Numerical study on the influence of the bucket offset angle on the flow field of Pelton turbines with six-nozzles

Abstract

Abstract Pelton turbines are emerging as a primary means for exploiting ultra-high water head resources. The hydraulic performance of a Pelton turbine is determined by the design of its runner/bucket. Among the critical parameters that affect the hydraulic performance of multi-nozzle Pelton turbines is the bucket offset angle (α). To investigate the influence of bucket offset angle on the flow field of Pelton turbines with six nozzles, this study conducted unsteady numerical simulations of gas-liquid two-phase flow for various bucket offset angles, employing the VOF multiphase model combined with the SST k-ω turbulence model. The results reveal that as the bucket offset angle increases, the axial width of the water sheet formed by the current jet progressively widens, with a tendency to catch up with the water film formed by the previous jet during the torque rising stage. Moreover, the increased bucket offset angle causes the water sheet to distribute more closely to the bucket cutout, raising the risk of leakage from the cutout. Notably, at α= 10°, some of the water sheet has already flowed out of the cutout and collided with the subsequent jet.