Accepted Manuscript

Influence of Spear Needle Eccentricity on Jet Quality in Micro Pelton Turbine for
Power Generation

In Hyuk Jung, Young Soo Kim, Dong Ho Shin, Jin Taek Chung, Youhwan Shin

PII: S0360-5442(19)30481-5

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.03.077

Reference: EGY 14913

To appear in: Energy

Received Date: 23 October 2018

Accepted Date: 12 March 2019

Please cite this article as: In Hyuk Jung, Young Soo Kim, Dong Ho Shin, Jin Taek Chung, Youhwan
Shin, Influence of Spear Needle Eccentricity on Jet Quality in Micro Pelton Turbine for Power
Generation, Energy (2019), doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.03.077

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Influence of Spear Needle Eccentricity on Jet Quality in Micro Pelton

Turbine for Power Generation
In Hyuk Junga,b, Young Soo Kima,b, Dong Ho Shina, Jin Taek Chungb, Youhwan Shina,*
aNational Agenda Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology
bDept. of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University

*Corresponding author: <yhshin@kist.re.kr>

Abstract

The quality of the jet injected from a nozzle is one of the key factors that affects the performance of Pelton
turbines. In this study, for the first time, experiments and numerical simulation were conducted to investigate the
effect of the spear needle eccentricity on the jet flow in micro Pelton turbines. Results show that the eccentricity
of the spear needle causes jet diffusion under low flow conditions and significantly increases the loss of the spear
nozzle (injector). Furthermore, the increase in the eccentricity ratio causes extreme jet separation and jet diffusion,
and the loss of the spear nozzle increases by 52% (from 453 W to 688 W) when the eccentricity ratio increases
by 6%. Analysis of the results confirmed that the pressure deviation and jet velocity imbalance caused by
eccentricity are the primary causes of jet diffusion. Furthermore, the results confirm that the eccentricity of the
spear needle in the case of a low-capacity Pelton turbine has a significant effect on the jet quality. Thus, further
studies on the eccentricity are required to improve the performance of the Pelton turbine.

Keywords: Pelton turbine, Pressure-retarded osmosis, Spear nozzle, Eccentricity, Flow visualization,
Numerical simulation

1. Introduction

As technology development for clean energy sources has become an important issue worldwide, small-scale
hydroelectric power generation with lower greenhouse gas emissions and higher energy densities has been actively
researched [1]. Among the various turbines used for hydroelectric power generation, Pelton turbines are
representative impulse turbines, which are energy-conversion devices suitable for operation conditions at high
pressures and relatively low flow rates. Currently, Pelton turbines are used as energy recovery turbines (ERTs)
for seawater desalination plants that use reverse osmosis (RO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) processes
[2]. For concentrated water that is subject to typical desalination processes, such as RO, the flow rate increases
through the PRO process. In this case, the use of Pelton turbines can recover the hydraulic energy of the
concentrated water with a high efficiency [3].
The major factors that affect the performance of such Pelton turbines include the bucket, runner, nozzle, casing,
and operation conditions [4]. Among them, the nozzle plays an important role in converting the pressure energy
of the fluid into kinetic energy. Thus far, various studies have been conducted on the nozzle to improve the
performance of the Pelton turbine. Jeon et al. analyzed the causes of decrease in the performance of Pelton turbines
under flow rates lower than a certain value through the investigation of the correlation between the flow rate
change and the torque transferred to the buckets [5]. Zhang and Casey used the laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV)
method to analyze the jet flow characteristics of the Pelton turbine nozzle [6]. Their research results revealed that
the wake generated by the boundary layer on the surface of the spear needle affected the velocity distribution of
the jet and that the secondary flow generated upstream of the nozzle acted as the cause of the jet flow deformation
downstream. Staubli et al. compared changes in turbine performance according to the jet diffusion through flow
visualization and performance tests, and confirmed that jet diffusion is the major cause of decrease in turbine
performance [7]. Furthermore, Benzon et al. conducted a parametric optimization study on the angle of spear
nozzle and proposed an optimal geometry of the spear nozzle to reduce losses [8]. Meanwhile, optimization studies
using the response surface methodology (RSM) have been actively carried out in the field of turbo-machinery.
Jafaryar et al. assumed the height and location of the camber and the airfoil thickness as shape parameters; they
then applied the RSM based on a central composite design (CCD) to optimize the airfoil of a vertical-axis wind
turbine [9]. Hatami et al. confirmed that the vane angle is an important parameter for improving the performance
of a variable geometry turbine turbocharger and optimized the shape of the turbine vane using a CCD [10].
Previous research has largely focused on the runner wheel and buckets, which are rotating components, for the
performance improvement of Pelton turbines [11, 12]. Since 2002, however, research, led by Andritz Hydro, has
been actively conducted again on the spear nozzle and turbine casing, which are static components. In particular,
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research on the spear nozzle has become an important issue, as results have shown that the quality of the jet
injected from the spear nozzle has a significant influence on the turbine performance [13]. However, until now
there have been no studies regarding the relationship between the spear needle eccentricity and the jet flow. In
particular, the lower capacity Pelton turbine has a relatively smaller nozzle diameter; thus, the eccentricity of the
spear needle is expected to have a significant effect on the jet flow. Therefore, it is necessary to study eccentricity
to improve turbine performance.
In this study, the influence of the spear nozzle on the jet flow is investigated for the performance improvement
of micro Pelton turbines that are used as energy-recovery power generation devices in PRO plants. In particular,
the influence of the spear needle eccentricity on the jet flow of the nozzle is analyzed in detail. To specifically
analyze the relationship between the jet flow of the nozzle and the eccentricity, experiments such as flow
visualization are conducted under various flow conditions and compared with the numerical simulation results.

