Gas turbine locomotive - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about gas turbine locomotives with mechanical transmission

A Gas turbine locomotive is a locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

Gas turbine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....

. The majority of gas turbine locomotives have had electric transmission but mechanical transmission has also been used, particularly in the early days. The advantage of using gas turbines is that they have very high power-to-bulk and power-to-weight ratio

Power-to-weight ratio

Power-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power sources...

s. The disadvantage is that gas turbines generally have lower thermal efficiency

Thermal efficiency

In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...

than diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s, especially when running at less than full load.

Overview

Where electric transmission is used, the engine is usually a single-shaft machine in which one turbine drives both the compressor and the output shaft.

With mechanical transmission, the power turbine must be capable of starting from rest, so a more complex arrangement is necessary. One option is a two-shaft machine, with separate turbines to drive the compressor and the output shaft. Another is to use a separate gas generator, which may be of either rotary or piston type.

Examples

Examples of gas turbine-mechanical locomotives:

1933 Nydqvist and Holm
NOHAB
NOHAB was a manufacturing company in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer of turbines for hydraulic power plants...

, 1-B-1, Sweden
1952 Davenport-Bessler Corp.
Davenport Locomotive Works
The Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, Iowa, USA built locomotives from 1902 until 1956. The company acquired the locomotive business of H. K...

, 1-B-1, United States
1951 Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

, France, B-B, 1000 hp
1954 Gotaverken
Kværner
Kværner was a Norway-based engineering and construction services company in existence between 1853 and 2005 when it was merged with Aker ASA. The Kværner name was used in the subsidiary Aker Kværner until April 3, 2008 when it changed name to Aker Solutions. Kværner re-emerged on 6...

, Sweden, 1-C-1, 1300 hp
1958 Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

, France, C-C, 2000 hp
1958 Škoda
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...

, C-C, Czechoslovakia, 3200 hp
1959 British Rail GT3
British Rail GT3
-External links:* http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Pages%20Loco/Recognition%20loco/Illus_GT3.html* http://www.enuii.com/vulcan_foundry/oddities/gt3.htm* http://www.enuii.com/vulcan_foundry/magazine/Vol5_no8_1961/page_37_s.jpg...

, 2-C-0, 2700 hp

History

See Gas turbine

Gas turbine

for the early history of gas turbine development.

Work leading to the emergence of the gas turbine locomotive began in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

in the 1920s but the first locomotive did not appear until 1933. These early experiments used piston engines as gas generators. This idea has not been widely adopted, but it might be worth re-visiting. High fuel consumption was a major factor in the decline of conventional gas-turbine locomotives and the use of a piston engine as a gas generator would probably give better fuel economy than a turbine-type compressor, especially when running at less than full load.

France

The locomotives were built by Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

and had Pescara

Raúl Pateras Pescara

Raúl Pateras Pescara de Castelluccio , marquis of Pateras-Pescara, was an Argentine lawyer and inventor specializing in seaplanes and helicopters, as well as motors, compressors, and the Pescara free-piston engine.-Biography:At the beginning of the 20th century, his family returned from Buenos...

free-piston engine

Free-piston engine

A free-piston engine is a linear, 'crankless' internal combustion engine, in which the piston motion is not controlled by a crankshaft but determined by the interaction of forces from the combustion chamber gases, a rebound device and a load device A free-piston engine is a linear, 'crankless'...

s as gas generators. Each gas generator consisted of a horizontal, single cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

with opposed pistons. It had no crankshaft and the pistons were returned after each power stroke by compression and expansion of air in a separate cylinder. The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas-turbine which drove the wheels through a two-speed gearbox and propeller shafts.

Czechoslovakia

Turbine power was considered for railway traction in the former Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

. Two turbine-powered prototypes were built, designated TL 659.001 and .002, featuring C-C wheel arrangement, 3200 hp (2.4 MW) main turbine, helper turbine and Tatra 111 helper diesel engine. The first prototype was finished in February 1958 and was scheduled to be exhibited at Expo '58

Expo '58

Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World’s Fair, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling or Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles, was held from 17 April to 19 October 1958...

. This was aborted, because it wasn't ready in time. The first out-of-factory tests were conducted in March 1959 on the Plzeň–Cheb

Cheb

Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...

–Sokolov

Sokolov (Sokolov District)

Sokolov , Falknov nad Ohří until 1948 is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, located to the north-east of Cheb. It has about 28,000 inhabitants....

line. On May 15, 1959, the first prototype pulled its heaviest train, 6486 metric tons, but the turbine caught fire only a day later. The engine was never restored and eventually scrapped. The second prototype was built with lessons learned from the first prototype. It left the factory in March 1960 and was the only turbine locomotive to pass the tests for regular service on tracks of the former ČSD

CSD

CSD may refer to:*Cali Swag District*California School for the Deaf*Cambridge Structural Database*Canonical signed digit*Canteen Stores Department *Canteen Stores Department *Carbonated Soft Drink*Cat scratch disease...

. This engine was tried near Kolín

Kolín

Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...

and Plzeň with mixed results. This engine was taken out of service in April 1966 and sold to University of Žilina

University of Žilina

Žilinská univerzita is a modern university providing a full range of technological, economics, management and a limited range of humanistic and natural science education at under-graduate, graduate and post-graduate levels in Žilina, Slovakia.University has been formerly known as University of...

as an educational instrument. The locomotive was scrapped some time later.

Although these experiments had mixed results, they were the most powerful locomotives with purely mechanical powertrain in the world and also the most powerful independent-traction locomotives in Czechoslovakia.

Sweden

The Power gas locomotive was built by Gotaverken

Kværner

Kværner was a Norway-based engineering and construction services company in existence between 1853 and 2005 when it was merged with Aker ASA. The Kværner name was used in the subsidiary Aker Kværner until April 3, 2008 when it changed name to Aker Solutions. Kværner re-emerged on 6...

