CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN HYDRAULIC TURBINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Dominique Girard, Mechanician, of Paris,
Town in the French Empire, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HYDRAULIC TURBINES."
Sealed the 22nd May 1857, and dated the 2nd December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Dominique
Girard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd December 1856.
I, LOUIS DOMINIQUE GIRARD, Mechanician, of Paris, Town in the French
Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC TURBINES," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists of an improved construction and improved arrange-
ments of turbines, and particularly includes an arrangement and configuration
of the wheel of the turbine or channel in which the impulsive action of the
stream of water is exerted, the sides of which channel are widened or enlarged,
or made bell-mouthed in section, in such manner that by means of this
arrangement in connection with that of certain curved vanes or abutments
fitted in the channel, the free circulation or diffusion of the stream of water is
obtained.
I construct the whee! or motor channel of the turbine of two rings, with

page_text: upper and lower sides and division plates, which enclose an annular space fitted
with curved vanes or abutments, the sides (or the rings in certain turbines)
being inclined in such manner that the sectional area of the channel is
enlarged in one direction in proportion as it is decreased in the other by the
approach of the two adjacent vanes, thus rendering the concentric sections of
the channel uniform.
I construct a turbine applicable for high falls thus :-A hollow cylinder
surrounding the central shaft of the turbine passes through the passage
through which water is supplied; to this cylinder is fixed a feed plate or
distributor, to which the water supply leads, and which consists of a disc,
having on it lips which compose mouths for ejecting water to the turbine
wheel; round this plate extends a revolving ring, provided with as many abut-
ments as there are mouths to the distributor, and by which these mouths are
wholly or partially opened and closed.
The turbine proper, or wheel, consists of an outer and inner ring, which,
with an upper and lower side, enclose a channel divided off into spaces by a
number of curved vanes or abutments; the upper and lower sides are inclined
to each other in such manner, that the sectional area of the channel is
enlarged in one direction in proportion as it is decreased in the other, by two
adjacent vanes, (the distance between which decrease as the centre is receded
from). The water projected from the mouths of the distributor plate in a
direction nearly tangential to the circumference, only comes in contact with
the concave part of the vane, on which it exerts pressure proportionate to its
velocity, and is consequently allowed to pass through the channel without
undergoing disturbance or variations of velocity. The lower side of the wheel
is connected to the turbine shaft, to which it transmits rotary motion. The
convex surface or back of the vanes may be shaped in such manner, that
the space between every two adjacent vanes may be quite filled with the
projected stream of water. When the water is supplied through a bent pipe,
it may be fixed at bottom by a lip to "a-broad or inverted bell-shaped base,
and the central tube surrounding the shaft has projecting parts near the top,
curved like the prow and stern of a ship, which partially fill the bend or
wide part of the water-supply pipe, and guide the water in its passage to the
distributor plate: Rotary motion may be communicated to the ring carrying
the abutments for closing the mouths of the distributor plate by providing
it with teeth, which are geared into by a toothed wheel at the end of a shaft.
The hollow shaft of the turbine may be mounted out of the water by
stepping it on to the top of a solid shaft fixed to a bell-shaped or other base.
For a turbine of light weight and size, but intended for large volumes of

page_text: water, the distributor plate may be furnished with only two mouths for the
projection of water, into which mouths slender curved guide plates may be
fitted for directing the water on to the blades.
I also construct turbines, in which the water acts or moves in a vertical
direction, instead of in an outward direction. I fix at the bottom of the feed
tank a distributing plate, 'on which is mounted two rings, comprising between
them an annular space, through which the water passes to the wheel. The
shaft passes through the distributor plate, and is stepped on the top of another
shaft resting in a socket in the brickwork. The wheel, or turbine proper,
consists of two concentric conical rings supported on arms, and with their
sides enclose a channel, which, from the inclined form of the rings, is bell-
mouthed in section, or considerably wider at the under part than at top; the
motor channel is provided with curved vanes, dividing it into spaces, the
sections of which are, as before, of uniform area throughout; on account of
the enlargement of the sides of the channel, guide plates are provided, to
impart to the water a direction in accordance with that of the turbine. The
mouths of the distributor communicating with the wheel are opened and
closed by valves, each of which is connected by a cranked pin to a connecting
rod; the tops of all these rods pass into a ring and terminate in jointed
arms, which are worked by arms with cam-shaped ends projecting from a
toothed sector.
To obviate obstructions to the action of the wheel from overflows of streams,
sometimes I place a turbine in a chamber, into which air is forced by means
of an air pump worked by the turbine; I connect the turbine by means of
tubes with a supplementary reservoir, (a great part of the air being carried
away with the water); by means of this hydro-pneumatic contrivance a
constant level of water in the chamber is maintained. The shaft may be
connected with the pistons or plungers of double-action horizontal pumps, the
frames of which serve as reservoirs of air, and the water is ejected therein
from the pump barrel through tubes.
My improved turbine for raising water by centrifugal action, is constructed
as follows: In the middle of a passage through which the water enters is a
conical socket, attached by arms to the outer rings, and in which the shaft is,
stepped; round the central shafts are three annular channels or chambers
communicating with each other, and in which guide plates or vanes are fitted.,
Each chamber consists of a top and bottom plate (with division plates). The
mouth leads upward into the first or innermost annular chamber, into which
the water projected by centrifugal action first passes, and has two directions of
motion, one rotary, and the other radial; it passes from the first channel into

