The shape of a turbine is extremely important, especially when dealing with tight spaces, such as rain gutter downspouts. Optimizing the initial design of a small part of a product like this can make the time well worth the cost of manufacturing.
Using a large scale design like this turbine would not be ideal because it would be difficult to build in a axle that does not interfere with the water flow in the gutter. However, it is commonly used in the hydropower industry because of its ability to rotate quickly while taking in large amounts of water from dams.
Turgo turbines have a curved shape. This allows the water to flow through and add additional force to the turbine. The downside to this type is that in a tight space, the water pushed back would interfere with the rotating turbine, causing the opposite affect that you want.
Like the Turgo turbine, this turbine splits the water into 2 streams, providing more energy. This difference is that it splits the water in the middle of the prop (almost like a "w" shaped cup). This allows less energy to be wasted at initial impact.
The Scoop turbine is like the crossflow turbine except it can carry larger amounts of water. It does, however, use more material to make and can be clogged more in the beginning of its use. It is not ideal for the downspout of a rain gutter because material can get stuck in it.
The Crossflow turbine is a simple and affective design. Water flows in an rotates the axle using a straight turbine. This work well in small spaces but is not ideal in larger industries, because of its awkwardness with placement in dams.
We chose to use the Crossflow design because of its ability to still be affective in small spaces. Its open design also allows material to be released easily.