Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: turbine from Dictionary of Energy

Conversion. a general term for any machine capable of generating rotary mechanical power by converting the kinetic energy of a stream of fluid (e.g., water, steam, hot gas); turbines operate through the principle of impulse or reaction, or a combination of the two. See next page.

turbine

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
rotary engine that uses a continuous stream of fluid (gas or liquid) to turn a shaft that can drive machinery. A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electric generators in hydroelectric power stations. The first such station was built in Wisconsin in 1882. In a hydraulic turbine falling water strikes a series of blades or buckets attached around a shaft, causing the shaft to rotate, this motion in turn being used to drive the rotor of an electric generator. The three most common types of hydraulic turbine are the Pelton wheel, the Francis turbine, and the Kaplan turbine. Toward the end of the 19th cent. two engineers, Sir Charles A. Parsons of Great Britain and Carl G. P. de Laval of Sweden, were pioneers in the building of steam turbines. Continual improvements of their basic machines have caused steam turbines to become the principal power sources used to drive most large electric generators and the propellers of most large ships. A steam turbine typically consists of a…
1,790 results

Full text Article turbine

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Engine in which steam, water, gas, or air (see windmill ) is made to spin a rotating shaft by pushing on angled blades, like a fan. There are two sets of blades, the stator (does not rotate) and the rotor (does rotate). The rotating turbine shaft can be connected to an electricity generator. …
| 389 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article turbine

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
rotary engine that uses a continuous stream of fluid (gas or liquid) to turn a shaft that can drive machinery. A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electric generators in hydroelectric power stations. The first such station was built in Wisconsin in 1882. In a hydraulic turbine falling…
| 570 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article turbine

From Dictionary of Energy
Turbines are rotating machines that convert the energy carried by a continuous flow of fluid into shaft power. The word “turbine” (from the Latin “turbo”, meaning “vortex”) was first proposed in the 1820s by the French scientist Claude Burdin, with reference to hydraulic machines. Primitive…
| 327 words
Key concepts:
Schematic for (A) an aircraft jet engine...
1. Introduction 2. Gas Turbine Applications 3. Gas Turbine Cycles 4. Gas Turbine Components 5. Gas Turbine Usage Glossary Aeroderivative An aviation propulsion gas turbine (jet engine) used in a nonaviation application (e.g., an electric power plant) to provide shaft power. Brayton Cycle Ideal gas…
| 4,974 words , 7 images
Key concepts:
During the twentieth century, the gas turbine was developed to fit many applications on land, sea and in the air. From early beginnings, the gas turbine came alongside, competed with, and often replaced the existing technologies of steam, water, and reciprocating internal combustion engines. Initial…
| 1,730 words
Key concepts:
(A) Axial turbine stage. (B) Radial...
1. Some Basic Concepts 2. Energy Transfer in a Turbine 3. Outline of a General Procedure for Preliminary Steam Turbine Design 4. Off-Design Considerations 5. Conclusions Glossary back-pressure turbine A steam turbine that discharges the steam (usually at p >1 bar) into a pressurized system. …
| 10,870 words , 27 images
Key concepts:
Turbines, Steam
The first steam turbine, of which there is any record, was made by Hero of Alexandria more than 2000 years ago. This simply demonstrated that a jet of steam, impinging on a paddle wheel, could convert heat energy into mechanical energy. In the late nineteenth century significant improvements in the…
| 1,154 words , 1 image
Key concepts:
We’ve been using windmills to harness the power of the wind for centuries. A wind turbine, which is just a modern-day windmill, is like a waterwheel. The difference is that wind is the source of energy rather than water. So how does a wind turbine work? It begins with a rotor blade, a propeller-like…
| 345 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Wind Turbine Technicians

From Occupational Outlook Handbook
Quick Facts: Wind Turbine Technicians Median Pay The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. Median wage data are from the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics survey. In May 2016, the median annual wage for all workers was $37,040. …
| 2,036 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article turbine

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
(Animation © RM) articles turbine…
| 101 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources