The history of steam turbines and gas turbines

Summary

The development of steam turbines and gas turbines is closely linked, both historically and technically. Modern gas generator compressors, turbines, and power-extraction turbines look very similar to steam turbines, especially the reaction type, albeit with reversed flow in compressors.

Historically, the idea for both turbines emerged simultaneously:

• 1791: John Barber patented a concept similar to a gas turbine, using gas from heated coal mixed with air, compressed, and burned to drive turbine blades.

• Even earlier, visionaries like Hero of Alexandria (130 BC), Leonardo da Vinci (1550), and Giovanni Branca (1629) had described turbine-like machines, though none were built.

Over the 19th century, several inventors proposed improvements, though none were immediately successful:

• 1808: John Dumball suggested a multi-stage turbine but omitted stationary blades needed to guide airflow.

• 1837: Bresson proposed pressurizing air with a fan, burning it with gas, cooling, and driving turbine blades—ideas that foreshadowed modern air cooling.

• 1850: Fernimough envisioned mixing steam and gas for a turbine, anticipating water injection techniques.

• 1872: Dr. Franz Stolze designed the first axial compressor driven by an axial turbine; he built and tested it between 1900–1904 but it didn’t run successfully.

The breakthrough came at the end of the 19th century:

• 1884: Sir Charles Parsons patented a successful reaction steam turbine (and a gas turbine).

• 1888: Charles de Laval applied Branca’s impulse turbine concept to create a working steam turbine.

• 1895–1896: Variations on impulse turbines by August Rateau, Charles Curtis, and Dr. Zoelly led to further advances.

By 1903, Rene Armengaud and Charles Lemale successfully built a gas turbine using a Rateau rotary compressor and Curtis steam turbine, marking a real step forward in gas turbine development.

These efforts illustrate how knowledge and experience from steam turbines directly influenced the practical realization and improvement of gas turbines, transforming earlier ideas into functional machines by the early 20th century.