Sir Charles Algernon Parsons The Portsmouth Connection 0905 Andrew Strang.pdf · Sir Charles Algernon Parsons The Portsmouth Connection ... advised Clyde shipbuilders on the design

Sir Charles Algernon Parsons

The Portsmouth Connection

Prof A Strang University of Leicester

1st

PITC

First Parsons International Turbine

Conference

Trinity College, Dublin

June 1984

2nd

PITC

Materials Development in Turbo-Machinery

Design

Churchill College, Cambridge

1988

3rd

PITC

Materials Engineering in Turbines and

Compressors

Newcastle - on - Tyne

April 1995

4th

PITC

Advances in Turbine Materials, Design and

Manufacturing

Newcastle - on - Tyne

November 1997

5th

PITC

Advanced Materials for 21st Century Turbines

and Power Plant

Churchill College, Cambridge

July 2000

6th

PITC

Engineering Issues in Turbine Machinery,

Power Plant and Renewables

Trinity College, Dublin

September 2003

7th

PITC

Power Generation in a Era of Climate Change University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

September 2007

8th

PITC

Turbo-Machinery for Power Generation and

Propulsion

University of Portsmouth

September 2011

Parsons International Turbine

Conferences 1984-2011

Birr Castle, Ireland

family seat of the

3rd Earl of Rosse

• Charles Parsons was born in London on 13th June 1854.

• He was the youngest son of William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, a Victorian scientist and astronomer, famed for his researches on the structure of nebulas.

• At Birr Castle. William Parsons designed and built a 72 inch astronomical telescope in his extensive workshops.

• This was the world’s largest telescope until the early 20th

century.

• Charles was tutored at Birr by some of the most pre-eminent men of his day and gained a wide range of practical engineering skills in the Earl’s workshops

William Parsons 1800-1867

Birr Castle

The Earl’s Workshops

The 72 inch Telescope - 1845

Wm Parsons’

1845 sketch of

the Whirlpool

Galaxy - M51

• Charles Parsons’ formal education began

at Trinity College in 1871 where he studied

mathematics, German and the mandatory

course in arts.

• In 1873 he proceeded to St John’s College,

Cambridge and read for the Mathematical

Tripos, as well as attending lectures in

dynamics and applied mechanics, graduating

in 1877.

• The 1st and 2nd Parsons Turbine Conferences

were held at Trinity College , Dublin and

Churchill College, Cambridge in 1984 and

1988 respectively with the 5th and 6th

returning to Cambridge in 2000 and Dublin

in 2003

• Parsons also built Cambridge’s first public

electricity supply in 1892 supplying three

100kW radial flow turbo-alternators, which

were the first to be fitted with condensers.

Trinity College, Dublin

St John’s College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Dublin

St John’s College, Cambridge

Armstrong’s, Kitson’s and

Clarke Chapman’s

• After Cambridge Parsons spent three

years as an apprentice engineer at Sir

William Armstrong and Company’s

Elswick Works in Newcastle-on-Tyne.

• In 1881 he joined the experimental staff

at Sir James Kitson’s in Leeds where he

worked on rocket powered torpedoes

• In 1884 he returned to Newcastle and

joined Clarke Chapman as a junior

partner and head of electrical equipment

development.

• It was there that he designed, patented

and built the world’s first commercial

axial-flow steam turbo-generator.

Sir William Armstrong and Co’s Elswick Works

Sir James Kitson’s Airedale Foundry

C A Parsons and Co’s

First Power Stations

• 1889 - C A Parsons and Co’s Heaton Works

established for the manufacture of land-based

radial-flow steam turbo-generators

• 1890 - Newcastle and District Light Co Ltd

Forth Banks Power Station

two 75kW Parsons axial-flow turbo- alternators

Clarke Chapman and C A Parsons and Co,

Condensers fitted in 1892

• 1892 - Cambridge Electric Supply Co Ltd

three 100kW radial-flow turbo-alternators

with condensers

• 1893 - Scarborough Electric Light Co

two 120kW radial-flow turbo-alternators

with condensers

• 1894 - Portsmouth Town Council

one 150kW radial-flow turbo-alternator

with condenser

• 1895 - Metropolitan Electric Supply Co

one 350kw axial-flow turbo-alternator

with condenser

75 KW Parsons axial-flow turbines at

Forth Banks Power Station, Newcastle - on - Tyne

Turbo-alternator Erection Shop - Heaton Works 1896

Parsons Branches into

Marine Engineering• 1894 - Marine Steam Turbine

Company founded at Wallsend-on-Tyne to test the application of steam-turbines for marine propulsion

• 1897 - marine turbine propulsion

validated by Turbinia’s performance at the Spithead Fleet Review

• 1897 - Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co. Ltd. Turbinia Works, opened for manufacture of marine steam turbines for naval and merchant shipping

• With factories at Heaton and Wallsend Parsons established Tyneside as the birthplace and cradle of the world’s steam turbine industry

• The 3rd and 4th Parsons Turbine Conferences were therefore held in Newcastle in April 1995 and November 1997 respectively

Turbinia at speed

PARSONS first

Turbine Steamers

• Parsons acquainted with Glasgow University’s Prof W J M Rankine who advised Clyde shipbuilders on the design of vessels and their engines.