2. Test Configuration

2.1 Performance test method

The design operation conditions of the 10 kW-class micro Pelton turbine used in this study and the
specifications of the major components are shown in Table 1. To measure the performance of the Pelton turbine,
a test rig consisting of a pump section, a turbine section, and a drive section was used as shown in Fig. 1. In this
study, water used as a working fluid circulates in a closed loop system, where it passes through a high-pressure
pump and is then injected through the spear nozzle to transfer energy to the bucket and subsequently returned to
the water tank.
The specifications of the measurement sensors and the equipment used in the performance test are shown in
Table 2. A multi-stage centrifugal pump (SKHT40B) was used to simulate the operation conditions of the
concentrated water introduced in the Pelton turbine in the PRO process. The pressure and flow rate of the working
fluid discharged from the pump were controlled by adjusting the frequency through an inverter. Moreover, a servo
motor (MAD130C) capable of controlling the rotational speed was used to simulate the design rotational speed.
The operation condition of the working fluid was measured using a pressure transducer (PSHE0040BEPG) and
an electromagnetic flow meter (TX200). A torque transducer (UTM2) manufactured by UNIPULS was attached
between the Pelton turbine and the servo motor shaft to measure the shaft torque and the rotational speed. The
measurement system used in this study was configured to monitor and store all electrical signals from each sensor
using two DAQ (MX-100 and TM301). The uncertainties regarding the measuring equipment are shown in Table
2, and the total uncertainty is less than 1%. In addition, the data measured for 60 s under each operation condition
were arithmetically averaged and used to analyze the performance of the Pelton turbine.

Table 1
Specifications of design operation conditions and components
Design operation condition
Pressure 30 bar
Flow rate 278 L/min
Rotational speed 3,600 RPM
Geometrical information of components
Pitch circle diameter (PCD) 182 mm
Bucket width 30 mm
Number of buckets 25
Exit angle of bucket 165°
Number of nozzles 1
Nozzle diameter 12 mm
Angle of nozzle and spear needle 80° and 45°
Materials: SUS 316L (Rustproof stainless steel)
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Fig. 1 Performance facility of Pelton turbine

