Very high speed radial inflow hydraulic turbine

Abstract

A very high speed radial inflow hydraulic turbine drive. Inflow nozzles drilled in a nozzle body intersect a circular nozzle body exit surface, the centerline of each nozzle forming an angle of between 8 and 25 degrees with the tangent of the exit circle at the point of intersection. The turbine wheel of the drive is small. Its diameter measured at the tips of the blades is less than 2 inches. In a preferred embodiment, built and tested by Applicant, the wheel is only 0.80 inch diameter. This embodiment was tested with a turbine hydraulic fluid pressure drop of 700 psi and flow of 19.5 GPM. The 0.8 inch turbine produced 5.9 HP at 62,000 RPM driving the compressor portion of a TO4B-V turbocharger. The compressed air flow was measured at 11.3 pounds per minute (161.4 inlet CFM) at a pressure ratio of 1.41. During the test the acceleration of the supercharger was measured from idle to 62,000 RPM in about 1/2 second. This preferred embodiment utilizes a plastic-metal turbine wheel in which the plastic portion of the wheel other than the blades is solidly anchored within a metal containing wheel. In other preferred embodiments the turbine drive drives superchargers for supercharging internal combustion engines such as bus and truck turbodiesel engines. The superchargers provided by the present invention produce immediate response to engine demand for increased combustion air and will dramatically reduce smoke emission during low speed acceleration of these bus and truck engines as well as greatly improve engine efficiency.