Abstract
IN his inaugural address as chairman of the North-Eastern Centre of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Mr. C. Turnbull gave interesting reminiscences of some of the initial difficulties Sir Charles Parsons met in perfecting the steam turbine. His experiments with early forms of the turbine were in entirely new and unexplored regions of engineering. Everything had to be found out. Steel discs were run under stresses that no one could calculate and no one knew whether they were safe or not. The early high-speed turbines ran at 4,800 revolutions a minute. But thanks to the wonderful care always taken at Parsons's works, accidents were very rare. When driving dynamos at high speeds, the armature reaction caused great difficulty. Several solutions were adopted for turbo-alternators. In one way the brushes were moved automatically with the load by steam pressure and the variation of the strength of the field was counteracted by special windings. A further difficulty was that owing to the springing of the shaft, the connexions between the armature and the commutator used to give trouble. This was overcome by the use of flexible connectors, a device first proposed by Parsons. It has proved of the greatest value. Details are given of the famous Turbinia and the heartbreaking experiences with the destroyers Viper and Cobra. Mr. Turnbull tells how Parsons refused to give up and how his perseverance ultimately led to success. Another great invention that came from Parsons's works was the invention of means for balancing high-speed machinery. The early days of the steam turbine were hard days and the labour expended seemed to lead to nothing. At one time it was doubtful if the steam turbine would ever become practical. The story of Parsons's life should prove very encouraging to young and old inventors.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Early Days of the Turbine. Nature 131, 20 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131020b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131020b0