A Comprehensive Review on Investigation of Sediment Erosion of Pelton Wheel Turbine

Abstract

Hydro turbines installed at different hydropower plants face the issue of sediment erosion. Sediment erosion is an ambiguous phenomenon influenced by several parameters, including silt concentration, size, jet velocity, diameter, and fluid viscosity. Silt erosion imposes severe issues for hydropower plants, like shutdown and maintenance costs. The hydro turbine efficiency decreases with the increase in sediment erosion and eventually the breakdown of turbine components. Various researchers conducted small-scale experimental bench studies and numerical simulations to analyze the influence of the above-mentioned parameters on silt erosion, but the actual flow conditions are too complex to simulate. Therefore, no such erosion model has been developed to predict exact erosive wear. This paper presents an extensive review of the literature survey on sediment erosive wear of hydro turbines, both the adopted methodology by previous studies and parameters affecting sediment erosion in Pelton turbine are summarized. Based on literature studies, various aspects of erosive wear, parameters influencing it, and its severe effects on efficiency are thoroughly discussed. Appropriate remedial measurements for erosive wear made by multiple researchers, erosion models developed so far, and their measuring accuracy and the future scope of this research study are articulated in detail.