). As the density ratio i.e., the ratio of the
the Forder restitution model was considered and is
mass density of water to sediment is greater than 0.1,
represented by equation (11) and equation (12) (Forder et
therefore, additional forces constituting virtual mass and
al., 1998).
pressure gradient forces are also considered and are given
by equation (7) and equation (8) respectively (Ansys ɛ𝑛 = 0.988 − 0.78𝛼 + 0.19𝛼 2 − 0.024𝛼 3 + 0.027𝛼 4
Fluent Theory Guide 15.0). + 0.027𝛼 4 (11)
1 ρ d ɛ𝑡 = 1 − 0.78𝛼 + 0.84𝛼 2 − 0.21𝛼 3 + 0.028𝛼 4
FV = (V − VP ) (7)
2 ρP dt − 0.022𝛼 5 (12)
ρ where, ɛn and ɛ𝑡 are coefficients of restitution in normal
FP = V ▽V (8)
ρP p and tangential directions respectively and 𝛼 is particle
where, FV and FP are virtual mass force and pressure impact angle in radians.
gradient force per unit mass respectively. As the sediment 2.3 Validation
concentration considered is 750 ppm which is much below
1% hence one-way coupling is selected in this study (Xu The accuracy of the numerically obtained result was
et al., 2016). The turbulence dispersion of the discrete compared with the experimental work of Benzon et al.
phase was predicted using Random Walk Model (RMW), (2015) and Zhang (2016). In the first validation, the
a stochastic method. normalized discharge i.e., the ratio of maximum obtained
discharge to local discharge is observed for different
For the prediction of the erosion rate, an in-built loading conditions i.e., stroke ratio, and the observed
Ansys Fluent Oka erosion model was selected and is given variation of numerically obtained normalized discharge
by equation (9) (Oka et al., 2005, Oka & Yoshida 2005). closely resembles the experimental values obtained
For modelling turbulence effect SST k-ω turbulence by Benzon et al. (2015) as shown in Fig. 4a. In the second
model was selected as it gives considerable results for both

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Fig. 5 Erosion contour obtained in this study and eroded needles of Kashang HPP having excessive erosion
towards bend side of injector

Table 1 Sediment, design and operating parameters considered in the study

S. No. Parameter fixed Parameters considered
Nozzle angle: 90°
i. Bend angle (0°, 60°, 90°,120°) for sediment size 10 µm
1 Needle angle: 50°
ii. Bend angle (0°, 60°, 90°,120°) for sediment size 100 µm
Stroke ratio: 0.45
Bend angle: 120°
2 Nozzle angle: 90° Needle angle (40°, 50°, 60°) for sediment size 100 µm
Stroke ratio: 0.45
Bend angle: 120°
3 Needle angle: 50° Nozzle angle (80°, 90°, 100°) for sediment size 100 µm
Stroke ratio: 0.45
Bend angle: 120°
4 Nozzle angle: 90° Stroke ratio values (0.3, 0.45, 0.75, 1.05) for sediment size 100 µm
Needle angle: 50°
Bend angle: 120°
Nozzle angle: 90°
5 Needle guide vane orientation angle (0°, 45°, 90°) for sediment size 100 µm
Needle angle: 50°
Stroke ratio: 0.45

