TURBINE SELECTION CHARTS

I consider the following turbine selection charts to be very important since the different turbine designs are built for particular power ranges and some are more suitable to the terrain than others especially where the larger turbines are considered. So start your selection process by considering these charts. A list of turbine manufacturers can be found here.

This first chart considers the application of pumps as turbines (PAT) compared to Pelton and cross-flow turbines. It comes from a book titled "Pumps as Turbines - A User's Guide" by Arthur Williams published by ITDG and available on amazon.com. The author states the following advantages of PAT's as compared to other turbines:

Integral pump and motor can be purchased for use as a turbine and generator set;

Available for a wide range of head and flows;

Available in a large number of standard sizes;

Low cost;

Short delivery time;

Spare parts such as seals and bearings are readily available;

Easy installation - uses standard pipe fittings;

The author cautions that for high head low flow applications, the Pelton turbine is likely to be more efficient than a pump, and no more expensive. See this web page for more infornmmation on PAT's.

This turbine selection chart


is the work of the late John Curzon-Siggers an architect with a passion for renewable energy and a wonderful man.

The other turgo turbine manufacturer is Platypus Power also from Australia.

This next turbine selection chart is suitable for larger turbines and


is well known and shown in many publications and across the web. Unfortunately, it is usually unclear and of low resolution, this is the best example of it that I could find in the http://www.microhydropower.net/download/layman2.pdf "Layman's Guide on how to design a small micro-hydro site".