page_text: the second channel, the rings of which are conical, sloping down towards its
outer circumference, so as to narrow the channel in an outward direction;
from this the water is directed into the third or outermost annular channel,
which is the wheel or turbine; and the sides whereof are inclined in a contrary
direction to those of the second channel, or in such manner as to widen the
area towards the outer circumference, so that by this arrangement, together
with that of the curved configuration of the vanes fitted in it, the areas of the
concentric sections of the spaces between every two adjacent guide plates may
be uniform throughout. The innermost annular chamber is mounted on the
central shaft, which is stepped in the top of a pedestal out of the water, and a
second annular chamber is fixed to the base of the mouth, and the third con-
nected to the first.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Dominique Girard in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
DOMINIQUE GIRARD, Mechanician, of Paris, Town in the French Empire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS 1er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Dominique Girard, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Dominique , my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Dominique Girard, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC TURBINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Dominique Girard, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Louis Dominique Girard, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
The Invention consists of an improved construction and improved arrange-
ments of turbines, and includes an arrangement of the wheel of the turbine, or
of the channels in which the impulsive action of the stream of water is exerted,
according to which the sides of the wheel are widened or enlarged in such
manner, that by means of this arrangement in connection with that of certain
curved vanes forming the sides of the channels, the most efficient action of the
stream of water is obtained. I construct the wheel of the turbine of two rings
or plates, enclosing an annular space fitted with curved vanes, these rings or
plates being inclined in such manner, that the sectional areas of the channels
are enlarged in one direction in proportion as they are decreased in the other
by the approach of the two adjacent vanes, thus rendering the concentric
sections of the channels uniform.
The Drawings hereunto annexed represent the manner in which I carry my
Invention into effect.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the axis, and Fig. 2, a horizontal
section, of a turbine to be worked by heads of water of considerable height,
constructed according to my Invention. A is the channel through which
the water enters the turbine; B is an interior tube surrounding the shaft
of the machine, at the bottom of which tube B is fixed a distributing
apparatus, which is formed of a plate C firmly secured to the tube B. To
this plate C are attached partitions D, D, of any convenient number, between
which the water flows and impinges upon the vanes a, a, of the wheel, in a
direction approximating more or less to that of the tangent to the inner
circumference of the wheel. E, E, is a crown piece, which covers the par-
titions and distributing channels, and carries upon its edge the regulating
pieces J, J, which correspond in number with the distributing channels. This
crown piece E, E, with these regulating pieces J, J, is capable of being turned
round the tubo A, so as either to contract or enlarge the outlets b, b, of the
distributing channels. In order to prevent the escape of the water between
the tube A and the crown E, E, a stuffing F is placed at the junction of the
two, somewhat after the manner of a common stuffing box; G is the wheel, or
turbine proper, composed of two rings or plates, an upper and a lower, which
enclose an annular space, in which are fitted the vanes a, a. The lower ring
forms part of a plate G¹, secured to the hollow shaft H, to which the motion

