generation-a turbine designer’s perspective

Sir Charles Parsons died some three years afer the author was born. In this paper the author looks back at the pioneering work of Parsons in thejeld of power generation. It shows how he was able to increase output of the steam turbine generator from 7.5 kW in 1884 to 50000 kW in 1930 while increasing efflciency from 1.6 to 36 per cent, and relates these achievements to the current state of the art. Blading design, rotor construction and other aspects of turbine engineering are considered. The conclusion is that Parsons and his associates charted the course which manufacturers and utilities throughout the world have continued to follow, although increasingly sophisticated design and analytical methods have succeeded the intuitive approach of Parsons. His constant search for improved eflciency was and is highly relevant to today’s concern for the environment. Finally, although it did not become a practical proposition in his lifetime, the paper reviews Parsons ’ vision ox and continuing interest in, the gas turbine,first mentioned in his 1884 patents.