Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Turbine

TURBINE. The common water turbine is an application of the water-wheel, and may be said to consist of a motor, water-driven. In its simplest form, it is a wheel, fitted with a number of buckets, or vanes, against which a stream of water is caused to flow, thus producing rotation of the wheel. In modern machines, however, this simple principle has been developed in a number of ways. In some turbines, there are tiers of buckets, one above the other, while in turbines of the “vortex” type, the vanes are radial, and the water is admitted to the center of the wheel and flows outward. In a third type, the so-called “mixed flow” principle is used, the water being admitted at right angles, and also parallel to the axis of rotation. Water turbines are largely used for driving dynamos in converting water-power to electric-power. See Steam Turbine.