Engines and Turbines
SIC 3510
NAICS 3336
The turbine segment of this industry manufactures turbines powered by steam, hydraulic, gas, wind, and solar energy sources, along with complete steam, gas, and hydraulic turbine generator set units, commonly known as turbogenerators. In the engine segment, the industry includes companies that produce gasoline, diesel, semi-diesel, and other internal combustion engines (ICEs) for such uses as on-site power generation; powering construction equipment; marine applications; and many others. Aircraft and automotive engines are discussed elsewhere; see also Aircraft Manufacturing and Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories.
The most important application of turbines, and to some degree diesel and other ICEs, is to produce electricity for power consumption. There are relatively few manufacturers of turbines and turbogenerators for this purpose worldwide because production requires large amounts of capital. As a result, leading firms in the industry—such as General Electric, Volvo, Siemens, and Caterpillar—are part of the world's largest multinational corporations, many of which are highly diversified across industry lines.
While other energy sources, particularly nuclear, were declining by the mid-2000s, so-called "green" turbines and engines powered by wind and solar energy were coming to the forefront. In 2003, the worldwide wind power industry was valued at approximately US$8 billion, and the solar power industry was valued at US$5 billion. In the United States, renewable energy sources were less than 10 percent of the industry, but were expected to grow throughout the decade.
Most turbines and turbogenerators are made to order, custom-designed to accommodate the specific requirements of a power plant. Equipment is produced in specialized factories that are generally erected and assembled at the power plant sites. While turbines have relatively few parts, their production tolerances—the allowable variations from their original production and assembly specifications—are exacting.
One of the important distinctions between the United States and Japan and Europe is the decentralized nature of electricity production in the United States. In Japan and Europe, power equipment manufacturers, architects, construction firms, utilities managers, and governments typically develop projects on a partnership basis. The U.S. Department of Commerce has argued that, whatever its merits for the domestic operations of U.S. firms, this situation puts them at a decided disadvantage in penetrating the more mediated Japanese and European markets.
This arrangement is coordinated under the International Electrical Association (IEA), an export cartel formed in the 1920s by producers of power generation equipment. The U.S. Justice Department compelled U.S. producers to withdraw from the IEA in the 1930s. Japanese producers were admitted as special members of the IEA in the 1960s. Not surprisingly, the IEA comprises European and Japanese manufacturers of power generating equipment exclusively. The U.S. Department of Commerce contends that the IEA's system of price setting and market allocation has given European and Japanese producers a significant competitive advantage in the markets of the developed countries.
In an effort to improve their competitiveness, U.S. manufacturers have focused on increasing sales to developing countries and on entering into joint ventures with Japanese and European firms. At the same time, U.S. manufacturers have focused research and development efforts on:
smaller plants
combined-cycle gas and steam turbines
pumped-storage hydroelectric systems
high-temperature gas turbines, especially their materials and coatings, and
cogeneration, which harnesses the excess heat or steam produced in industrial processes to make more energy available for consumption at a commercial or industrial site.
Continuing deregulation of U.S. electric utilities in the early 2000s prompted U.S. producers to seek markets overseas, particularly in China and elsewhere in Asia. The European Union market was a difficult one for U.S. producers to penetrate because Europe's nationalized electric utilities most often favor European producers. However, deregulation of electricity markets in some EU countries could provide an opportunity for U.S. turbine producers to further develop small combined-cycle or cogeneration facilities. The best market prospects for U.S. producers in the early 2000s were in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Several large trade organizations serve the turbine industry. The International Gas Turbine Institute of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and publishes the Global Gas Turbine News. The Paris-based International Conference on Large High Voltage Electric Systems was founded in 1921, has 5,300 members and 44 national groups, and publishes the bimonthly Electra in English and French. Other associations serving the industry include the European Commission of Manufacturers of Electrical Installation Equipment and the European Committee of Manufacturers of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, both headquartered in Paris. The latter organization seeks to promote members' interests in accordance with trade agreements associated with the European Union.
The European Committee of Associations of Manufacturers of Internal Combustion Engines was founded in 1963 and is based in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. The organization was established to represent the interests of European diesel engine producers in Europe's emerging collective market. The engine industry is also served by the International Council on Combustion Engines, founded in 1951 and based in Paris. The organization promotes the advancement of technical knowledge regarding internal combustion engines in various ways, including publishing a number of technical papers as part of its biennial Congress Proceedings.
Turbines convert fluid motion into rotary motion, which is harnessed to perform a wide range of work—most notably the production of electricity. The principal types of turbines are defined by the energy source driving their blades. The most important in terms of market share are steam, water, and gas. Turbines generally consist of a number of blades or fins attached to a rotor so that the rotor spins as steam, water, or gas is forced past the blades or fins. Steam turbines may be powered by fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Water turbines are most widely used in hydroelectric dams. According to figures published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), for all countries of the world in 1995, petroleum-based sources accounted for 61.8 percent of electricity produced, nuclear-fueled steam for 16.6 percent, and renewable sources (mostly hydroelectric) for 21.2 percent. By 2015, the EIA predicts that fossil fuels will expand to 67.8 percent of world electricity generation, while nuclear fuel will decline to 10.6 percent and renewables will remain largely unchanged at 21.5 percent. Natural gas will be the fastest-growing fossil fuel source for electrical power generation.
The majority of electrical power is produced by steam turbines from heat generated by fossil fuels or nuclear power. Steam turbines have the capacity to generate a large amount of electrical power in a small space—more than 1.3 million kilowatts from a single rotor. The first steam turbines that saw successful commercial application were developed by American William Avery in the 1830s. About 50 steam turbines of Avery's design were used in sawmills and cotton gins. Although as efficient as piston-driven steam engines in converting fuel to mechanical power, these early steam turbines gradually fell out of use due to their noise and frequent need for repair.
By the early twentieth century, generators driven by steam turbines were the most important producers of electricity in the world. Economies of scale were important in steam turbines, leading to increasingly larger units. By the 1940s, single-turbine units were capable of producing 100,000 kilowatts. Large steam turbines also were important as ship engines. The Lusitania (a British ship later made famous by its sinking during World War I) and its twin the Mauritania, launched in 1906, were driven by fossil-fueled steam turbines generating 68,000 horsepower. Nuclear-fueled military ships in the 1990s were also driven by steam turbines.
Though generally not classified as such, gas turbines are a form of internal combustion engine, with a turbine rather than a piston being driven by a controlled explosion. Gas turbines have an advantage over piston internal combustion engines in that they are able to create more power in less space. Gas turbines consist of a compressor, a combustion chamber, and the turbine itself. Industrial gas turbines are used to drive power generators, pumps, or propellers.
Gas turbines played an increasingly important role in generating power in medium-size plants and, in the early 2000s, in some of the world's largest new power plants. Since water for steam turbines requires several hours to heat, gas turbines provide a compact means to meet the demands of peak-hour...
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