Talk:Tesla turbine

What can we do for the TT presentation
The TT was intended as a centripetal flow (not centrifugal) power converter and is fundamentally inefficient, because of its large surface area which viscously converts much of the input motion (power) into lost heat, although the exiting fluid has virtually no rotational energy. More importantly, Tesla had no real need for efficiency, just simplicity & reliability, because he intended to use a free/plentiful power source for an alternating current generator. Both efficiency and maximum speed (for what it is worth) are entirely dependent on the structure & materials used: the rotor, housing, fluid, and injection system contribute to the in/effectiveness of the conversion of fluid pressure & flow (potential energy) into crank-horsepower (kinetic energy), and the speed at which the rotor stabilizes or disintegrates. I have seen little discussion of how to make the TT more efficient/effective. It might be obvious, but much of the power of the inlet fluid (mass/time*speed) is lost into the static inside surface of the housing (consider dimpling or other boundary layer/turbulence management). More also is lost to inlet turbulence, fluid shear heating (calculating the optimum dimensions for the flow channels as a function of viscosity & optimum transit time). Bearing friction & spoke turbulence take another toll. It also seems probable that modern design tools and materials could contribute to the number of situations in which the TT might become practical or commercially viable. Use of good grammar and a spell-check should ease the problem of intelligibility. Generous use of reference links to original materials would contribute convenience and credibility to the debate about the character, importance, and modern viability of Tesla's designs. I hope that further development of the TT can add impetus to the distribution of power systems and reduce dependence on large susceptible infrastructure based power sources (sic, converters). Boldklub-PJs (talk) 22:49, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

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Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 19:01, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

Efficiency section is hopeless
Until editors on this article undertand what thermodynamic efficiency is (energy in/energy out), and cite experimental evidence on this apples-to-apples metric, for the Tesla Turbine, this section is pointless and completely misleading. Wikibearwithme (talk) 03:29, 24 August 2017 (UTC)


 * The entire article is a disaster. I am of the impression that what is described is not even a genuine thing any different from a "bladed" turbine. It's just a really bad one.


 * The introduction seems fair and relatively encyclopedic.


 * The entire "theory" section is devoid of meaningful content on any level, let alone for a sourced encyclopedia. It should be deleted.


 * The "design" section is worse. It shows he had to add "blades" (the washers) to make his smooth discs work. This is terrible work - no citations beyond two ancient patents, and again, no meaningful content.


 * Efficiency. Not a single citation? Not a real one relative to this article, anyway. Has anyone looked at the footnotes as they appear?


 * And, in the end: "Applications". None. This is not even a real thing, as far as I can tell it is a deluded dream of a failing inventor.


 * I am inclined to do the deleting now, but it would perhaps be more community-oriented to leave a note encouraging the next person who comes here with similar intent to feel free to do so. Huw Powell (talk) 03:01, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

External links modified
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