ABSTRACT
The necessity for gearing is an objection; the construction of the turbine is such that it lends itself to small units, say up to about 300 h.p. The speed of the rotor is thus reduced within practical limits, and the assemblage of these compartments or cells permits units of any size to be constructed. The mechanical construction of the Rateau turbine is refined and ingenious. The general arrangement comprises a horizontal shaft on which are a series of wheels carrying buckets. The earliest velocity-compounded turbine was that of Charles Gordon Curtis of New York. There were a number of nozzles depending upon the diameter of the wheel, each under the control of a drop valve actuated by a governor which shut them off in succession as the load was reduced. Each turbine wheel ran in own chamber and the steam passed from chamber to chamber by means of nozzles in the diaphragms separating the chambers.
