Benoît Fourneyron

Benoît Fourneyron

Infobox Engineer


image_width = 150px
caption = PAGENAME
name = PAGENAME
nationality = French
birth_date = October 31, 1802
birth_place = Saint-Étienne
death_date = July 31, 1867
death_place =
education =New School of Mines
spouse =
parents =
children =
discipline =
institutions =
practice_name =
significant_projects = water turbine
significant_design =
significant_advance =
significant_awards =

Benoît Fourneyron (October 31, 1802 – July 31, 1867) was a French engineer, born in Saint-Étienne. Fourneyron designed the first practical water turbine in 1827. Benoît Fourneyron was educated at the New School of Mines, a nearby engineering school that had recently opened. After he graduated in 1816, he spent the next few years in mines and ironworks. Around this time, a number of French engineers -- including some of Fourneyron's former teachers -- were starting to apply the mathematical techniques of modern science to the ancient mechanism called the waterwheel.

For centuries, waterwheels had been used to convert the energy of streams into mechanical power, mostly for milling grain. But the new machines of the Industrial Revolution required more power, and by the 1820s there was enormous interest in making waterwheels more efficient.

Using one of his former teacher's proposals as a guide, Fourneyron built in 1827, at age of 25 years, his first prototype for a new type of waterwheel, called a "turbine". (The term turbine is derived from the Latin word for a spinning top). In Fourneyron's design, the wheel was horizontal, unlike the vertical wheels in traditional waterwheels. This 6-horsepower turbine used two sets of blades, curved in opposite directions, to get as much power as possible from the water's motion. Fourneyron won a 6,000 franc prize offered by the French Society for the Encouragement of Industry for the development of the first commercial hydraulic turbine.

Over the next decade, Fourneyron built bigger and better turbines, learning from his mistakes after each new model. By 1837, he had a 60-horsepower turbine capable of a fantastic 2,300 rotations per minute. On that model, the turbine's wheel was only one foot in diameter, and it weighed just 40 pounds. It operated at 80 percent efficiency.

Within a few years, hundreds of factories used Fourneyron-style turbines. Other countries adopted the design to power their industrial machinery, too. Fourneyron's turbine could be installed horizontally with a vertical shaft. Immediately successful, it powered industry in continental Europe and the U.S., notably the New England textile industry. In 1895 Fourneyron turbines were installed on the U.S. side of Niagara Falls to generate electric power.

ee also

*Water Turbine timeline

References

*cite web | title=Fourneyron, Benoit | work=cartage.org|url=http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/F/Fourneyron/1.html | accessdate=June 3 | accessyear=2005


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Benoît Fourneyron — Parlementaire français Date de naissance 1er novembre 1802 Date de décès 8 juillet 1867 (à 64 ans) Mandat Député …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Benoit Fourneyron — Benoît Fourneyron Benoît Fourneyron (1er novembre 1802, à Saint Étienne 8 juillet 1867, à Paris) est un inventeur et un industriel français dont la renommée est associée à l invention de la turbine hydraulique et de la conduite forcée. Un… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Benoit Fourneyron — Benoît Fourneyron (* 31. Oktober 1802 in Saint Étienne; † 31. Juli 1867) war ein französischer Ingenieur, der die erste praktikable Wasserturbine entwickelte. 1819 promovierte er an der Hochschule für Bergbau in Saint Étienne. Im April 1827… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Benoît Fourneyron — (* 31. Oktober 1802 in Saint Étienne; † 31. Juli 1867) war ein französischer Ingenieur, der die erste praktikable Wasserturbine entwickelte. 1819 promovierte er an der Hochschule für Bergbau in Saint Étienne. Im April 1827 präsentierte er seine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fourneyron — Benoît Fourneyron (* 31. Oktober 1802 in Saint Étienne; † 31. Juli 1867) war ein französischer Ingenieur, der die erste praktikable Wasserturbine entwickelte. 1819 promovierte er an der Hochschule für Bergbau in Saint Étienne. Im April 1827… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fourneyron-Turbine — Schematische Darstellung einer Fourneyron Turbine Die Fourneyron Turbine ist die erste funktionsfähige Wasserturbine. Die Turbine wurde 1826 aufgrund eines Preisausschreibens der französischen Gesellschaft für Gewerbefleiß entwickelt, dessen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fourneyron —  Cette page d’homonymie répertorie des personnes (réelles ou fictives) partageant un même patronyme. Benoît Fourneyron, industriel français du XIXe siècle, inventeur de la turbine hydraulique et de la conduite forcée. Valérie Fourneyron …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fourneyron, Benoît — born Oct. 31, 1802, Saint Étienne, France died July 31, 1867, Paris French inventor of the water turbine. He first built a small, 6 horsepower unit in which water was directed outward from a central source onto blades or vanes set at angles in a… …   Universalium

  • Fourneyron, Benoît — (31 oct. 1802, Saint Étienne, Francia–31 jul. 1867, París). Inventor francés de la turbina hidráulica. Primero construyó una unidad pequeña de 6 caballos de fuerza en la cual el agua era dirigida hacia fuera desde un surtidor central, pasando a… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Liste der Erfinder — Dies ist eine Liste von Erfindern, die die Welt mit ihren Erfindungen bereichert haben. Ein Erfinder ist jemand, der ein Problem erkannt hat, es gelöst und mindestens einmal damit Erfolg gehabt hat. Er muss nicht der erste gewesen sein; eine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”