Evolution and History of Turbo-Machinery

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department

Timely Shit from Bio-logical Muscles to Mechanical

Muscles…….
Zero to One-body Tool Era of Technology
Compound tools to Machine Era of Technology
Machine to Computer Era of Technology
Technology Vs Power
 No Break Through Just A Natural Evolution

• Knowledge of turbo-machines has evolved

slowly over centuries without the benefit of
sudden and dramatic breakthroughs.
• Turbo-machines, such as windmills and
waterwheels, are millenniums old.
 An Evolution from Water Wheel to Hydraulic Turbine
• Waterwheels, which dip their vanes into moving water, were
employed in ancient Egypt, China, and Assyria.
• Waterwheels appeared in Greece in the second century B.C. and
in the Roman Empire during the first century B.C.
• A seven-ft-diameter waterwheel at Monte Cassino was used by
the Romans to grind corn at the rate of 150 kg of corn per hour,
• Waterwheels at Arles ground 320 kg of corn per hour.
• The Doomsday Book, based on a survey ordered by William the
Conqueror, indicates the there were 5,624 water mills in
England in 1086.
• Besides the grinding of grain, waterwheels were used to drive
water pumps and to operate machinery.
• Agricola (1494–1555) showed by illustrations how water
wheels were used to pump water from mines and to crush
metallic ores in the 16th century.
• In 1685 Louis XIV had 221 piston pumps installed at Marly,
France, for the purpose of supplying 3,200m3 of Seine River
water per day to the fountains of the Versailles palace.
• The pumps were driven by 14 waterwheels, each 12m in
diameter, that were turned by the currents of the Seine.
• The undershot waterwheel, which had an efficiency of only
30%, was used up until the end of the 18th century.
• It was replaced in the 19th century by the overshot waterwheel
with an efficiency of 70 to 90%.
• By 1850, hydraulic turbines began to replace waterwheels.
• The first hydroelectric power plant was built in Germany in
1891 and utilized waterwheels and direct-current power
generation.
• However, the waterwheels were soon replaced with hydraulic
turbines and alternating-current electric power.
 Evolution of Wind Turbines
• Although the use of wind power in sailing vessels appeared in
antiquity, the widespread use of wind power for grinding grain
and pumping water was delayed until
– the 7th century in Persia,
– the 12th century in England, and
– the 15th century in Holland.
• 17th century, Leibniz proposed using windmills and waterwheels
together to pump water from mines in the Harz Mountains.
• Dutch settlers brought Dutch mills to America in the 18th century.
• This led to the development of a multiblade wind turbine that was
used to pump water for livestock.
• Wind turbines were used in Denmark in 1890 to generate electric
power.
• Early in the 20th century American farms began to use wind
turbines to drive electricity generators for charging storage
batteries.
 Natural Incompressible Fluid
Machines --- Natural
Compressible Fluid Machines.
•Naturally Limited Capability of the Working
Fluid……
•Think about Enhancing the Capability of
Natural Working Fluids…..
 Discovery of Steam and Gas Turbines

• In the second century B.C. Hero of Alexandria invented

rotors driven by steam and by gas, but these machines
produced insignificant amounts of power.
• During the 18th and 19th centuries the reciprocating steam
engine was developed and became the predominant prime
mover for manufacturing and transportation industries.
• In 1883 the first steam turbines were constructed by de
Laval whose turbines achieved speeds of 26,000 rpm.
• In 1884 a steam turbine, which ran at 17,000 rpm and
comprised 15 wheels on the same shaft, was designed and
built by Charlie Parsons.
• The gas turbine was conceived by John Barber in 1791, and the
first gas turbine was built and tested in 1900 by Stolze .
• Sanford Moss built a gas turbine in 1902 at Cornell University.
• At Brown Boveri in 1903, Armenguad and Lemale combined an
axial-flow turbine and centrifugal compressor to produce a
thermal efficiency of 3% .
• In 1905 Holzwarth designed a gas turbine that utilized constant-
volume combustion.
• In 1911 the turbocharger was built and installed in diesel
engines by Sulzer Brothers, and in 1918 the turbocharger was
utilized to increase the power of military aircraft engines.
• In 1939 the first combustion gas turbine was installed by Brown
Boveri in Switzerland.
• A similar turbine was used in Swiss locomotives in 1942.
• The aircraft gas turbine engine (turbojet) was developed by
Junkers in Germany around 1940.
 Present Status

• Very large Capacity Turbo-machinery.

• All kinds of fluids are being used as working fluids.
• Very High Efficiency….
• What Next?
 History Repeats Itself

• Micro-fans/pumps for cooling of Electronics.

• Pico Steam/gas Power Plants for
Computers/Laptops/Notebooks.
• Distributed Energy Systems
• Micro and Pico Renewable Energy Systems.
 Pico Hydel Plant

Comparative Study of Original Design and that of R&D

Picture 1: With Dr BK Saha I A S Picture 2:With native Villagers

Place: River “SAJNAM” in Village Bhailoni Lodh,Lalitpur,Uttar Pradesh, India

Mangal Turbine (Old design) New Turbine (Design I) (CIMMYT-

(Farmers Version) RWC)
 MEL346 : Syllabus
• Introduction: turbomachinery / history / types / classification
• Thermodynamics and fluid mechanics of turbomachinery;
• Mass, momentum and energy based Analysis.
• Velocity vectors, Euler turbine equations
• Hydraulic turbines
• Pumps
• Gas turbines and the Brayton cycle
• Axial flow turbines and compressors: theory and design
• Vortex flow, blade design, performance & losses
• Steam turbines and the Rankine cycle
• Nuclear vs. fossil fuel steam turbines
• Wind Turbines
• Micro Turbines
 References

• Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery : S.L.

Dixon,
• Principles of Turbomachinery: R.K. TURTON
• Handbook of Turbomachinery: edited by Earl Logan, Jr. &
Ramendra Roy
• The Design of High-Efficiency Turbomachinery and Gas
Turbines – David G Wilson & T Korakianitis.
• Principles of Turbomachinery in Air Breathing Engines – E A
Baskharone.
• Steam Turbines for Modern Fossil-Fuel Power Plants; Alexander
S Leyzerovich
 Laboratory Sessions

• Only Three Laboratory Sessions.

• Not more than 25 per session.
• To be registered by today 5.00pm.
• Monday: 2.00pm to 4.00pm/3.00pm to 5.00pm
• Wednesday: 2.00pm to 4.00pm/3.00pm to 5.00pm
• Thursday/Friday: 2.00pm to 4.00pm/3.00pm to
5.00pm