Table 2
Specifications of experimental devices

Experimental device Model No. Specification Uncertainty

High-pressure pump SKHT40B Rate of flow: 20 T/h -
Head: 300 m
Power: 37 kW(50Hp)
380V/60Hz
Servo motor MAD130C Rated power: 18.4 kW -
Rated torque: 117 Nm
Pressure transducer PSHE0040BEPG 0–40 bar ± 0.15%
1–5 VDC
Electromagnetic TX200 0–1167 L/min ± 0.2 %
flow meter 4–20 mA
Torque transducer UNIPULSE UTM2 0–12,000 RPM ± 0.03%
± 200 Nm
± 5 VDC
Data acquisition Yokogawa MX-100 ± 100 V ± 0.05 %
device 1
Data acquisition UNIPULSE TM301 ± 5 VDC ± 0.02 %
device 2

2.2 Numerical simulation methods

A computational analysis was conducted using ANSYS CFX 16.0 and the three-dimensional Reynolds-
averaged Navier–Stokes equation was used to calculate the continuity, momentum, and energy equations. The jet
flow in the Pelton turbine is a mixture of air and water with multiphase flow characteristics. Therefore, a
homogenous model suitable for multiphase flow was employed. Considering previous work, the properties of
water and air were assumed to be constant during our calculations. In addition, a high-resolution scheme was
employed to calculate the convection term, whereas the shape functions based on the finite-element method were
used to calculate the spatial derivatives of the diffusion term [5].
Table 3 shows the representative boundary conditions used in the computational analysis. A pressure of 30 bar
was used for the nozzle inlet condition, whereas atmospheric pressure was used for the nozzle outlet condition in
the chamber. In addition, the walls of the nozzle and spear needle were assumed to be smooth. A no-slip condition
was applied, and the automatic wall function of ANSYS CFX was used to determine the behaviour of the fluid
against the wall.
In addition, to determine the convergence of the computational analysis, the target residual was set to 1×10-5
for the continuity, energy, and momentum equations, and the imbalance was limited to less than 0.1%. k–ε, k–ω,
and k–ω shear-stress transport(SST) turbulence models have been primarily used for the computational analysis
of free-surface multiphase flow [5, 8, 14]. The k–ω SST turbulence model, which is known to have a relatively
high accuracy in flow analyses of Pelton turbine, was used in this study [14].
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Table 3
Boundary conditions of the numerical simulation

Location Boundary CFX details

Nozzle inlet Inlet Mass and momentum: total pressure (stable)

Turbulence model: k-ω SST

Nozzle and spear Wall Mass and momentum: no slip wall

needle surface Wall roughness: smooth

Nozzle outlet Opening Mass and momentum: opening pressure

and chamber Relative pressure: 0 [Pa]
Flow direction: normal to boundary

Fig. 2 Grid independency study

Fig. 2 shows the average total pressure of the jet according to the number of elements at a distance of 9dn, where
the jet contacts the Pelton bucket vertically. As a result of examining the grid independency, the difference in the
analysis results began to decrease at approximately 1.7 million elements. However, in this study, the
computational analysis was conducted using approximately 2.4 million elements for an accurate analysis of the
flow characteristics at the nozzle outlet and at the tip of spear needle.
Fig. 3 shows the changes in the operation conditions according to the spear needle distance. After the flow
rate and pressure were experimentally measured according to the spear needle distance, grids were constructed
according to the measured spear needle distance and the total pressure condition was set as the boundary condition
of the computational analysis. As a result of comparing the measured flow rate with the flow rate calculated
through the computational analysis, the error between the experimental and computational analysis results at the
design point was 1.3% and the maximum error was less than 4.2% under the off-design flow rate conditions. In
addition, the design point performance of the spear nozzle was compared with that of spear nozzles investigated
in previous studies. Typically, the design point performance of the spear nozzle in the micro Pelton turbine is
known to be in the range of 94–96%, while the computational analysis result of this study achieves a performance
of approximately 97% [15]. In conclusion, the results of the computational analysis are considered reasonable,
given that their trends are close to those of data measured in the experiment, and that the performance of the spear
nozzles is similar to that observed in previous research.
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Fig. 3 Nozzle flow rate variation vs spear needle distance

