Impelling apparatus

An impelling apparatus for impelling a fluid, comprising:

• a suction casing, including an axially located intake port, having a conically shaped suction cavity which diverges conically from the intake port;
• a plurality of stator blades having divergent ends, said stator blades being attached to the suction casing, extending into the suction cavity, and extending divergently from the intake port;
• and
• an impeller, rotatably mounted about an axis within said conically shaped suction cavity, including a conically shaped impeller hub having a suction section, a transition section, and an outer surface, wherein the impeller hub diverges conically in an axial direction from the suction section to the transition section, and a plurality of vanes having divergent ends, extending radially outward from the outer surface of the impeller hub and extending divergently along the outer surface of the impeller hub from the suction section to the transition section;
• wherein the radial extension of the vanes from the axis is equal to the radius of the impeller hub at the transition section and the radial dimension of the vanes from the outer surface of the impeller hub decreases to zero at the transition section;
• wherein the cross-sectional area of the annular space between the suction section of the impeller hub and the casing adjacent the suction section is at least equal to the cross-sectional area of the annular space between the transition section of the impeller hub and the casing adjacent the transition section.