James B. Francis - Turbines

Turbines

James also became fascinated with and tinkered with turbine designs, after Uriah A. Boyden first demonstrated his Boyden turbine in Lowell. The two engineers worked on improving the turbine. And in 1848, Francis and Boyden successfully improved the turbine with what is now known as the Francis turbine. Francis' turbine eclipsed the Boyden turbine in power by 90%. In 1855, Francis published these findings in the "Lowell Hydraulic Experiments".