Turbine

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A Siemens steam turbine with the case opened.
A Siemens steam turbine with the case opened.

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow.

The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft with blades attached. The moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they rotate and give energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and water wheels.

Gas, steam, and water turbines usually have a casing around the blades that focuses and controls the fluid.


[edit] Theory of operation

A working fluid contains potential energy (pressure head) and kinetic energy (velocity head). The fluid may be compressible or incompressible. Several physical principles are employed by turbines to collect this energy:

Impulse turbines

Newton's Second Law of Motion explains the result of that action.




Reaction turbines

Newton's Third Law of Motion explains the result of that action.

[edit] External links

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