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Performance of Pelton turbine

Fig. 4 shows the performance characteristic curve of the micro Pelton turbine according to the flow rate under
a fixed rotational speed and pressure conditions. The performance of the Pelton turbine was calculated as the ratio
of the converted mechanical power to the hydraulic energy of the fluid. The overall efficiency of a Pelton turbine
can be simply expressed as the product of the efficiency of major components, as shown in Eq. (1), which can be
transformed into Eq. (2) [16]. Eq. (3) represents the correlation between the turbine performance and the flow rate
under the 2% eccentricity condition as a cubic function.
In the case of the micro Pelton turbine used in this study, it was confirmed that the efficiency of the design
point was approximately 85%. In addition, the off-design performance was similar up to 70% of the design flow
rate, but suddenly decreased at lower flow rates. However, previous studies have demonstrated that the efficiency
of a low-capacity Pelton turbine exhibits a similar performance up to 40% of the design flow rate [17]. Based on
this point of view, this study analyzed the effect of the eccentricity of the spear needle on the performance
reduction of the Pelton turbine under low flow conditions.

ηT = η𝑆 × η𝑊 × η𝑀 × η𝑉 (1)
Tω (2)
ηT =
ρgQH

Q 2 Q 3 (3)
Q
𝜂𝑇 [%] = 28.61 +163.55Qdes ―161.55 ( )
Qdes ( )
+54.22 Qdes

Fig. 4 Pelton turbine efficiency according to flow rates

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3.2 Effect of volumetric flow rate

Fig. 5 compares the design drawing with an actual photograph through superposition. The figure shows the
downward eccentricity of the spear needle. To study the jet quality change due to eccentricity through the
computational analysis, the eccentric distance was measured using CAD software and an eccentricity of
approximately 0.24 mm (ε = 2%) was found in the spear needle. The eccentricity ratio (ε) can be defined as the
ratio of eccentric distance of the spear needle to the nozzle diameter (Eq. (4)). Through the computational analysis,
the jet flow characteristics and performance of the spear nozzle were analyzed according to the flow rate under
the same eccentricity condition.

Fig. 5 Spear needle eccentricity

𝑒
ε= (4)
𝑑𝑛

Fig. 6 shows the jet flow according to the flow rate. Figs. 6(a) and (b) shows the results of the computational
analysis under no eccentricity and that under 2% eccentricity ratio, respectively. Fig. 6(c) shows the jet injection
photographs by flow rate. Under no eccentricity, jet diffusion was not observed by the numerical analysis. For an
eccentricity ratio of 2%, however, jet diffusion occurred even at 60% of the design flow rate. Jet diffusion occurred
under low flow rate conditions. In particular, the jet flow suddenly changed from 40% of the design flow rate.
This phenomenon can also be confirmed by the experiment results shown in Fig. 6(c). Furthermore, Figs. 6(b)
and (c) shows that jet diffusion developed rapidly and the jet was completely separated into the upper and lower
parts for 25% flow rate.
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Fig. 6 Jet flow comparison

The spread angle of the jet is an important criterion to determine jet quality. However, it was not easy to
accurately evaluate the spread angle of the jet using the captured flow photographs because of the irregularities
on the jet surface. Fig. 7 shows a method to quantitatively evaluate the spread angle of the jet using the captured
flow photographs. In this study, the spread angle of the jet was evaluated using the Histogram function and CAD
software. In addition, the spread angle of the jet was evaluated using the ten flow photographs taken under the
same operation conditions. The results were arithmetically averaged to reduce the error in the spread angle of the
jet. Meanwhile, for the computational analysis, the spread angle of the jet was calculated using its contour line
(water concentration = 0.5).

