Performance of Blowdown Turbine Driven by Exhaust Gas of Nine-Cylinder Radial Engine

An investigation was made of an exhaust-gas turbine having four separate nozzle boxes each covering a 90 degree arc of the nozzle diaphragm and each connected to a pair of adjacent cylinders of a nine-cylinder radial engine. This type of turbine has been called a "blowdown" turbine because it recovers the kinetic energy developed in the exhaust stacks during the blowdown period, that is the first part of the exhaust process when the piston of the reciprocating engine is nearly stationary. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether the blow turbine could develop appreciable power without imposing any large loss in engine power arising from restriction of the engine exhaust by the turbine.