Patent attributes
An efficient turbine having an impeller mounted to an axle. The impeller has a cylindrical center hub mounted on the axle, and a plurality of blades extend radially from the center hub. The blades are welded to the center hub and end plates at either end of the impeller. Watertight chambers for receiving water are formed by adjacent blades, the center hub, and the end plates. An inlet directs water into the impeller to rotate it. The blades have an arcuate shape with no part of the blade extending below the top of the inlet when the outer edge of the blade is aligned with the top of the inlet so that no counteracting torque works against rotation of the impeller. Compressed air becomes trapped in the chambers, and when the compressed air expels the water from the impeller, it reduces the velocity of the water to near zero with respect to the inlet.