# Tesla Turbo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092 "2024-01-15T03:29:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/1 "2024-01-15T03:29:57Z")
No, I’m not discussing “souping-up” an electric car. The Tesla Turbine: [Tesla Turbine | The interesting physics behind it (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfCyzIbpLN4) apparently holds theoretical promise if one can materially engineer discs 3 meters across, spinning at MACH 13. In any case, can the multidisc concept also work as a compressor? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/2 "2024-01-15T04:24:17Z")
It can be used as a pump. Which is essentially a low-gain compressor. This is not a great article, but it beat the crap out of a video > **[Tesla turbine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_turbine)** > > The Tesla turbine is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine invented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. > Nozzles apply a moving fluid to the edges of a set of discs. The engine uses smooth discs rotating in a chamber to generate rotational movement due to the exchange of momentum between the fluid and the discs. The discs are arranged in an orientation similar to a stack of CDs on a pole. > The Tesla turbine uses the boundary-layer effect, instead of the method employed by more conventional turbines, wherein ... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/3 "2024-01-15T04:26:23Z")
Why use the word turbo in the title when you’re talking about a turbine? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/4 "2024-01-15T04:44:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why use the word turbo in the title when you’re talking about a turbine?   The prefix “turbo-” traditionally denotes “turbine”, as in turboprop or turbofan aircraft engines. In fact an automotive turbocharger gets its name from the fact that it’s powered by a small turbine getting its energy from the flow of exhaust gases. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/5 "2024-01-15T04:44:47Z")
But a turbocharger and a turbine are not the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/6 "2024-01-15T04:49:50Z")
A turbocharger is basically two turbines back-to-back. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/7 "2024-01-15T04:49:51Z")
Technically a turbocharger is a type of supercharger that is powered by a turbine rather than being driven by a belt. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/8 "2024-01-15T05:04:48Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > In any case, can the multidisc concept also work as a compressor? It has been described as a pump for moving fluids as opposed to a compressor for obtaining higher pressures. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/9 "2024-01-15T08:23:16Z")
A “regular” turbo is two fans connected by a shaft…a turbine, and a compressor. If a tesla turbine was connected to _another multidisc_, could that multidisc draw in air as a compressor? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/10 "2024-01-15T12:42:23Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > If a tesla turbine was connected to _another multidisc_, could that multidisc draw in air as a compressor? Yes. It’s been done. But it’s a fan, not a compressor, producing high velocity air. Tesla’s original concept relied on the [Tesla Valve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_valve) to maintain combustion pressure. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-turbo/996092/11 "2024-01-16T00:40:27Z")
Just found a CGI model of a Tesla Pump: [large.jpg (854×640) (d2t1xqejof9utc.cloudfront.net)](https://d2t1xqejof9utc.cloudfront.net/screenshots/pics/bc1d1e871ec9d0637c3503ca9bdefc54/large.jpg) so the various parts _could_ be combined into a functional unit.