Water turbines
AssigneeSnell (Hydro Design) Consultancy Limited
InventorsMichael James Snell, Leonard Stanley Snell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A water turbine (1) comprises a turbine chamber (3), an inlet port (4) and an outlet port (6) opening into the chamber (3), and two or more rotors (11, 12) arranged within the chamber (3) with their axes of rotation parallel so as to be rotatable in the water flow passing between the inlet port (4) and the outlet port (6). Each of the rotors (11, 12) has two or more substantially equi-angularly distributed lobes (17, 18), and the arrangement is such that the rotors (11, 12) rotate in opposite directions with their lobes in mesh with one another under the action of water impinging on the lobes of the rotors. Such a turbine can be constructed to operate efficiently with a low head of water, and is additionally of simple construction and therefore inexpensive to produce.
Claims8
A water turbine comprising a turbine chamber (3), at least one inlet port and at least one outlet port (4, 6) opening into the chamber (3) for the passage of inlet and outlet water flows, and rotors (11, 12) arranged within the chamber (3) with their axes of rotation (13, 14) parallel so as to be rotatable by the inlet water flow, each of the rotors (11, 12) having two or more substantially equiangularly distributed lobes (17, 18) and the arrangement being such that adjacent rotors rotate in opposite directions with their lobes in mesh with one another, wherein each lobe of each rotor has a profile which is recessed at its trailing edge relative to a normal meshing lobe profile so as to define between the rotors a space (47) for taking up water trapped between the meshing lobes such that the volume of the space (47) does not decrease during rotation of the rotors, and wherein the overall throughflow cross-section of said at least one inlet port (4) is less than the overall throughflow cross-section of said at least one outlet port (6) so as to ensure that the velocity of inlet water flow is high in relation to the velocity of outlet water flow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.