Today, you will gain all information about Impulse Turbines and its working. A human heart can be surprisingly replaced with two intrinsically complex turbines. It’s really a mind blowing fact right! Let me introduce the topic with turbine and will further proceed on to the body.
A turbine is generally a rotary mechanical device which extracts energy from a flowing fluid, and then converts it into useful work. It is actually a turbo-machine which has a moving part at its least motion. Flowing fluid acts on the blades and due to the movement of the blades, energy is generated.
Coming to Impulse turbine, let us consider a water turbine first. Water turbine is a rotary engine type device, where energy is generated from moving water. These are not known until the 19th century. As the days pass by, new inventions took place. Impulse turbine is one of the result of these inventions. These were developed only because of its clean and renewable energy source. Impulse Turbines is one of the type of Water Turbines.
Impulse turbines are used only from 19th century as there is a vast development in technology only from those days. Impulse turbines changes the velocity of water jet. Its jet pushes on the turbine’s curved blades which as a result its direction gets changed. This resulting momentum causes a supple force and an additional force to create on the turbine blades. As the turbine keeps on spinning the force acts through a distance which can be named as work.
There are many types of Impulse Turbines. Some of them are described below–
- Water Wheel: A water wheel is a type of impulse turbine which we see mostly in the retro and classic films. A Water wheel is a machine which converts the free flowing energy of water. Sometimes it also uses falling water into useful energy. A large wooden wheel with metal wheel and blades is the outline and appearance of a general Water wheel.
- Jonval Turbine: A Jonval Turbine is a machine in which water moves from top through fixed curved guided vanes. The flowing water to sideways is transferred to the runner. It can be placed anywhere as it can be detached from anywhere we place and then attach again. It is named after the person Feu Jonval, as he is the person who invented it.
- Turgo Turbine: Turgo Turbine is also a type of impulse turbine but as specially designed for medium head applications. It is developed in 1919 by Gilkes, a company which was started in 1856. Turgo Turbines are modified forms of Pelton Wheel. These are mostly preferred because of its high efficiency up to 90%.
These are mostly preferred because of the following reasons–
- It has no nozzle to force fluid.
- 2 rows of moveable blades are separated by only 1 row of foxed blades.
- Fixed blades are attached to casing.
- Blades resemble wings of the plane.
- It can develop very high speeds.
- Mostly used in Power plants, ships and submarines.