validation, variation of discharge coefficient (Ø) given by

equation (13) is plotted with respect to the ratio of the area 3.1 Effect of Bend Angle of Nozzle Pipe
of nozzle opening at local partial opening condition (A) to
Velocity streamlines are plotted at the needle neck
full opening condition (AO). It was observed, the curve
section for different bend angles (0°, 60°, 90°, and 120°)
obtained from the numerical results of the current work is
as shown in Fig. 6. It is observed, for 0° bend all
in good alignment with the values obtained from the
streamlines are straight having uniform velocity
experimental work of Zhang (2016) as shown in Fig. 4b.
distribution whereas for an injector with a bend,
Further, a simulation is carried out considering Rossin -
streamline is curved with an increase in non-uniformity in
Rammler size distribution considering sediment size
velocity distribution as bend angle increases. The
between 30 µm and 120 µm and obtained erosion pattern
formation of Dean vortices having less velocity compared
of needle is compared with eroded needle of Kashang
to other regions is observed at the lower side, such that the
HPP. Similar to needle of Kashang HPP, excessive erosion
size of Dean vortices increases with the bend angle. In this
obtained numerically is observed towards the bend side of
paper region below the nozzle axis towards the bend side
the needle as shown in Fig. 5. Table 1 shows various
and the region above the nozzle axis is mentioned as the
parameters considered while carrying out this study with
lower and upper region of the injector, respectively.
all cases without needle guide vanes except S. No. 5.
Similar Dean vortices formation toward the bend side is
4Q̇ also observed by Staubli et al. (2009b) shown in Fig. 6.
Ø= (13) For smaller size sediment with 10 µm size the intensity of
πD2O √2gH
erosion does not vary much though the erosion pattern
where Q̇ and H are discharge and head of HPP does with increase in bend angle, as shown in Fig. 7. For
respectively. both nozzle and needle erosion pattern is more uniform for
0° compared to the injector with a bend as shown in Fig.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 7.
For larger sediment with 100 µm size, both erosion
In this section, the variations in erosion intensity and rate as well as pattern vary with the bend angle of the
pattern observed for different design conditions that nozzle pipe. For the nozzle, erosion rate increases from a
includes the bend angle of nozzle pipe, needle angle, and bend angle of 0° bend to 90°, but with a further increase
nozzle angle as well as the operating condition having in bend angle from 90° bend to 120° change in erosion rate
different values of stroke ratio are discussed.

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Fig. 6 Variation in velocity streamlines and sediment volume fraction in Pelton injector with bend angle of nozzle
pipe

Fig. 7 Variation of erosion rate of nozzle and needle with nozzle pipe bend angle for 10 µm sediment size

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Fig. 8 Variation of erosion rate of nozzle and needle with nozzle pipe bend angle for 100 µm sediment size

is less notable as shown in Fig. 8. For, 60° intensity of the result lower region particles follow the fluid path more
erosion is more in the upper region of nozzle however as closely striking the needle surface at a higher
bend angle increases from 60° to 120° erosion pattern concentration compared to the upper region as shown in
becomes more uniform shown in Fig. 8. Due to the high Fig. 6. Further it is observed, with increase in bend angle
inertia of 100 µm sediment particles, they are more likely needle erosion caused by larger particles increases, due to
to get separated from fluid flow as shown in Fig. 6. As a increase in low velocity region having vortices formation
result, for 0° bend angle, sediment particles in larger as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8.
quantity, distributed uniformly along the radial direction
3.2 Effect of Needle Angle
strikes the convergent region of the nozzle, having lesser
velocity than the region at nozzle exit resulting in a While comparing the erosion rate of the Pelton
reduction in erosion intensity as shown in Fig. 8. It is also injector with respect to the needle angle for a fixed nozzle
observed, in nozzle erosion due to large particles is more angle, it is observed, that as the needle angle increases
severe than smaller particles due impact of sediment with from 40° to 60° erosion rate of the nozzle also increases as
higher kinetic energy is the former case. shown in Fig. 9. This is because, as the needle angle
increase, the needle becomes more bulge with a bigger
In needle erosion caused by small sediment particles
maximum diameter. Due to this, sediment in high
is more severe than caused by larger particles. This is due
concentration is directed toward the nozzle exit region as
to the tendency of smaller particles to follow a fluid path
shown in Fig. 10, increasing the nozzle erosion rate. For
more closely than larger particles. As shown in Fig. 6
the needle abrupt increase in erosion rate is observed with
small particles following the fluid path, strikes a high-
a decrease in needle angle from 60° to 40° as shown in Fig.
velocity region, of the needle region i.e., a little upstream
9. This is because the surface of the needle exposed to
of the needle tip. Whereas, most of the large particles
higher flow velocity increases with a decrease in needle
strike the low-velocity region i.e., the needle neck loses its
angle as shown in Fig. 10. This causes an increase in the
momentum due to this sediment in very less concentration
number of particles having higher kinetic energy striking
striking the region a little upstream to the needle tip,
the needle surface, finally increasing needle erosion rate.
resulting in less erosion as shown in Fig. 6. Further, for
Though the erosion hotspot in the needle is observed in the
larger particles erosion hotspot in needle of a bend injector
lower region but for the needle with 40° tip angle, erosion
is observed in the lower region. This is due to low velocity
is observed in the upper region as well which eventually
in the lower region compared to the upper region as a