page_text: of the wheel is thereby communicated. The action of the machine is as
follows: The fluid escaping through the outlets b, b, impinges upon the
curved vanes a, a, nearly in the direction of a tangent to the inner circum-
ference of the wheel G, and proceeds through the channels, reacting upon the
concave vanes only, upon which it exerts a pressure proportionate to the vis
viva which it has previously acquired. This pressure sets the vanes a, a, and
therefore the hollow shaft II, to which they are connected, in motion.
In order to ensure the best action of the fluid, it is necessary that the
channel formed by two consecutive vanes should have a constant section.
This is obtained by causing the upper and lower rings to separate as they
recede from the centre of the machine, in the proportion in which the vanes
approach each other. By thus proportionalety increasing the channel in one
direction while it diminishes in the other (at right angles thereto), the water
flows through the distributing channels without undergoing changes of velocity
or being broken into eddies, which tend to produce back pressures and con-
sequent loss of power, and to cause escapes of water between the inner
circumference of the wheel and the distributing apparatus. The backs or
convex faces of the vanes may be so formed that the channel enclosed by two
consecutive vanes may be exactly filled by the traversing stream of water,
while the conditions of free circulation beforo described are maintained.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section, through the axis, of a complete turbine, the
principal parts of which are the same as those already described and reprc.
sented in Figures 1 and 2. A is a bent tube through which the feed water
enters the machine, and this tube has at its bottom a broad flange, by which
it is secured to a curved cover K which supports the machine B is a central
case, having its upper section elongated in the direction of the feed tube A in
such manner, that the water in passing it may have its direction changed with
the least possible loss of velocity, the elongated portion resembling in its
action the bow and stern of a ship. The crown piece E, E, carrying the
regulating pieces J, J, is furnished with teeth a', acted upon by a pinion b¹ on
the shaft M, as shewn in plan in Fig. 4. The shaft H is pivoted at the top,
clear of the water, and is traversed by an axle I, fixed at the centre of the
cross piece L, which is bolted to a flange on the curved cover K. At the top
of the axle I is a steel bearing, in which it turns. This arrangement, repre-
sented in Fig. 3, is well adapted for a machine of small capacity, and worked
by fluid under great pressure. When it is desired to obtain considerable power
in a light machine of small dimensions intended to consume a large quantity
of water, the distributing apparatus receives the form given to it in Fig. 5,
in which there are but two partitions D, D, and two channels between them,

page_text: in which channels the water has given to it a tangential or nearly tangential
direction by means of several thin curved diaphragms b, b, placed between
the partitions D, D. Adjustable pieces are used in this case also for con-
tracting or enlarging the outlets according to the power desired or the volume
of water at command.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the axis, and Fig. 7, a plan of a turbine
fitted with the distributing apparatus shewn in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a detached
view of the bearings of M. These Figures need no further description.
Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 represent a turbine designed to utilize large volumes of
water with low or moderate falls. In this machine, the water, instead of acting
upon the wheel while flowing outwards from the axis, acts in its passage
downwards. A, A, is a chamber of masonry and wood, which serves as a
reservoir for the feed water, and is separated from the exit channel by a
vertical partition and a floor O, O; B, C, is a plate secured to the floor O, O,
serving as a distributor to the fluid; connected to this plate B, C, at certain
distances from the centre, are two circular rings forming an annular channel,
through which the water passes on its way to the wheel; and at the centre of
the said plate is a stuffing box, through which passes the main shaft of the
machine, which is surrounded by a cast-iron cylinder D. G is the wheel, or
turbine proper, composed of two rings concentric and conical, enclosing an
annular space, which is divided into channels by vanes, these channels being
made uniform in section by the spreading of the said rings, which in this
machine have their distance apart increased in a downward direction. The
wheel G is carried by six arms E, E, meeting in a boss at the centre, through
which boss the shaft H passes. Fig. 10 is part of a vertical cylindrical section
taken through the distributor and the wheel. b, b, are partitions placed
between the rings of the distributor, and intended to give the supply water the
proper direction. The lower vanes a, a, form the channels of the wheel,
which, as before explained, are of constant section, in like manner and for like
purposes as in the turbine shown in Figures 1 and 2. I, Fig. 9, is a central
axle, which carries at its upper end a socket p, in which the end of the hollow
shaft II works. The foot of this axle I is held by a cast-iron step 1', supported
upon a strong foundation; at the bottom of the exit channel E, F, are sliding
plates or valves placed over the distributing partitions b, b, (Fig. 11,) capable
of being moved radially. When these plates E, F, are open, the water has
free access to the distributing channels. In Fig. 11 some of these plates are
shewn open and others closed. Each plate E or F is attached to a small rod
d, jointed to a lever f, attached to the bottom of a vertical shaft K (Figure 9).
These shafts K, K, are all received at their upper ends by a crown ring W,