. It had a vertical, five cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine with opposed pistons. There was a single crankshaft connected to both upper and lower pistons. The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas turbine which drove the wheels through reduction gearing, jack shaft and side rods.

Free-piston engine

The free-piston engine

Free-piston engine

was patented in 1934 by Raul Pateras Pescara

Raúl Pateras Pescara

(1890–1966). He was an Argentinian, who worked in Spain and France, and was prominent in helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

development in the 1919s.

Coal-firing

In the 1940s and 1950s research was done, in both the USA and UK, aimed at building gas turbine locomotives which could run on pulverized coal. The main problem was to avoid erosion of the turbine blades by particles of ash. Some bench testing was done but the projects were abandoned before any complete locomotives were built. The sources for the following information are Robertson and Sampson.

USA

In the USA, the plan was to use a gas turbine similar to an oil-fuelled one and to remove ash particles with filters. Details of the US research (done in 1946) were passed to Britain's London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

UK

On 23 December 1952 the UK Ministry of Fuel and Power placed an order for a coal-fired gas turbine locomotive to be used on British Railways. The locomotive was to be built by the North British Locomotive Company

North British Locomotive Company

The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...

and the turbine would be supplied by C. A. Parsons and Company

C. A. Parsons and Company

C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside.-History:The Company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce turbo-generators, his own invention. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the company was producing...

.

According to Sampson, the plan was to use indirect heating. The pulverized coal would be burned in a combustion chamber

Combustion chamber

A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...

and the hot gases passed to a heat exchanger

Recuperator

A recuperator is a special purpose counter-flow energy recovery heat exchanger positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling system, or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, in order to recover the waste heat...

. Here, the heat would be transferred to a separate body of compressed air which would power the turbine. Essentially, it would have been a hot air engine

Hot air engine

A hot air engine is any heat engine which uses the expansion and contraction of air under the influence of a temperature change to convert thermal energy into mechanical work...

using a turbine instead of a piston.

Robertson shows a diagram which confirms Sampson's information but also refers to problems with erosion of turbine blades by ash. This is strange because, with a conventional shell and tube heat exchanger

Shell and tube heat exchanger

A shell and tube heat exchanger is a class of heat exchanger designs. It is the most common type of heat exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for higher-pressure applications. As its name implies, this type of heat exchanger consists of a shell with a...

, there would be no risk of ash entering the turbine circuit.

Working cycle

There were two separate, but linked, circuits - the combustion circuit and the turbine circuit.

Combustion circuit. Pulverized coal and air were mixed and burned in a combustion chamber and the hot gases passed to a heat exchanger where heat was transferred to the compressed air in the turbine circuit. After leaving the heat exchanger the combustion gases entered a boiler to generate steam for train heating.
Turbine circuit. Air entered the compressor and was compressed. The compressed air passed to the heat exchanger where it was heated by the combustion gases. The heated compressed air drove two turbines - one to drive the compressor and the other to power the locomotive. The turbine exhaust (which was hot air) then entered the combustion chamber to support the combustion.

Specification

The locomotive was never built but the specification was as follows:

Wheel arrangement: C-C, later changed to 1A1A-A1A1
Horsepower: 1,800, later reduced to 1,500
Weight: 117 tons, later increased to 150 tons

The projected output was:

Tractive effort,
- 30000 lbf (133.4 kN) at 72 mi/h
- 45000 lbf (200.2 kN) at 50 mi/h
Thermal efficiency,
- 10% at 1/10 load
- 16% at half load
- 19% at full load

The transmission was to be mechanical, via a two-speed gearbox, giving a high speed for passenger working and a lower speed for freight. The tractive effort figures, quoted above, look suspiciously high for the specified speeds. It seems more likely that the figures quoted are for starting tractive effort and maximum speed in high gear and low gear respectively.

There is a model of the proposed locomotive at Glasgow Museum of Transport

Glasgow Museum of Transport

The Glasgow Museum of Transport in Glasgow, Scotland was established in 1964 and initially located at a former tram depot in Pollokshields. From 1987 the museum was relocated to the city's Kelvin Hall...

and some records are held at the National Railway Museum

National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...

.

The British Rail GT3

British Rail GT3

-External links:* http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Pages%20Loco/Recognition%20loco/Illus_GT3.html* http://www.enuii.com/vulcan_foundry/oddities/gt3.htm* http://www.enuii.com/vulcan_foundry/magazine/Vol5_no8_1961/page_37_s.jpg...

was a much simpler machine consisting essentially of a standard oil-fired gas turbine mounted on a standard steam locomotive chassis, built as a demonstrator by English Electric

English Electric

English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...

in 1961. Its almost crude simplicity enabled it to avoid much of the unreliability which had plagued the complex experimental GTELs 18000

British Rail 18000

British Rail 18000 was a prototype mainline gas turbine-electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1949 by Brown, Boveri & Cie. It had, however, been ordered by the Great Western Railway in 1946, but construction was delayed due to World War II...

and 18100

British Rail 18100

British Rail 18100 was a prototype main line gas turbine-electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1951 by Metropolitan-Vickers, Manchester. It had, however, been ordered by the Great Western Railway in the 1940s, but construction was delayed due to World War II...

in earlier years, but it nevertheless failed to be competitive against conventional traction and was scrapped.

Sources

The Parsons - North British Coal Burning Gas Turbine Locomotives
Talk at the London Science Museum 12th April 1995 by J.R.Bolter
Copyright the Newcomen Society

External links

Gotaverken Motor AB
French Wikipedia article on the Pescara system
Diagram of a Renault/Pescara locomotive

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.