How do figure the horsepower produced by a turbine?
This is a difficult subject. The actual horsepower of a turbine depended on several characteristics and parameters, including an operating coefficient that was unique to every turbine manufacturer (andthere were more than 100 such builders in the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries). This coefficient had to be determined experimentally by the manufacturer, or, preferably, by an unbiased testing facility (such as the Holyoke, MA, testing flume). Once it was known, the manufacturer usually developed tables for their turbines of various sizes, showing their performances under different heads. Some ofthese tables survive, notably those for the Leffel turbines. The reason these tables are all different is that manufacturers had to skirt around patent issues by changing slightly the design of their own turbine. As aresult, there were many distinct gating systems, gate configurations,runner types, bearings, etc., etc. These all influenced the operating efficiency of the turbine, which was
This is a difficult subject. The actual horsepower of a turbine depended on several characteristics and parameters, including an operating coefficient that was unique to every turbine manufacturer (andthere were more than 100 such builders in the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries). This coefficient had to be determined experimentally by the manufacturer, or, preferably, by an unbiased testing facility (such as the Holyoke, MA, testing flume). Once it was known, the manufacturer usually developed tables for their turbines of various sizes, showing their performances under different heads. Some ofthese tables survive, notably those for the Leffel turbines. The reason these tables are all different is that manufacturers had to skirt around patent issues by changing slightly the design of their own turbine. As aresult, there were many distinct gating systems, gate configurations,runner types, bearings, etc., etc. These all influenced the operating efficiency of the turbine, which was
