1791 First patent for a gas turbine (John Barber, United Kingdom)
1904 Unsuccessful gas turbine project by Franz Stolze in Berlin (first axial compressor)
1906 GT by Armengaud Lemale in France (centrifugal compressor, no useful power)
1910 First GT featuring intermittent combustion (Holzwarth, 150 kW, constant volume combustion)
1923 First exhaust-gas turbocharger to increase the power of diesel engines
1939 World’s first gas turbine for power generation (Brown Boveri Company), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
(velox burner, aerodynamics by Stodola)
GT Neuchatel operated for 63 years (generator failure in 2002) [picture courtesy of ASME]
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“In its present state … the gas turbine engine could hardly be considered a feasible application to airplanes mainly because of the difficulty in complying with stringent weight requirements imposed by aeronautics.”
The world’s first aircraft to fly purely on turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178.
“Whittle … stressed the great simplicity of his engine. Hives [Director of Rolls Royce] commented, ‘We’ll soon design the bloody simplicity out of it.’ ” [From Genesis of the Jet]
1904 Unsuccessful gas turbine project by Franz Stolze in Berlin (first axial compressor)
1906 GT by Armengaud Lemale in France (centrifugal compressor, no useful power)
1910 First GT featuring intermittent combustion (Holzwarth, 150 kW, constant volume combustion)
1923 First exhaust-gas turbocharger to increase the power of diesel engines
1939 World’s first gas turbine for power generation (Brown Boveri Company), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
(velox burner, aerodynamics by Stodola)
The man behind the early steam and gas turbine
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Prof. Aurel Stodola (1859-1942) | Final Grade report at ETH Zurich: GPA = 6 (A+) |
Seminal work by Stodola
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English Translation of | One-dimensional treatment – |
World’s first industrial gas turbine – 1939
From the paper collection of Eddie Taylor, the first director of MIT GTL (1947–1969)
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Commissioning of world’s first industrial gas turbine, Neuchatel, 1939 (Stodola at age 80) | Drawing of first gas turbine |
World’s first industrial gas turbine “Neuchatel”, 2007
ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in Birr, Switzerland (ALSTOM Headquarters)GT Neuchatel operated for 63 years (generator failure in 2002) [picture courtesy of ASME]
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No future for aircraft gas turbine engines...
National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Gas Turbines (June 1940):“In its present state … the gas turbine engine could hardly be considered a feasible application to airplanes mainly because of the difficulty in complying with stringent weight requirements imposed by aeronautics.”
But two people insisted and asked the right questions…
Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain
First turbojet-powered aircraft – Ohain’s engine on He 178
The world’s first aircraft to fly purely on turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178.
Its first true flight was on 27 August, 1939.
First Patent by Whittle for Turbojet Engine in 1930
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Whittle W-1 (1941) | Rolls-Royce Trent |
“Whittle … stressed the great simplicity of his engine. Hives [Director of Rolls Royce] commented, ‘We’ll soon design the bloody simplicity out of it.’ ” [From Genesis of the Jet]
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