Sir Charles Algernon Parsons
The Portsmouth
Connection
Prof A Strang
University of Leicester
Parsons International Turbine
Conferences 1984-2011
1st
PITC
2nd
PITC
3rd
PITC
4th
PITC
5th
PITC
6th
PITC
First Parsons International Turbine
Conference
Materials Development in Turbo-Machinery
Design
Materials Engineering in Turbines and
Compressors
Advances in Turbine Materials, Design and
Manufacturing
Advanced Materials for 21st Century Turbines
and Power Plant
Engineering Issues in Turbine Machinery,
Power Plant and Renewables
Trinity College, Dublin
June 1984
Churchill College, Cambridge
1988
Newcastle - on - Tyne
April 1995
Newcastle - on - Tyne
November 1997
Churchill College, Cambridge
July 2000
Trinity College, Dublin
September 2003
7th
PITC
8th
PITC
Power Generation in a Era of Climate Change
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
September 2007
University of Portsmouth
September 2011
Turbo-Machinery for Power Generation and
Propulsion
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.
•
•
•
Birr Castle
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.
William Parsons 1800-1867
Wm Parsons’
1845 sketch of
the Whirlpool
Galaxy - M51
The Earl’s Workshops
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
The 72 inch Telescope - 1845
Trinity College, Dublin
St John’s College, Cambridge
•
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
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
Turbo-alternator Erection Shop - Heaton Works 1896
75 KW Parsons axial-flow turbines at
Forth Banks Power Station, Newcastle - on - Tyne
Parsons Branches into
Marine Engineering
•
1894 - Marine Steam Turbine
Company founded at Wallsend-onTyne to test the application of steamturbines for marine propulsion
•
1897 - marine turbine propulsion
•
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
validated by Turbinia’s performance
at the Spithead Fleet Review
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
•
RMS Mauritania (1906)
Time was money and the increased speed
offered by the steam-turbine was
beneficial for trade
TS Queen Alexandra (1902)
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’ father’s yacht Titania
Parsons’150kW radial-flow turbo-alternator
in Portsmouth’s Power Station (1894)
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 Viper - 1900
HMS Velox - 1903
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.
HMS Dreadnought laid down
2nd October 1905
Admiral of the Fleet
Sir J A Fisher
HMS Dreadnought – commissioned 2nd December 1906
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