Disc Thickness and Spacing Distance Impacts on Flow Characteristics of Multichannel Tesla Turbines

Wenjiao Qi, Qinghua Deng, Yu Jiang, Qi Yuan and Zhenping Feng
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Wenjiao Qi: Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory of Turbomachinery and Power Equipment, Institute of Turbomachinery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Qinghua Deng: Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory of Turbomachinery and Power Equipment, Institute of Turbomachinery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yu Jiang: Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory of Turbomachinery and Power Equipment, Institute of Turbomachinery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Qi Yuan: Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory of Turbomachinery and Power Equipment, Institute of Turbomachinery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Zhenping Feng: Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory of Turbomachinery and Power Equipment, Institute of Turbomachinery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-25

Abstract: Tesla turbines are a kind of unconventional bladeless turbines, which utilize the viscosity of working fluid to rotate the rotor and realize energy conversion. They offer an attractive substitution for small and micro conventional bladed turbines due to two major advantages. In this study, the effects of two influential geometrical parameters, disc thickness and disc spacing distance, on the aerodynamic performance and flow characteristics for two kinds of multichannel Tesla turbines (one-to-one turbine and one-to-many turbine) were investigated and analyzed numerically. The results show that, with increasing disc thickness, the isentropic efficiency of the one-to-one turbine decreases a little and that of the one-to-many turbine reduces significantly. For example, for turbine cases with 0.5 mm disc spacing distance, the former drops less than 7% and the latter decreases by about 45% of their original values as disc thickness increases from 1 mm to 2 mm. With increasing disc spacing distance, the isentropic efficiency of both kinds of turbines increases first and then decreases, and an optimal value and a high efficiency range exist to make the isentropic efficiency reach its maximum and maintain at a high level, respectively. The optimal disc spacing distance for the one-to-one turbine is less than that for the one-to-many turbine (0.5 mm and 1 mm, respectively, for turbine cases with disc thickness of 1 mm). To sum up, for designing a multichannel Tesla turbine, the disc spacing distance should be among its high efficiency range, and the determination of disc thickness should be balanced between its impacts on the aerodynamic performance and mechanical stress.

Keywords: Tesla turbine; fluid dynamics; disc thickness; disc spacing distance; isentropic efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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