page_text: supported by columns 9. Each of the shafts K, K, carries near its upper end
two levers or arms M, M, rigidly connected with each other at such an angle
that one of them always points to the centre of the machine when the plate
E or F in connection with it is completely open or completely closed. N is a
toothed sector, having formed upon it two arms like cams, which project
beyond it to meet the levers or arms M, M. This sector is capable of being
moved round through about 180° by means of the hand wheel and bevil gear
V, V, and the pinion V' (Figures 9 and 12). By turning it in one direction
its arms will move all the levers M, M, and thus open or close all the plates
or valves E, F, and vice versa, as will be casily understood on reference to
Figure 12, which shews the sector N and the levers M, M, in plan. By
turning the sector N, N, through a less angle than 180°, a portion only of the
plates or valves E, F, will be opened or closed. It is well known that when a
turbine becomes partially immersed by the undue accumulation of tail water,
the rising of a river, or other cause, its action is more or less impeded. To
obviate this inconvenience I sometimes place the turbine in an air-tight
chamber formed by the woodwork O, O, (Fig. 9). The level of the water in
this chamber may be preserved constant by the forcing in of supplies of air
by means of an air pump worked by the turbine itself; the air injected by
the air pump being to a great extent carried off by the moving water. The
floor O, O, is extended in the form of a tank or cistern X, communicating with
the chamber of the turbine by means of pipes. The foregoing arrangement
serves to keep the turbine in the same condition, and thus to render its
action uniformly efficient. At the top of the shaft H is a crank Q, to which
are connected by means of rods R, R, and T, T, the pistons S, S, of two
horizontal double-acting pumps at right angles to each other.
P, P, which supports these pumps forms an air reservoir, from
forced by the pumps through the pipes U, U.
The framing
which air is
Figs. 13 and 14 represent, in vertical and horizontal section respectively, a
turbine for raising water by means of centrifugal force. A, A, is a bell mouth
enclosing a channel by which the water enters. In this channel is a conical
piece attached to the bell mouth A, A, by four arms G; B, B, is the
moving wheel, formed by two plates, between which are placed the partitions
a, a. This wheel B is mounted upon a hollow shaft II, with a pivot at the
top above the water, the socket of which is secured to the top of the axle J.
C is a fixed wheel, formed by two rings, which approach each other as they
recede from the centre and carried by the bell mouth A, A, having fitted
between them the vanes b, b; D, D, is a third and moving wheel, formed by
two rings, the upper of which is in one with the upper plate of the wheel B, B.

page_text: The upper and lower rings of the wheel D, D, separate as they recede from
the centre. The mode of action of this machine is as follows:-When the
machine is put in motion, the water which fills the channels between a, a, is
made to rotate, and under the action of the resulting centrifugal force is made
to move outwards also, and enters the channels formed by the vanes b, b, in the
fixed wheel. These vanes impart to it the direction which is necessary, in
order that it may impinge in the most advantageous manuer upon the vanes
d, d. In the outer wheel D, D, the vis viva acquired by the water in its
passage through the channels between a, a, is expended upon the vanes d, d;
and in order that there may be as little back pressure and loss of power as
possible, the channels in C and D are made throughout of constant section by
forming those channels as before described.
From the preceding description, it will be observed that water is subjected
to two distinct actions, first, in the channels between a, a, it is acted upon by
centrifugal force, which compresses it and endows it with a corresponding
pressure quite independent of the absolute velocity with which it flows through
and quits the channels between a, a, and this pressure it preserves in its
passage through the channels in the ring C, where the direction of its motion
is merely changed; secondly, in the channels in D the water acting as a
motor restores without loss the vis viva which it has been necessary to impress
upon it in order to obtain from it the greatest possible effect.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction, and arrangement of hydraulic turbines, as herein-
before described, and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly, the employment, in hydraulic turbines, of channels formed by
curved vanes and curved or inclined sides, so arranged that the sections of
such channels shall be constant, as herein-before described, and represented in
the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Thirdly, the employment, in hydraulic turbines, of desecting partitions, vanes,
or diaphragmes for distributing the water in suitable directions to the channels
of the wheel, as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Fourthly, the employment, in hydraulic turbines, of sliding plates and valves
for regulating or cutting off the supply of water thereto, and the operation of
these plates or valves by means of toothed pinions and other contrivances,
both as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
Fifthly, the placing of hydraulic turbines in close chambers into which air

page_text: is forced, for the purpose of regulating the height to which the tail water or
the water in the exit channel is allowed to rise, as herein-before described, and
represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness. whereof, I, the said Louis Dominique Girard, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Ing Conseil,
No. 23, Boulev de Strasbourg,
· à Paris.
L. D. GIRARD. (L.S.)