Technology & Living Standards - Power Systems

Reaction Water Turbines

No.	Type	Date Mfg	Head ft	Flow cfm	Power hp	Eff. %	Speed rpm	Spec. Speed	Dia. ft
01	Iron Reaction Waterwheel	1840	5	729	3.4	50	82	20	2.6
02	Iron Reaction Waterwheel	1852	9	1200	10.0	49	141	29	2.58
03	Truax Green Mountain Turbine		5.64	1700	9.0	50	266	92	2.31
04	14½-inch Austin Turbine		12		3.0		420	33	1.21
05	Iron Center Discharge Wheel			1765	12.0		95	21	2.92
06	Burnham Register Gate Turbine		10	1003	15.6	82	160	35	2
07	18-inch Jonval Wheel in an Iron Case	c.1877	30	387	18.0	82	512	31	1.5
08	25-inch Victor Turbine		20	2518	80.9	85	219	47	2.08
09	27-inch Register Gate Wheel		10	1942	30.0	82	197	61	2.25
10	19-inch Jonval Wheel	c.1870	12	250	5.5	97	322	34	1.58
11	11½-inch Jonval Wheel				1.6				0.96
12	56-inch Center Discharge Waterwheel	1852	9	2315	15.8	40	65	17	4.67
13	25-inch Center Discharge Waterwheel		12	1318	12.0	40	147	23	2.08
14	18-inch Reynolds Double Discharge Wheel		19	716	18.0	70	291	31	1.5
15	42-inch Smith's Success Wheel		16	4833	124.5	85	123	43	3.5
16	30-inch Curtiss Wheel		18	1439	39.1	80	182	31	2.5
17	20-inch Double Bucket Leffel Wheel		16	632	16.0	84	276	35	1.67
18	35-inch Double Samson Turbine		16	6440	158.0	81	186	73	2.92
19	25-inch American Turbine								2.08
20	Whitelaw & Starret Reaction Wheel	c.1844	16	489	11.0	74	106	11	4.5
21	High Head Inward Flow Wheel in a Scroll Case	1907	72		17.0		600	12	1.96
22	Reaction Runner in a Jonval Case	c.1859	9		15.0		95	24	3
23	Jonval Wheel in a Weaver Spiral Case	?1844	19	832	16.5	55	232	23	2.5
24	Francis Inward Flow Wheel in a Scroll Case	1866	18	800	20.0	73	215	26	2
25	44-inch Austin Wheel		9.5	1570	18.0	64	136	35	3.67
26	32-inch Truax Green Mountain Turbine		5.64	2313	11.9	48	209.3	83	2.89
27	Hughes Centrifugal Water Wheel		8	2012	15.0	49	54	16	5
28	18-inch Center Discharge Wheel in Spiral Case								1.5
29	12-inch Register Gate Wheel								1.0
30
31	Bastion 42-inch Register Gate Wheel		12	2314	37.0	70	106	29	3.5
32	33-inch Victor Turbine		20	4390	136.0	82	170	47	2.75
33	36-inch New American Turbine		16	3369	81.5	80	136	38	3
34	35-inch Crocker Turbine		20	5736	172.2	79	159	49	2.92
35
36
37
38
39	36-inch Diameter Saw-Mill Wheel	1839	8.5	873	7.0	50	80	15	3
40	Wooden Bevel Gears
41	Lignum Vitae Step
42
43	Wooden Model of a Scroll Case

Notes:
ft = feet
cfm = cubic feet per minute
hp = horsepower
rpm = revolutions per minute
head = height of water drop to wheel.
A waterwheel flume was a watercourse consisting of a series of connected chutes that directed the water from the water source to the wheel. Most were open.
Specific Speed = Optimum speed of a turbine to produce 1 horsepower when operating with 1 foot of head. High specific speeds operate most efficiently at low heads.