US Patent 7524160 Hydrokinetic speed governor

A method for governing the speed of a fluid turbine by establishing a circulating flow and a rotational flow with a rotor, and interrupting the rotational flow with an opposing stator. A related braking apparatus includes a housing, a rotatable shaft, a rotor configured to rotatingly engage the shaft and engage a fluid in the housing with a plurality of radial vanes, and a non-rotating stator comprising a plurality of fluid pockets. The stator is disposed such that the radial vanes of the rotor and the fluid pockets of the stator are oriented in a facing relationship. When the shaft is rotated, the fluid in the housing experiences both a circulating flow and a rotational flow. Thus, the rotational flow is present proximate the radial vanes, but not in the fluid pockets, and the fluid imparts a braking torque on the rotating shaft via the rotor's radial vanes.