• Parsons formed a partnership with Denny Brothers of Clydebank in 1901 to build the first turbine powered merchant steamer TS King Edward for service on the river Clyde.

• Her sister ship TS Queen Alexandra was built and in service a year later in 1902

• In 1904 Denny Brothers and Fairchild Shipbuilding and Engineering Co became the first British companies to be licensed to build steam turbines at their shipyards at Dumbarton and Govan..

• Parsons’ belief in the quality and reliability of ‘Clyde Built’ ships made Glasgow a most appropriate choice for the 7th Parsons Turbine Conference

Aerial view of Dumbarton showing Denny Brothers

shipbuilding yard with several warships under

construction

TS King Edward (1901)

Parsons Marine Steam

Company Ltd

• The success of Parsons’ first steam

turbine-powered passenger ships,

TS King Edward (1901) and TS Queen

Alexandra (1902) rapidly led to the

company supplying turbines for merchant

ships and large ocean-going passenger

liners.

• Amongst the most notable were the RMS

Mauritania (1906) and RMS Titanic

• Time was money and the increased speed

offered by the steam-turbine was

beneficial for trade

TS Queen Alexandra (1902)

RMS Mauritania (1906)

RMS Titanic (1912)

Parsons and the

Portsmouth Connection

• Parsons was very familiar with Portsmouth

and its surroundings having sailed there as a

boy, most summers, aboard his father’s

yacht Titania.

• He also visited shipyards in the area as well

as being shown over the Royal Navy’s latest

steam powered warships

• In June 1894 Portsmouth was the first

Municipal Corporation to open its own

power generating station with one Parsons

150kW radial-flow steam turbo-alternator

and two 212kW Ferranti alternators

coupled to slow-speed reciprocating engines

• In 1897 Parsons raced Turbinia at 35 knots

between the lines of the assembled ships of

the world’s navies celebrating Queen

Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

Parsons’150kW radial-flow turbo-alternator

in Portsmouth’s Power Station (1894)

Parsons’ father’s yacht Titania

Plan of the Fleet at Spithead in June 1897

Celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

Parsons drives Turbinia at 35 Knots through the

assembled Fleet at the 1897 Spithead Naval Review

The Royal Navy takes Notice• Following the 1897 Fleet Review Parsons built two turbine -

powered destroyer torpedo boats, HMS Cobra (1899) and

HMS Viper (1900) both lost in 1901.

• Despite this the Navy commissioned torpedo boat destroyers

HMS Velox (1903), HMS Eden (1904) and a light cruiser

HMS Amethyst (1905) all of which performed well.

HMS Cobra - 1899

HMS Velox - 1903

HMS Viper - 1900

HMS Eden - 1904

HMS Amethyst - 1905

Admiral of the Fleet

Sir John A Fisher

• In 1904 Admiral Sir John Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord. He recognised the importance of Parsons’ invention and decided to build a new class of turbine-powered battleships.

• HMS Dreadnought, the world’s first turbine powered battleship was built and commissioned at HM Dockyard on 2nd December 1906.

• The 18,120 ton battleship was powered by 4 shaft Parsons direct drive turbines designed to achieve 21knots

• Between 1906 and 1917 Fisher had built 35 turbine-powered Dreadnoughts, twelve of them at Portsmouth.

• At the 1914 Spithead review the majority of most important ships present belonging to the navies of the world’s major powers were steam turbine driven.

Admiral of the Fleet

Sir J A Fisher

HMS Dreadnought – commissioned 2nd December 1906

HMS Dreadnought laid down

2nd October 1905

Conclusions

Parsons conferences have always been held at venues closely associated with his life and works. Dublin (1984 and 2003), Cambridge (1988 and 2000), Newcastle-on-Tyne (1995 and 1997), Glasgow 2007 and now Portsmouth.

Portsmouth because of,

• Parsons’ familiarity with the Solent, shipyards and surrounding area during family holidays

• Supplying turbo-generators for Portsmouth Municipal Power Station in 1894

• The dramatic demonstration of the power of the steam turbine for marine propulsion at the 1897 Spithead Fleet Review celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

• His part in the world’s first steam turbine powered battleship HMS Dreadnought being built and commissioned in 1906 at Her Majesty’s Royal Dockyard

• The Royal Navy finally embracing the steam turbine for the propulsion of all of her major warships for the next 50 years

Finally in my view Portsmouth’s credentials as a suitable venue for PARSONS 2011 are proven and beyond dispute.

My thanks for your attention