A fluid driven turbine apparatus includes a hollow body and rib plates annularly disposed in the hollow body. A vane module is disposed in the hollow body and co-axially connected to a shaft extending axially through the hollow body. The rib plates surround the vane module and are spaced apart from the vane module by an annular gap. The annular gap has a width gradually enlarged in a top-to-bottom direction. When fluid flows into the vane module and is diverted sideward to the annular gap, large sand grains carried by fluid may pass through an enlarged lower portion of the annular gap without getting stuck therein and abrading the rib plates and the vane module.

A wind turbine blade device includes a rotating unit including a blade module concentrically connected to a rotating shaft thereof and having a plurality of radially curved channels each having inlet and outlet ends. The inlet and outlet ends of the radially curved channels are configured to respectively permit flow of the flow body into and out thereof. An outer tube includes a tube body surrounding the rotating unit, and a plurality of rib plates provided in the tube body. The outlet end of each radially curved channel corresponds to one of the rib plates, and each radially curved channel forms an included angle with a corresponding rib plate such that the flow body flowing out of the outlet end can impact upon the corresponding rib plate.

A turbine and method of operating a turbine includes a housing having an inlet, a volute and an outlet. The inlet is coupled to the volute through a primary fluid path and a secondary fluid path. The turbine further includes an impeller rotatably coupled to the housing and a hydraulically actuated valve assembly disposed within the secondary fluid path selectively communicating fluid from the inlet to the volute. The turbine includes a hydraulic actuator coupled to the valve assembly moving the valve assembly from a first position communicating fluid from the inlet into the volute to a second position blocking flow from the inlet to the volute.

This method can be used for refurbishing a facility for converting hydraulic energy into electrical or mechanical energy, and vice versa. The facility includes a Francis type pump-turbine. The pump-turbine includes a runner movable about an axis, a pre-distributor, including stay vanes defining between each pair of two adjacent stay vanes a first water passage channel and a distributor, including guide vanes arranged downstream of the stay vanes in the direction of water flow feeding the pump-turbine operating in turbine mode. The guide vanes define between each pair of two adjacent guide vanes a second water passage channel. This method includes steps of reducing the height, taken parallel to the axis of rotation of the runner, of the first water passage channels and reducing the height, taken parallel to the axis of rotation of the runner, of the second water passage channels.

A gravitational vortex water turbine assembly is described wherein the water turbine is disposed below the bottom of the basin in which the vortex is induced. Preferably, the basin comprises a spiral-shaped side wall and the rotor blades of the turbine rotor are dimensioned such that they absorb the tangential, axial and radial component of the water flow of the vortex.

A fluid driven turbine apparatus includes a hollow body and rib plates annularly disposed in the hollow body. A vane module is disposed in the hollow body and co-axially connected to a shaft extending axially through the hollow body. The rib plates surround the vane module and are spaced apart from the vane module by an annular gap. The annular gap has a width gradually enlarged in a top-to-bottom direction. When fluid flows into the vane module and is diverted sideward to the annular gap, large sand grains carried by fluid may pass through an enlarged lower portion of the annular gap without getting stuck therein and abrading the rib plates and the vane module.

A Francis turbine runner including a shortened band length and a shortened blade length combined with a reversed runner blade leading edge having a junction of the leading edge with the band forerunning a junction of the leading edge with the crown in the rotational direction, and a bandless runner including a shortened periphery length and a shortened blade length combined with a reversed runner blade leading edge having a corner of the leading edge at the outer periphery of the runner that is in advance of where the leading edge joins the crown in the rotational direction. Additional feature includes an inverted trailing edge curvature design on the runner blade that further shortens the blade length.

The invention relates to a hydraulic machine having an impeller wheel that comprises a plurality of impeller blades; having a spiral housing that encloses the impeller wheel and that is open toward said impeller wheel by a circumferential slit formed by two circumferential edges; having a traverse ring, comprising two traverse ring decks that are connected to one another by tension anchors; wherein the spiral housing is composed of segments that meet in the flow direction and that are welded to each other, the ends of which segments stand on the respective traverse ring deck and are welded to said deck; wherein at the meeting point between two segments that are adjacent to one another and one traverse ring deck a stiffening element is provided that protrudes into the inner space of the spiral housing; and wherein the extension of the stiffening element into the inner space of the spiral housing is so small that the flow is not affected in a significant manner.