Fig. 7 Jet divergence angle measurement

Fig. 8 compares the results of the computational analysis with those of the experiment for the spread angle of
the jet when eccentricity ratio condition was 2%. Eq. (5) has been derived from the value of the normalized flow
rate and the average value of the jet spread angles (θ𝛼, θ𝛽) obtained from numerical simulation and experiment.
As shown in the figure, the spread angle increased as the flow rate decreased. In addition, the spread angle was
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very small (less than approximately one degree) under the design operation condition; however, it sharply
increased when the flow rate was lower than 60%. In particular, as confirmed by Fig. 6, the spread angle of the
jet was extremely large under the 25% flow rate condition. The spread angle calculated by the computational
analysis was approximately 9.2°, while the experimental result was approximately 12°. The experimental result
considered only θ𝛼 because the flow was unstable and the boundary was not clear for the flow photographed
under the 25% flow rate condition. Therefore, the correlations for the spread angle with the normalized flow rate
are considered to be useful for calculating the spread angle of the jet under the following flow condition. (0.4 <
Q/Qdes < 1)

θ [deg] = exp
[5.01 ― 13(
Q
Qdes ( )
) ― 6.88
Q
Qdes
] (5)

Fig. 8 Jet divergence angles according to flow rates

Fig. 9 compares the normalized spear nozzle loss rate under no eccentricity with that under the 2% eccentricity
ratio condition. The spear nozzle loss rate was calculated using Eq. (8) presented by Benzon et al., which compares
the inlet power with the power at the downstream of the nozzle (nine nozzle diameters (9 ∙ dn) from the nozzle
outlet) [8]. Fig. 9 shows that the spear nozzle loss rate increased as the flow rate decreased. In addition, a
comparison between the no eccentricity and 2% eccentricity ratio conditions reveals that the difference in the
spear nozzle loss rate occurred under the 60% flow rate condition. At the design flow rate, the additional loss
owing to the eccentricity of the spear needle was 3.8 W, which was relatively small; at 60% flow rate, it was
observed to have significantly increased to 24.5 W. Further, the sharp increase in additional loss as the flow rate
decreased, resulted in an additional loss of approximately 99.3 W at 25% of the design flow rate.
ρu2
𝑃 = ∫A(p + 2 )udA

n ρu2i (6)
= ∑1(pi+ 2 )uiAi

Spear nozzle loss = Pin ― Pout_9dn

(7)
Pin ― Pout_9dn
Spear nozzle loss rate(%) = (8)
Pin
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Fig. 9 Normalized Spear nozzle loss comparison between eccentricity ratio 0% and 2%

To analyze the causes of the jet flow change as well as the increase in the spear nozzle loss due to the eccentricity
of the spear needle, the pressure component and flow characteristics of the jet were analyzed in the vicinity of the
nozzle outlet. Fig. 10 shows the pressure distribution on the surface of the spear needle immediately before the
nozzle outlet (Sd /dn = - 0.2). The x-axis represents the angle (𝜙) in the circumferential direction from the center
of the spear needle, as shown in Fig. 5, and the y-axis represents the pressure deviation from the mean pressure,
as defined in Eq. (9).

Fig. 10 Static pressure distribution of spear needle surface according to flow rates

Ideally, the pressure on the spear needle surface must be constant; however, the pressure deviation occurred in
the circumferential direction owing to the influence of eccentricity. In addition, while the pressure deviation from
the mean pressure was extremely small (less than 2%) under the design flow rate, the pressure deviation began to
increase sharply when the flow rate decreased to less than 60% of the design flow rate. In particular, the pressure
deviation increased by a minimum of 20% when the flow rate decreased to 25% of the design flow rate. This
pressure deviation is considered to cause the vibration of the small-sized spear needle and act as the cause of
instability in the jet flow.
Ps ― Ps
Static pressure deviation = (9)
Ps
Fig. 11 shows the velocity of the jet according to the flow rate under the 2% eccentricity ratio condition. The
velocity contour near the nozzle outlet in Fig. 11(a) shows that the velocity distribution changed as the flow rate
decreased. In particular, under the low flow rate conditions, the flow characteristics were completely different
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between the upper part, with a relatively large flow area, and the lower part, with a relatively small flow area, due
to eccentricity, and the flow was concentrated toward the upper part with a large flow area.
A detailed observation based on the spear needle tip revealed that the velocity energy change in the upper part
of the spear needle was not relatively significant as the flow rate decreased; however, the velocity energy of the
lower part sharply decreased. This phenomenon is clearly described in Fig. 11(b), which shows the velocity
distribution at the spear needle tip. This velocity energy imbalance appears to cause the flow in the upper part to
encroach the flow in the lower part along the spear needle surface, thereby acting as the cause of a sharp increase
in jet diffusion. Furthermore, if the velocity energy imbalance becomes worse (25% flow rate compared with the
design flow rate), the jet is completely separated into the upper and lower parts, as indicated in Fig. 6

