Modelling of Hydroabrasive Erosion in Pelton Turbine Injector

Sand particle-led erosion in the turbine parts of hydropower projects (excluding storage type projects) based on Himalaya-originated Rivers is one of the key operational challenges for concerned hydropower stations. Researchers have made multiple attempts to understand the nature of erosion and its combating technique by using numerical and experimental modelling techniques. This study relates to numerical and experimental modelling of sand particle-led erosion in the injector of the most preferred high head turbine, i.e., the Pelton turbine, followed by a comparative analysis of both techniques. This article attempts to compare erosion qualitatively and quantitatively, thus adding to the current state of the art of turbine erosion modelling. The results direct that the erosion-prone area is the needle seat in the nozzle and the region between the needle tip and nozzle exit in the needle, similar to findings reported by authors performing field setting research. The innovative aspect of the study is that by mapping the shape of the initial and eroded needle, mass lost in the erosion-prone area (as indicated by numerical erosion modelling) is calculated and compared against numerical modelling results. With the Oka erosion model employed for numerical modelling, the error in computation is about 31%. The nature of erosion in a partially open injector reveals that erosion in the needle increases with the nozzle’s partial opening. Nozzle erosion spreads away from the needle seat to the whole nozzle body. As commonly understood, the erosion of turbine parts gives rise to mechanical vibrations (especially in rotating parts) and energy loss. Numerical modelling results of injector erosion’s effect on jet energy are also presented. With uniformly spread erosion of 0.5 mm in both the needle and nozzle, loss in jet energy is 5.63%.