What is the name of the one-way fluid valve invented by Nikola Tesla?

What is the name of the one-way fluid valve invented by Nikola Tesla? The answer is the Tesla valve.

Tesla patented the device in 1920 under the more descriptive name “valvular conduit.” Unlike an ordinary mechanical check valve, it has no moving parts. Instead, its fixed internal passages, bends, and baffles make fluid flow relatively easily in one direction while strongly resisting flow in the other.

The valve is not a perfect seal: some reverse flow can still occur, especially under steady pressure. Its performance improves with carefully shaped segments and, in many applications, with pulsating flow. Tesla’s original drawings showed a conduit containing a series of flow-control sections, and adding segments can increase directional resistance.

The name can cause confusion with an electronic diode, which also favors one-way movement—but of electrical current rather than fluid. Tesla valves have been studied in microfluidics, cooling systems, pumps, and pulsejet-related designs. Their lack of moving parts makes them durable and resistant to mechanical wear.