Fig. 11 Jet velocity comparison according to flow rates under 2% eccentricity ratio condition

3.3 Effect of eccentricity ratio

It has been previously confirmed that the influence of eccentricity significantly increases from the 60% flow
rate, as a result of analyzing the jet flow change according to the flow rate under the 2% eccentricity ratio condition.
Therefore, the influence of the increase in eccentricity ratio on the flow characteristics was additionally
investigated under the 60% flow rate condition.
Fig. 12 shows the jet flow change according to the eccentricity ratio under the 60% flow rate condition
compared with the design flow rate. As the eccentricity ratio increased, jet diffusion sharply increased under the
same flow rate. At an eccentricity ratio of 4%, jet separation was clearly observed. When the eccentricity ratio
increased to 6%, an extreme phenomenon in which the jet was completely separated into the upper and lower
parts was observed.

Fig. 12 Jet flow comparison according to eccentricity ratio (30 bar, 60% Qdes)
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Fig. 13 shows the static pressure distribution on the spear needle surface according to the eccentricity ratio
immediately before the nozzle outlet (Sd /dn = - 0.2). As the eccentricity ratio increased, the pressure deviation in
the circumferential direction sharply increased. When the eccentricity ratio was 6% in particular, the pressure
deviation at the 180° (𝜙) position, where the flow area was the smallest, was 26% higher than the mean value and
that in the circumferential direction reached a maximum of 42%. Furthermore, the spear nozzle loss, which
occurred with the pressure deviation, increased by 52% (453 W→688 W) as shown in Fig. 14. Eq. (10) represents
the change in the spear nozzle loss according to the eccentricity ratio at the 60% of design flow rate as a cubic
function. This equation shows correlation between the eccentricity ratio and the nozzle loss. This equation shows
that the nozzle loss increases sharply with eccentricity ratio.

𝐿𝑆 [W] = 453.58 + 10.97𝜀 ― 1.39𝜀2 +1.01𝜀3 (10)

In this study, the geometric eccentric distance of the 6% eccentricity ratio was 0.72 mm. If the eccentricity of
0.72 mm occurs in a large turbine, it may not significantly affect the flow characteristics of the jet as well as the
spear nozzle loss. However, it was confirmed that such eccentricity in a micro Pelton turbine decisively affects the
flow characteristics of the jet and spear nozzle loss.
As a result, the effect of the spear needle eccentricity on the jet flow under the low flow rate condition is
exceedingly large, and the loss of the spear nozzle rapidly increased with the eccentricity ratio. In addition, it is
considered that the effect of the eccentricity is significant as a cause of the drastic decrease in the performance of
the micro Pelton turbine under the low flow rate condition.

Fig. 13 Static pressure distribution of spear needle according to eccentricity ratio

