Lester Pelton invented the Pelton wheel turbine in the 1870s to efficiently harness hydropower. The Pelton wheel uses the impulse from high-pressure jets of water to spin buckets around a central shaft. Each bucket is split in half to better direct the force of the jet. Pelton's innovative design captured more energy than traditional water wheels and helped drive the growth of hydropower. His turbine design is still widely used today where sites have high water pressures but limited flow.

1. Pelton Wheel Turbine
Best Means to Recover Energy form High Energy Intensity
Fluids….

2. Pelton Turbine: The First Titled Impulse Turbine
• Lester Allan Pelton, considered to be the
father of modern day hydroelectric
power, was born in Vermilion Township,
Erie County, in Ohio.
• On September 5, 1829.
• Pelton embarked on an adventure in
search of gold.
• Shifted to California from Ohio in 1850,
he was 21 years old.
• After a failed quest for gold, he joined in
the gold mines as a millwright, and
carpenter at Camptonville, Yuba County,
California in 1864 .

3. Captonville

4. Camptonville Gold Mine : Use of Hydro Power
• Water wheels were being used to provide mechanical
power for all things mining, air compressors, pumps,
stamp mills and operating other machines.
• The energy to drive these wheels was supplied by powerful
jets of water which struck the base of the wheel with flat-
faced vanes.
• These vanes eventually evolved into hemispherical cups,
with the jet striking at the center of the cup on the wheel.
• Pelton observed that one of the water wheels appeared to
be rotating faster than other similar machines.
• It turned out initially that this was due to the wheel had
come loose, and moved a little on its axle.

5. Damaged Wheel is A Better Design
• He noticed the jet was striking the inside edge of the cups,
and exiting the other side of the cup.
• His quest for improvement resulted in an innovation.
• Pelton reconstructed the wheel, with the cups off center
only to find again that it rotated more rapidly.
• Pelton also found that using split cups enhanced the effect.
By 1879 he had tested a prototype at the University of
California, which was successful.
• He was granted his first patent in 1880.
• By 1890, Pelton turbines were in operation, developing
thousands of horsepower, powering all kinds of equipment.

6. A Patent on Water Wheel
• In 1889 Pelton was granted a patent with the
following text.
• "Pelton water turbine or wheel is a rotor driven by the
impulse of a jet of water upon curved buckets fixed to its
periphery; each bucket is divided in half by a splitter edge
that divides the water into two streams. The buckets have a
two-curved section which completely reverses the
direction of the water jet striking them."

7. Special Design Features to Minimize
Irreversibilities…..

8. Hydro Electric Plant with High Heads
gH
p
V
p
p atm
penstock
static
friction 






2
2
friction
jet
gh
gH
V





2
2
Nozzle
H
patm

9. HEPP with Pelton Wheel

10. Different Layouts of Pelton Turbine
• Arrangement of Jets
• Arrangement of Runners
• Arrangements of Turbine Shaft

11. Arrangement of Jets

12. Arrangement of Runners

13. Parts of Advanced Pelton Turbine
• The main components of a Pelton turbine are:
• (i) water distributor and casing,
• (ii) nozzle and deflector with their operating mechanism,
• (iii) runner with buckets,
• (iv) shaft with bearing,
• (v) auxiliary nozzle.
• Auxiliary nozzle is used as brake for reducing the speed
during shut down.
• The runner is located above maximum tail water to permit
operation at atmospheric pressure.

14. Key Parts of Pelton Turbine

15. Runner with Buckets
• The runner consists of a circular disc with a number (usually more
than 15) of buckets evenly spaced around its periphery.
• Each bucket is divided vertically into two parts by a splitter that has
a sharp edge at the centre and the buckets look like a double
hemispherical cup.
• The striking jet of water is divided into two parts by the splitter.

16. • A notch made near the edge of the outer rim of each bucket is
carefully sharpened to ensure a loss-free entry of the jet into the
buckets,
• i.e., the path of the jet is not obstructed by the incoming buckets.

17. Bucket Displacement Diagram
Design of Nozzle is of Prime importance in Pelton Wheel

18. Nozzle used in 62.5 MW Pelton Wheel

19. Mechanism of Control of Jet dimensions

20. The Nozzle and Jet : A Key Step in Design
a
b
d0
djet,VC
Velocity of the jet at VC:
gH
V ideal
VC
jet 2
:
, 

21. gH
K
V v
actual
VC
jet 2
1
:
,  99
.
0
98
.
0 1 
 v
K
Jet carrying a discharge of Q to deliver a power P
 
gH
K
d
Q v
VC
jet 2
4
1
2
,


To generate a discharge of Q, we need a least jet diameter of
 
gH
K
Q
d
v
VC
jet
2
4
1
,


QgH
P turbine



22. Diameter of the Jet at the outlet, do
 
gH
K
d
Q vo
o 2
4
2


83
.
0
81
.
0 
 vO
K
It is important to find out the VC and outlet jet
diameters/areas