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Fig. 9 Variation of erosion rate of nozzle and needle with needle angle

Fig. 10 Variation in sediment and velocity distribution in Pelton injector with needle angle

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Fig. 11 Variation of erosion rate of nozzle and needle with nozzle angle

diminishes with the increase in needle angle as shown in in Fig. 11. This is because as the nozzle angle increases
Fig. 9. This is because needle with 40° tip angle is having from 80° to 90° convergent region increases, reducing the
more streamlined shape allowing sediment particles to flow velocity for maintaining the continuity. As a result,
more closely follow the fluid path. Hence, for a needle the impact velocity of sediment particles striking the
with a 40° tip angle sediment strikes both the upper and needle surface reduces, decreasing the erosion rate.
lower region of the needle but for the 60° case sediment However, with a further increase in nozzle angle from 90°
strikes only in the lower region and not in the upper region to 100°, the erosion rate in the needle increases as shown
of the needle as shown in Fig. 10. in Fig. 11. This is due to an increase in the number of
sediment particles reflecting from the nozzle at higher
3.3 Effect of Nozzle Angle
angles and striking the needle surface overtaking the effect
Variation in nozzle angle for a fixed needle angle of impingement of sediment particles with less velocity.
affects the erosion process of both the nozzle and needle. Moreover, due to this same reason, erosion in the upper
On increasing the nozzle angle from 80° to 100°, an region of the needle can also be observed for a higher
increase in the erosion rate of the nozzle is observed as nozzle angle as shown in Fig. 11.
shown in Fig. 11. This is due to the impingement of
The variation of injector design does not merely
sediment particles at higher angles for nozzle with higher
govern the hydro-abrasive erosion but also the Pelton
convergent angle. In the needle, the erosion rate decreases
turbine efficiency. The variations in nozzle/needle angles
with an increase in nozzle angle from 80° to 90° as shown

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Fig. 12 Variation of erosion rate of nozzle and needle with stroke ratio

cause changes in the mass flow rate and jet quality, finally phenomenon increases the erosion rate whereas the latter
affecting the turbine efficiency (Benzon et al., 2015; phenomenon has the potential to decrease the erosion rate.
Petley et al., 2019). Benzon et al. (2015) observed 0.5% Hence, the overall change in the erosion rate of the nozzle
increase in runner efficiency for a 110°/70° nozzle/needle and needle due to variation in stroke ratio depends on the
angle design compared with a 90°/50° nozzle/needle angle phenomenon that is more prevailing or dominating.
combination. Therefore, for selecting the optimal design
It is observed as the stroke ratio increases from 0.3
of Pelton injector, both hydro-abrasive erosion and turbine
to 0.75 erosion in the nozzle increases sharply this is due
efficiency aspects need to be considered in erosion prone
to an increase in discharge. However, with a further
conditions.
increase in stroke ratio from 0.75 to 1.05 erosion rate
3.4 Effect of Stroke Ratio increases but the change is minimal due to a decrease in
flow velocity as shown in Fig. 12. Overall, in the nozzle,
Other than the design of a Pelton injector, the
discharge of sediment plays a dominant role, affecting the
operating condition also affects the erosion process of the
erosion rate. Fig. 13 shows a higher concentration of
injector. Here one of the operating parameters i.e., stroke
sediment near the nozzle exit for a 1.05 stroke ratio
ratio which depicts the nozzle opening is discussed. With
compared with a 0.3 stroke ratio. For the needle, an abrupt
the increase in stroke ratio or nozzle opening, discharge of
drop-in erosion rate is observed with an increase in stroke
sediment-laden water increases causing a greater number
ratio from 0.3 to 0.45 due to a reduction in the average
of sediment particles to strike the injector surface but
flow velocity of the convergent region. However, with a
simultaneously due to an increase in the convergent region
further increase in the stroke ratio from 0.45 to 1.05, the
or proximity between nozzle and needle surface, flow
rate in the decrease of erosion rate reduces due to
velocity reduces. This causes sediment to strike the
an increase in discharge as shown in Fig. 12. Overall, in
injector surface with less impact force. The former

