Japanese researchers come up with smallest gas turbine engine
Here's some good news for the tech and engineering geeks. The smallest gas turbine engine in the world is finally here. The engine being 10cm in diameter and 15cm in length, is small enough to be held in one hand. This is the latest engineering test piece developed at the Tohoku University in Japan.
The research team is led by Shuji Tanaka, who works out of Nano-Precision Mechanical Fabrication Lab. This is the first time that a small engine like this completed it's cycle. This particular turbine device will be the power source of autonomous robots which will be used for disaster management.
Engine details:
The engine constitutes a compressor with a 16mm diameter vane, and also has a turbine vane which is 17mm in diameter. According to the group that developed this piece of work, the rpm clocked between 500,000 - 600,000. I think that's a pretty darn good performance for a tiny engine like that.
The gas powered engines like this one can run for a long time as long as it gets it's fuel supply. The Tohoku group of researchers have been working closely with the IHI, to develop a quiet, lightweight and portable gas powered engine that would run for a long time , once refueled. This is the result of 7 years of work. The research team finally broke the 20mm diameter rotor barrier!
The engine will be revealed to the public at the PowerMEMS 2007 scheduled for November 28-29 in Freiberg, Germany. I think this is an exciting time for the research team.
Image Credits: Pinktentacle, Farestgizmos
