Development and Testing of a Small Scale Bladeless Turbine for Power Production Applications

Bladeless turbines were first proposed and demonstrated almost 100 years ago, but they have not found widespread application. They have the potential for converting flow energy into rotational energy at high efficiencies. This paper discusses an effort to understand the factors affecting bladeless turbine efficiency, and the related experimental program performed. A theoretical model of turbine performance was developed and used to predict the performance of a small scale test unit. The model inputs include geometric parameters and inlet conditions including pressure and flow rate. The test unit was designed and assembled. Rapid prototyping techniques were used to facilitate part fabrication. It was coupled to an experimental set up including appropriate instrumentation. A comparison of model predictions and test results is presented.