Patent ID: 8067851

Claim:
An electrical generator powered by fluid pressure in a flow line, comprising: a turbine housing containing a rotor having a central axis and turbine blades rotatably secured to the rotor and rotated by fluid from a flow line passing through the turbine housing; a control valve for selectively controlling fluid pressure from the flow line to the turbine housing; a control motor for powering the control valve; a bearing within the turbine housing for guiding rotation of the rotor; a plurality of magnets each mounted on the rotor; a cap member having a closure end axially opposite the turbine blades with respect to the bearing and radially outward of the plurality of magnets, the cap member being sealed to the turbine housing and sealing fluid within a cavity formed by the cap member and the turbine housing, at least a portion of the cap member being substantially transparent to a magnetic field; a stator external of the cap member, such that the plurality of moving magnets create a magnetic field to generate electrical current in the stator; and a fluid outlet in the turbine housing for exhausting fluid from the turbine housing.