The principle of the Lamella Turbine
- The Lamella Turbine belongs to the family of the Understhot Water Wheels. This means that the water, accelerated by an
elevation difference, is retarded by the Lamella Turbine. By this,
kinetic energy is utilized.
- Substituting the shovels of conventional water wheels, individually shaped lamellas or
bundles of lamellas are stably situated circumferential, so that the force of the individual water flow
brought by the river can be highly efficiently processed and transformed into rotation.
- The applied bundles of lamellas are
optimized for the particular water flow conditions. By this it can be obtained that the water can be held
at the circumference of the turbine, where the “brake force” develops the
maximum torque, which is transmitted to the generator.
The “little difference” between conventional technologies and the Lamella Turbine
- The Lamella Turbine
does not have closed chambers like conventional water wheels. Thus, the water inflow is not obstructed by
air inclusions in the chambers, and reverse, the backflow of the air does not restrict the outflow of the water.
When the water enters the lamella chambers, the air can vent out through the gaps between the lamellas. This throttling
gaps, individually designed according to the specific situation, hold the water at the wheels circumference and keeps
it from flowing inside. The
inner area of the turbine thus is
definitely free of water, which gives a significant difference to any other technology.
- Sketching the Lamella Turbine as a rotating cylinder, the water enters at the outer cylindrical surface and, after transmitting
the energy to the turbine, is led out at the same surface. As this causes permanent flushing of the inlet surface
during operation, the Lamella Turbine
cannot plug or collect silt, which would cause the need of back-flushing.
- Unlike to other turbine technologies, the Lamella Turbine cannot overspeed. The characteristic
idle speed is a function of the head of the water inflow, and cannot be exceeded. This makes it easy to
define all operation conditions and to care for a secure and long lasting design.
- Our developing progress at
our water test channel, together with
computer simulation and the
experience of the operation of the Lamella Turbine, assure to gain the maximum energy at each individual
- The inlet gate not only controls the power of the turbine, but also regulates the headwater level. This enables
precise control of the inflow to the fish migration facility as well as the water management in the head
water area (level for intake and outflow, ground water availability, etc.). At that, the performance of the Lamella
Turbine power plant can be optimized.
- To allocate the full cross section of the river bed to discharge flood water, concepts were designed to swing or lift
the Lamella Turbine power plant totally out of the water flow profile. This offers the unique advantage to keep
flood water security at such sites where the installation of a power plant only is possible directly in
the river bed.
PWL Hydropower Turbines
PWL Lamella and Pipe Turbines