Fig. 14 Normalized spear nozzle loss according to eccentricity ratio

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3 Conclusions

The flow characteristics of the spear nozzle, which significantly affect the performance of Pelton turbines, were
investigated through experiments and a computational analysis. In particular, the influence of the eccentricity of
the spear needle on the flow and loss of the nozzle was examined in detail. It was also confirmed that the results
of the computational analysis of the jet flow can simulate the actual flow with considerable accuracy.
The pressure deviation and velocity energy imbalance generated at the nozzle outlet due to eccentricity act as
the major causes of jet diffusion and spear nozzle loss. Under the 2% eccentricity ratio condition, jet diffusion
begins to increase sharply if the flow rate decreases to less than 60% of the design flow rate. In particular, if the
flow rate decreases to 25%, jet diffusion increases to approximately 9°and the pressure deviation on the surface
of the spear needle increases by more than 20%, thereby making the jet flow suddenly unstable. Moreover, the
additional loss of the spear nozzle owing to eccentricity increases sharply. (3.8 W→99.3 W)
If the eccentricity ratio increases under the 60% flow rate condition compared with the design flow rate, the
flow is concentrated toward the upper part with a relatively large flow area, thereby increasing the jet diffusion as
well as the pressure deviation. If the eccentricity ratio increases to 6%, the jet flow is completely separated into
the upper and lower parts, and the pressure deviation increases to 40% of the mean value, while the spear nozzle
loss increases to 52% (453 W→688 W).
In conclusion, the effect of eccentricity is small under high flow rate conditions, however, sharply decreases
the jet quality under relatively low flow rate conditions. Additionally, the increase in eccentricity ratio of the spear
needle results in poor jet quality. Based on this study, it was confirmed that the eccentricity of the spear needle is
critical to jet quality and increases the nozzle loss. In future works, it would be important to conduct research
regarding the relationship between the Pelton bucket and the spear needle eccentricity to comprehensively
evaluate the effect of eccentricity on the performance of the turbine. In addition, it is necessary to conduct
optimization studies on fabricating a spear nozzle that minimizes the influence of eccentricity to improve the
performance of micro Pelton turbine. Meanwhile, special attention needs to be paid to the production and
installation of the spear needle in the case of a low-capacity Pelton turbine. The results of this study will contribute
to the understanding of jet flow instability in micro Pelton turbines as well as the identification of the causes of
the sudden decrease in turbine performance under low flow rate conditions.
The major conclusions derived in this study are summarized as follows:

(1) The additional loss of spear nozzle owing to spear needle eccentricity increases by approximately 26
times at 25% of the design flow rate. (3.8 W→99.3 W)
(2) If the eccentricity ratio increases to 6%, the spear nozzle loss increases to 52%. (453 W→688 W)
(3) Based on this result, it can be concluded that the spear needle eccentricity in the low-capacity Pelton
turbine will have a significant effect on the reduction of the turbine performance.

4 Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology [Grant number 2E29700].

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Nomenclature

A Area of jet at the cross section, m2

ds Spear needle distance, mm
dn Nozzle diameter, mm
e Eccentricity distance of spear needle, mm
g Acceleration of gravity, 9.806 m/s2
H Effective head, m
Ls Spear nozzle loss, W
P Jet power, W
𝑃𝑠 Static pressure on the surface of spear needle, Pa
𝑃𝑠 Mean static pressure on the surface of spear needle, Pa
p Static pressure, Pa
Q Volume flow rate, m3/s
Qdes Design volume flow rate, m3/s
Sd Axial distance from nozzle exit, mm
T Measured torque at the turbine shaft, N·m
u Axial velocity of jet at each individual mesh cell, m/s
ε Eccentricity ratio
𝜙 Circumferential angle, deg
𝜃𝛼 Upper spread angle of jet, deg
𝜃𝛽 Bottom spread angle of jet, deg
𝜌 Density of water at 25°C (=997 kg/m3)
𝜔 Angular velocity, rad/s
𝜂𝑀 Mechanical efficiency
𝜂𝑆 Spear nozzle Efficiency
𝜂𝑇 Pelton turbine Efficiency
𝜂𝑉 Volumetric efficiency
𝜂𝑊 Runner wheel efficiency
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Highlights

 Effects of spear needle eccentricity on Pelton turbine are discussed

 The additional loss owing to eccentricity increase sharply if the flow rate decrease

 The spear nozzle loss increases to 52% when the eccentricity ratio is 6%

 Variation in static pressure and jet velocity is the cause of jet quality reduction