RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Fabricated tesla turbine was run at a very less flow rate of
0.0001368 m3 /sec from a constant head of 12.8 m which
makes our set up comparable to other high and medium head
turbines like Pelton turbine, Turgo turbine and Cross-flow
experimental results from Table I show the high speeds
attained even at such low flow rate and varied disc spacing.
The factor of disc spacing is of importance in the construction
of the turbine as the spacing between the discs is responsible
for boundary layer formation when water passes through discs
tangentially.
After a series of experiments it was found that maximum
speed attained by the turbine was at 1mm under no load
conditions; increasing or decreasing the disc spacing from this
value gave results as shown in Fig.1
The turbine was connected to varying loads consisting of
household LED ceiling bulbs of different wattage and they
glowed at full intensity with increasing efficiency as shown in
Fig.2.
It is believed that Tesla type rotor disks are resistant to
erosion [2] and are fit for rural electrification set up.