The Operation of Various Turbines

Steam Turbines

As the name implies, a steam turbine is powered by steam. As hot, gaseous steam flows past the
turbine’ spinning blade, steam expands and cool, giving off most of the energy it contains. This steam
spins the blade continuously. It is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and
uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft, it works by using a heat source to heat water
to extremely high temperatures until it is converted into steam. They can be found everywhere on the
planet and are used to turn generators and make electricity or create propulsion for ships, airplanes,
missiles. It was Charles Parson who invented steam turbines in 1884.

Hydraulic Turbines

A hydraulic turbine converts the potential energy of a flowing liquid to rotational energy for further use.
Hydraulic turbines are the prime movers that convert the energy of the falling water into a rotational
mechanical energy and consequently to an electric energy through the use of the generators that are
connected to the turbines, the amount of the power transferred is proportional to the amount of head
across the turbine blades and flow through the turbine blades, it is used as an electric generator drive in
hydroelectric power plants. It was a French engineer, Benoit Fourneyron, who developed the first
commercially successful hydraulic turbine (circa 1830).

Gas turbines

A gas turbine is a combustion engine at the heart of a power plant that can convert natural gas or other
liquid fuels to mechanical energy. This energy then drives a generator that produces the electrical
energy that moves along power lines to homes and businesses. Gas turbines are used to power aircraft,
trains, ships, electrical generators, pumps, gas compressors, and tanks. The gas turbine is useful to our
modern world because it is relatively compact in size and makes a lot of power. Gas turbines are used in
backup power systems in Manhattan for example, when the grid goes down due to natural disaster, gas
turbines power up and can produce power for emergency uses. It was not until 1791 however, that a
patent was awarded for the first true gas turbines. John Barber, an English inventor, designed a turbine
to power a horseless carriage, which includes many of the same principles used in modern turbines.

Wind Turbines

A wind turbine is a machine that converts kinetic energy from the wind into electricity. Wind turbines
work on simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to
make electricity. Wind turbines do not release emissions that can pollute the air or water, and they do
not require water for cooling. Wind turbines may also reduce the amount of electricity generation from
fossil fuels, which results in lower total air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, thanks to Charles F.
Brush (1849-1929), an American scientist who, in 1887, built what it is said to be the first automatic
wind turbine to generate electricity.
 Various Modes of Transportation

Public Transportation

Buses, subways, trains and other public vehicles are designed to make life easier for everyone. From
improved community health to affordability, public transportation systems create the foundation on
which cities become more livable and prosperous in a variety of ways. It started with people riding
horses, donkeys or camels, and using rivers and sleighs to transport, then people realized they could
hook horses to sleighs to be even more efficient. In 3500 B.C, people figured out how to connect a wheel
to a cart. People discovered that rolling something on a log or a round object helped to move along, but
developing a way to attach it to a stable platform with an axle took some ingenuity. In the following
years, the carts wagons and chariots became a popular method of locomotion, and then the Greeks
figured out how to add in gears for extra power, and the Romans built roads to make it travel easier. For
a long time, the world was content to plod along, pulling their wheeled vehicles with humans or animals
as the engine. Then, in a burst of innovation following the industrial revolution, inventors developed
new ways to travel in the form of bicycles, trains, steam-powered boats, cars and airplanes in the 17 th
and 18th centuries. Since then, we have continued to focus a lot of innovation and passion into one
particular mode of transportation – the automobile.

Water Transportation