PELTON TURBINE

A turbine converts energy in the form of falling water into rotating shaft power. The selection of the best turbine for any particular hydro site depends on the site characteristics, the dominant ones being the head and flow available.

The Pelton type turbine is usually the preferred turbine for hydropower, when the available water source has relatively high hydraulic head at low flow rates.They have the advantages such as compact structure, small size, high efficiency, low operation maintenance cost, low cost because of less excavation and less investments, etc. and disadvantages like inadequate energy recovery and lower efficiency than other types of turbines.In a Pelton Turbine or Pelton Wheel water jets impact on the blades of the turbine making the wheel rotate, producing torque and power. 

Pelton Turbine – The Basic Working Principle

Working principle of Pelton turbine is simple. When a high speed water jet injected through a nozzle hits buckets of Pelton wheel; it induces an impulsive force. This force makes the turbine rotate. The rotating shaft runs a generator and produces electricity.

In large scale hydro installation Pelton turbines are normally only considered for heads above 150 m, but for micro-hydro applications Pelton turbines can be used effectively at heads down to about 20 m. Pelton turbines are not used at lower heads because their rotational speeds becomes very slow and the runner required is very large and unwieldy. If runner size and low speed do not pose a problem for a particular installation, then a Pelton turbine can be used efficiently with fairly low heads.