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Fig. 13 Variation in sediment and velocity distribution in Pelton injector with stroke ratio

needle, flow velocity plays a dominating factor affecting Moreover, either increasing or decreasing the nozzle angle
the erosion rate. As shown in Fig. 13 more surface of the from 90° results in an increase of needle erosion as shown
needle is exposed to a higher flow velocity region for 0.3 in Fig. 11. Whereas, for the hydropower plant like Chivor
stroke ratio compared with the case of 1.05 stroke ratio. HPP (Morales, 2017) with d90 of 13.38 µm, the sediment
Moreover, the lesser the stroke ratio smaller will be the particles will follow the fluid path more closely therefore
convergent region i.e., more proximity between the nozzle variation of design parameter will not be much effective.
and needle surface allowing sediment to more closely In such a case along with the situation in which the design
follow the fluid path. As a result, for a 0.3 stroke ratio, parameter of the powerplant is already fixed, optimizing
erosion in the needle is also observed in the upper region the operating parameter will be beneficial in mitigating the
along with the lower region whereas for a 1.05 stroke ratio erosion. From the obtained result, an injector operating at
proximity between the nozzle and needle surface reduces a stroke ratio of ‘0.45’ is found to be most suitable. Since
allowing sediment to detach from the upper region of the at higher and lower stroke ratios, erosion increases
needle and hence erosion is observed only in the lower significantly in the nozzle and needle, respectively as
region of the needle as shown in Fig. 12. shown in Fig. 12.
From the obtained results it can be inferred, for the 3.5 Effect of Needle Guide Vanes and Its Orientation
hydropower plants handling larger sediment size (d 90 ≥
The pattern and intensity of erosion in a Pelton
100 µm) like Toss HPP (Rai et al., 2017), Chilime HPP
injector depends on the presence of needle guide vane
(Bajrachrya et al., 2008) and Chenani HPP (Din &
(NGV) and its orientation. To analyze the influence of
Harmain, 2020), erosion can be mitigated by optimizing
NGV, a needle guide with two vanes was considered in the
the design parameters. For such HPPs, a bend angle below
injector geometry. In presence of NGV, the erosion of
90° should be considered while designing an injector. This
nozzle was merely impacted; whereas, a significant impact
is to avoid severe erosion in the nozzle and needle
was observed in the erosion of the needle as shown in Fig.
obtained beyond this angle as shown in Fig. 8. Further,
14. The presence of NGV at 0° orientation has negligible
90°/50° will be the most optimum pair of nozzle/needle
impact on the erosion pattern of injector as compared with
angle with respect to erosion. This is because at a needle
the erosion case of NGV-less configuration. As the
angle, higher or lower than 50°, erosion in either of nozzle
presence of NGV influences the Dean vortices in 45°
or needle increases considerably as shown in Fig. 9.
and 90° orientations by making the flow streamlined, the

