James B. Francis
James Bicheno Francis (born May 18, 1815 in Southleigh , Oxfordshire , England , † September 18, 1892 in Lowell , Massachusetts , USA ) was a British-American engineer .
Francis invented a water turbine with the Francis turbine . His basic idea is based on the Fourneyron turbine from 1826 , the impeller of which, like that of the Francis turbine , is traversed in a radial direction, but which did not yet have adjustable blades to react to changing water volumes and prevent turbulence between the guide and rotor blades . James B. Francis designed the so-called diffuser, with which all guide vanes can be adjusted simultaneously from one controller . A turbine equipped in this way was able to maintain a constant speed despite the changing amount of water in a flowing water and thus serve as a drive for a generator . Another improvement on the Fourneyron turbine was the incorporation of curved blades into the impeller.
Francis was a founding member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a professional association similar to the Association of German Engineers (VDI). In 1844 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1865 to the American Philosophical Society .
Web links
- http://www.asme.org/history/brochures/h005.pdf (ASCE brochure)
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: James B. Francis. American Philosophical Society, accessed August 10, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Francis, James B. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Francis, James Bicheno (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British-American engineer and inventor of the Francis turbine |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 18, 1815 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Southleigh , Oxfordshire , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 18, 1892 |
| Place of death | Lowell (Massachusetts) , USA |