turbine
(ˈtɜːbaɪn, -ɪn)
[a. F. turbine, ad. L. turbo, turbin-em: see turbo.]
1. a. Originally applied to a wheel revolving on a vertical axis, and driven by a column of water falling into its interior, and escaping by pipes, channels, or apertures, so arranged as to press by reaction on the periphery of the wheel, and cause it to revolve in the direction opposite to that of the escaping water. Now applied to any kind of machine in which this principle (sometimes combined with that of direct impact) is used or developed; the modifications and developments are very numerous, many of these being of highly complicated structure, in which neither the horizontality of the wheel nor the motive power is retained.
| [1824 Burdin in Bull. Soc. Encouragem. July 256 Machines rotatoires à grande vitesse nommées turbines hydrauliques.] 1838 Railway Mag. IV. 51 Turbine.—An instrument under this name has lately been invented by M. Fourneyron, worked by water-pressure, which is said to have made a great sensation in Germany. Ibid., It is said that a turbine, only thirteen inches diameter,..under a vertical pressure of water of 118 yards, revolved 2,300 times in a minute, and..realized a power, which estimated in steam, would be equal to that of sixty horses. 1842 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 266/1 The mechanical construction of the Turbine is..given, and its action..described. 1861 O. W. Holmes Voice of Loyal North 33 'Tis hard..To see the rusting turbines stand Before the emptied flumes. 1861 Rankine Steam Engine 189. 1881 W. C. Unwin in Encycl. Brit. XII. 524/2 The Scotch turbine..differs in no essential respect from the older form of reaction wheel. 1884 Athenæum 16 Aug. 212/2 A well-constructed water-wheel or turbine can..be worked with far greater economy than steam. 1897 Spectator 4 Sept., There are at Niagara single turbines which produce 5000 horse-power. |
b. More fully
steam-turbine: A steam motor in which rotatory motion is produced by steam impinging directly upon a series of vanes upon the circumference of a revolving cylinder or disk (or, in some types, acting and reacting alternately on moving and stationary elements).
| 1900 Engineer 2 Feb. 127/3 The main applications of the De Laval steam turbine are:—(1) Turbine motors, driving machinery direct by means of belts or ropes; (2) Turbine dynamos, the dynamos being placed on the second motion shafts or a prolongation of the same; (3) turbine pumps..and (4) turbine exhaust and pressure fans or ventilators. 1900 N. Brit. Daily Mail 30 Jan. 4 That is the whole secret of the turbine. In the modern application of it the steam blows upon the shaft and the shaft turns, and by an ingenious application of blades the steam which enters the first turbine when it leaves the boiler at a pressure of 225 lbs. to the square inch is utilised till the value of the last pound is all used up. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 16 Mar. 10/1 The dynamo is coupled directly to a Parsons turbine, which has introduced great changes and great economies in the driving of huge electrical plants. |
c. A centrifugal separator used in sugar manufacture.
| 1873 Besant & Rice Little Girl ii. x. 116 The sweet, rich smell of the sugar; the huge vats of seething, foaming juice, and the whirling turbines. |
d. = gas-turbine s.v. gas n.1 7.
| 1904 Proc. Inst. Mech. Engineers Oct. 1078 Some or all of the available heat energy of the gas can be converted into kinetic energy before causing it to act on the turbine. 1940 A. W. Judge Aircraft Engines I. vii. 231 An alternative method of driving the supercharger is to couple it directly to an exhaust turbine of the de Laval type. 1950 E. T. Vincent Theory & Design Gas Turbines & Jet Engines vi. 161 The power-plant turbine can be divided into the following units: (1) compressor, (2) combustion chamber, (3) turbine, and (4) regenerator. 1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xv. 215 After expansion in the turbine, the combustion gases escape at high velocity through the jet pipe, thus providing the forward thrust for the aeroplane. |
2. attrib. and
Comb., as
turbine blade,
turbine dynamo,
turbine dynamometer,
turbine engine,
turbine machinery,
turbine mill,
turbine motor,
turbine shaft,
turbine top,
turbine (water) wheel;
turbine-driven,
turbine-engined,
turbine-like,
turbine-propelled,
adjs.; driven by a steam-turbine, as
turbine boat,
turbine destroyer,
turbine steamer,
turbine yacht, etc.;
turbine-alternator,
-generator: see
turbo-;
turbine-pump, a turbine water wheel used to raise water by being driven by external power in the direction opposite to that in which it turns when used as a motor.
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 843/2 The general arrangement of the steam nozzle and *turbine blades is illustrated. 1977 R.A.F. News 11–24 May 18/2 A pair of turbine blades from an Orpheus jet engine. |
| 1904 Longm. Mag. Jan. 215 The Revolution..the first American-built *turbine boat. |
| 1900 Engineer 8 June 595/3 The Elswick *turbine destroyer, which made 36·88 knots on trial. |
| Ibid. 22 June 645/2 This will be the largest *turbine-driven generating set ever built. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 19 June 4/3 The adaptability of the turbine-driven steamship for passenger traffic was tested on the Clyde yesterday. 1900 *Turbine dynamo [see 1 b]. |
| 1900 Engineer 16 Feb. 170/1 The *turbine engines are similar to those of the Turbinia. 1901 Scotsman 20 Sept. 4/4 The new turbine engines..were built to secure a speed of 35 knots. |
| 1902 Daily Chron. 12 Nov. 7/2 At the present time there is only one *turbine-engined war-vessel in the world. This is H.M.S. Velox. 1904 Longm. Mag. Jan. 214 Two new cross-channel steamers..are turbine-engined. |
| 1906 J. W. Thurso Mod. Turbine Pract. etc. 147 Of great importance in connection with *turbine governors is the time of closing. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 6/3 The many advantages of this special type of engine [six-cylinder motor] are its smooth, *turbine-like motion. |
| 1900 Engineer 2 Nov. 444/3 *Turbine machinery occupying less space than the present cramped-up reciprocating engines. 1904 Daily Chron. 3 June 6/6 It has yet to be proved that turbine machinery is suitable for the propulsion of cargo vessels where speed is not a great requisite. |
| 1900 Engineer 2 Feb. 127/3 A steam consumption as low as 13·9 lb. of steam per brake horse-power on a 300 horse-power steam *turbine motor. |
| 1901 Ibid. 11 Jan. 45/1 The first absolute decision to adopt the *turbine principle in a large passenger vessel. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 3 May 6/3 Only their fast vessels would be *turbine-propelled. |
| 1901 Engineer 11 Jan. 45/1 *Turbine propulsion for a new Clyde passenger steamer. 1900 *Turbine pump [see 1 b]. |
| 1887 D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 120 Bearing for a *turbine shaft. 1900 Engineer 2 Feb. 127/3 The pinion on the turbine shaft gears into two wheels on opposite sides. |
| 1904 Longm. Mag. Jan. 214 The first Transatlantic *turbine steamer. |
| 1906 Stevens & Hobart Steam Turbine Engin. 12 At high speeds the *turbine vessels excel in economy. |
| 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Worship Wks. (Bohn) II. 396 There is faith in chemistry, in meat and wine, in..*turbine-wheels,..but not in divine causes. |
Hence
ˈturbined a., having or propelled by a turbine or turbines (Webster, 1911);
ˈturbiner, a turbine-driven vessel.
| 1905 St. John (N. Brunswick) Daily Sun 3 Apr. 1/1 Turbiner Victorian will dock this morning. |