A Pelton wheel is fed by a penstock from a head of ; the jet speed is taken as

PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Earth, Climate & Energy Physics · Energy resources and conversion · Energy resources and conversion

Energy from Physics, Ch Natural energy flows: rotors, turbines, waves, channels and hot rock

Problem

A Pelton wheel is fed by a penstock from a head of

h = 300\,\mathrm{m}

; the jet speed is taken as

v_j = \sqrt{2gh}

, ignoring pipe and nozzle losses. The wheel is coupled directly to a generator turning at

N = 600\,\mathrm{rpm}

. ((a)) Find the jet speed

v_j

. ((b)) Find the bucket speed

u

that gives the largest power,

u = v_j/2

. ((c)) Find the wheel diameter

D

that gives this bucket speed at

600\,\mathrm{rpm}

, using

u = \pi D N/60