Fourneyron water turbine
Turbina hidráulica de Fourneyron
- Date
- 1827 (pública 1832) · confidence high
- Place
- Pont-sur-l'Ognon, Haute-Saône, France
- Credited to
- Benoît Fourneyron
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
The first practical water turbine: an outward radial-flow runner inside a fixed distributor. It achieved around 80% efficiency and made use of widely varying heads possible.
Fourneyron built the first in 1827 and won the Société d'encouragement prize in 1833 for the 6 hp turbine; the 60 hp unit at Saint-Blasien (Black Forest) in 1837 promoted its spread.
What it led to
- efficiencies far above those of water wheels
- later reaction turbines (Francis, Kaplan)
- turbine-based hydroelectric stations