Pelton Wheels.

Often Called.

Pelton Turbines.

The pelton wheel was invented by Lester Allan Pelton (1829-1908) in the 1870s the drawing below is the original submitted to the US Patents office in 1880. Pelton was granted a patent in October of that year.

Pelton wheels are best suited to situations where there is a high head of water and a relatively small flow, such as might be found in mountainous regions. many large hydro electric power stations derive their power from the Pelton Wheel or Pelton Turbine as it is sometimes called.

Patent drawing of Lester Pelton's design 1880. The design has many similarities to the early horizontal wheels such as King Cormac's at Tara. The Pelton has a series of buckets which with time have developed into spoon shaped, the theory is that the water emerging from the jet or jets, there may be several, strike the buckets and is deflected by the curved surface backwards driving the wheel forward.

If you would like to explore pelton wheel further there is an excellent article on Wikpedia, you will find some interesting information and formulas on the website of Canyon Hydro who manufacture pelton turbines for home and commercial use.

Remember a US gallon and an Imperial gallon are different see below.

Imperial (UK) gallon is legally defined as 4.54609 liters (277.42 cu in), which is about 1.2 U.S. liquid gallons. This definition is used in the United Kingdom, and is based on the volume of 10 pounds of water at 62 °F

U.S. liquid gallon is legally defined as 231 cubic inches, and is equal to 3.785411784 liters (exactly) or about 0.13368 cubic feet.

Owenbeg Power Station turbine. There are several pelton Turbines operating on Irish rivers the first one sown on the left has twin runners, it is installed in the Owenbeg Power Station in County Cork.

This turbine uses three jets to each runner, it operates from a 70 meter fall and produces 950 Kw. The turbine runs at 300 R. P.M. driving the generator at 1010 R. P.M. via a gearbox.

Pelton Turbine at Glenlough Co Cork. Illustrated on the right is at Glenlough Co Cork, it has an output of 360 Kw, the horizontal runner has three jets and operates at a head of 210 metes. It drives a direct coupled generator producing 400 K.V.A. which is fed into the grid.

Both of the above turbines were manufactured by EVANS ENGINEERING & POWER COMPANY of Cornwall England. Evans who have been involved in water power since 1810 needless to say they have a vast stone of accumulated knowledge on the subject. They supply turbines of all sizes, see their website for details.

Canyon Hydro.

Canyon Hydro produces highly efficient, reliable turbine systems for generating hydroelectricity. They manufacture a wide range of small hydro systems up to 15 megawatts, and provide custom design and machining for new or replacement turbine components.

Canyon Hydro
5500 Blue Heron Lane
Deming,
WA 98244
USA
Tel 1-360-592-5552
E Mail
Web Site

On their site you will find useful data and formulas relating to water power. Remember a US gallon and an Imperial gallon are different.
One cubic ft = 6.25 imperial gallons
One cubic ft = 7.481 US gallons

See waterpower in Ireland.