Performance assessment of a reversible Tesla machine

It is well known that bladeless or Tesla turbomachinery, which was invented by Nikola Tesla in 1913, has several distinct features, such as reversibility of operation, which includes expander as well as compressor operation, just by reversing the rotational speed, provided that the statoric channels are purposely designed. Despite their potential application to a variety of fields, such as energy harvesting, automotive, light aircraft, and food processing, especially for low volumetric flows, Tesla machines have not found yet a specific market niche. In fact, at small size, it is estimated that the Tesla machinery does not change performance significantly, while conventional bladed machines are subject to significant efficiency reduction because of mechanical tolerances, thus matching the Tesla relatively low performance. Therefore, Tesla machines can become the fluid machinery of choice for small-size applications, thanks to their competitive performance at that size, simple construction, and reversible operation. A key objective of this paper is to numerically study Tesla devices in both expander and compressor modes with air as the working fluid. As a consequence of the high losses due to rotor and stator interactions, statorless (volute) configurations are investigated here, showing superior performance in both direct and indirect modes of operation. With reference to a laboratory prototype under construction, this paper presents the numerical design results, which predict the peak isentropic efficiencies of 63.5% and 57.5%, for the expander and compressor mode of operation, respectively. Actual prototype is expected to match those performance, apart from leakage and ventilation losses, not included in the numerical analysis.