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Fig. 14 Variation in erosion of Pelton injector with orientation of needle guide vane (NGV)

asymmetricity in erosion patterns reduces progressively. If Larger sediment causes more damage to the nozzle
bluff or less aerodynamically shaped NGV were used, whereas the damage to the needle is more for smaller
then von-Karman vortices will predominate and affect the particle size. Further, irrespective of bend angle,
erosion pattern of needle as observed by Guo et al. (2020) asymmetricity in the erosion pattern of the needle is
while considering the straight nozzle pipe. Hence, an more profound for larger-size sediment particles.
overall erosion in needle depends on the Dean vortices as
well as von-Karman vortices. Therefore, to observe the • Variation in rate of erosion with bend angle is more
sole effect of Dean vortices formed due to bend nozzle extensive for larger-size sediment particles. Further,
pipe on erosion, needle guide was not modelled while for larger sediment sizes, the susceptibility of the
investigating the effect of design and operating injector towards erosion increases with an increase
parameters. Moreover, a 0° orientation of NGV has similar in bend angle.
effects as the case of an NGV-less design as shown in Fig. • A higher needle tip angle causes more erosion to the
14. nozzle whereas a needle is more vulnerable to
erosion for a lower needle angle. Moreover,
4. CONCLUSION asymmetricity in the erosion pattern of the needle
increases with an increase in needle angle. Further,
The effect of design and operating parameters on the it is observed beyond 90° of the nozzle angles, the
rate and pattern of hydro-abrasive erosion of the Pelton injector is at risk of damage as erosion of both the
injector is discussed in this paper. The following list nozzle and needle increases.
summarizes the key findings of this numerical study.
• With the increase in stroke ratio, the rate of erosion
• Dean Vortices formation is observed in a Pelton in the nozzle increases whereas the needle is more
injector having a bend and these Dean vortices are susceptible to erosion for part-load condition.
located towards the bend side. With the increase in Further, asymmetricity in the erosion pattern of the
the bend angle of the nozzle pipe, the size of the needle increases with an increase in stroke ratio.
vortices increases simultaneously. As the flow
This study considered the case of a bend in different
velocity in near vortices is low compared to the other
configurations in a simplified manner. In case a turbine
side of the bend sediment particles follows the fluid
typically has a distributor leading to the injectors, the flow
path more closely towards the bend side of the
is already distorted by the upstream bifurcations. As the
injector and this phenomenon is more predominant
complete distributor was not considered as a
for higher bend angle.
computational domain for analyzing the variation of
• The effect of sediment size on the erosion process is design and operating parameters, the present study is
observed differently for the nozzle and needle. limited in application to simplified cases only. To obtain

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the erosion behavior of such injectors referring to this Engineering, 141(3), 04014016.
study, the flow pattern after the bifurcation in distributor https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-
is required to be used as inlet velocity condition. 7897.0000183
Dedkov, A. P., & Gusarov, A. V. (2006). Suspended
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS sediment yield from continents into the World Ocean:
spatial and temporal changeability. Sediment
The authors would like to thank Science and Dynamics and the Morphology of Fluvial Systems,
Engineering Research Board (Grant No. 306, 3-11.
SRG/2020/002452), India for financially supporting the https://dspace.kpfu.ru/xmlui/handle/net/140356.
present work. The authors would also like to thank the Din, M. Z. U., & Harmain, G. A. (2020). Assessment of
Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India for erosive wear of Pelton turbine injector: Nozzle and
their financial help in the form of a Ph.D. scholarship. spear combination–A study of Chenani hydro-power
plant. Engineering Failure Analysis, 116, 104695.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2020.104695.
Felix, D. (2017). Experimental investigation on suspended
The authors declare that they have no known
sediment, hydro-abrasive erosion and efficiency
competing financial interests or personal relationships that
reductions of coated Pelton turbines. VAW-
could have appeared to influence the work reported in this Mitteilungen, 238. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-
paper. 000161430

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