Reaction Turbine

“Professor James Thomson’s inward flow or vortex turbine has been selected as the type of reaction turbines. It is one of the best even in normal conditions of working, and the mode of regulation introduced is decidedly superior to that in most reaction turbines; it might almost be said to be the only mode of regulation which satisfies the conditions of efficient working, and it has been adopted in a modified form in the Leffel turbine, which is now largely used in america. The turbine has suction pipes, which permit the turbine to be placed at any height less than 30 feet above the tail-water level. The water enters the turbine by cast-iron supply pipes at A, and is discharged through two suction pipes S. The water on entering the case distributes itself through a rectangular supply chamber SC, from which it finds its way equally to the four guide-blade passages G. In these passages it acquires a velocity about equal to that due to half the fall, and is directed into the wheel at an angle of about 10 or 12 degrees with the tangent to its circumference. The wheel W receives the water in equal proportions from each guide-blade passage.” — Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893

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