A gas turbine is a complete continuous-flow internal combustion engine in which air is compressed, fuel is burned in the compressed air, and the resulting hot gas expands through a turbine. The turbine drives the compressor and, depending on the design, may also produce thrust, shaft power, or both. The compressor, combustor, and turbine form the gas generator or core of the engine. Gas turbines operate on the Brayton cycle and are used in aircraft propulsion, electric power generation, marine propulsion, industrial machinery, pumps, gas compressors, and some land vehicles. In aircraft, the same basic engine core may be used in turbojets, turbofans, turboprops, and turboshafts. In industrial and marine service, gas turbines are commonly used as shaft-power engines to drive generators, compressors, pumps, or propellers. A gas turbine should not be confused with every turbine driven by hot gas. Devices such as turbochargers and the power-recovery turbines used in turbo-compound engines contain turbines, but they are not themselves gas-turbine engines because they lack their own compressor–combustor–turbine gas-generator core and depend on a separate reciprocating engine as the source of exhaust gas.
Timeline of development
Precursors and early concepts 50: Earliest records of Hero's engine (aeolipile). It most likely served no practical purpose, and was rather more of a curiosity; nonetheless, it demonstrated an important principle of physics that all modern turbine engines rely on. 1000: The "Trotting Horse Lamp" (Chinese: 走马灯, zŏumădēng) was used by the Chinese at lantern fairs as early as the Northern Song dynasty. When the lamp is lit, the heated airflow rises and drives an impeller with horse-riding figures attached on it, whose shadows are then projected onto the outer screen of the lantern. 1500: The Smoke jack was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci: Hot air from a fire rises through a single-stage axial turbine rotor mounted in the exhaust duct of the fireplace and turns the roasting spit by gear-chain connection. 1791: A patent was granted to John Barber, an Englishman, for the first complete gas-turbine design. His design included the main elements of later gas turbines, including air compression, fuel combustion, and expansion of hot gas through a turbine. 1894: Sir Charles Parsons patented the idea of propelling a ship with a steam turbine, and built a demonstration vessel, the Turbinia, easily the fastest vessel afloat at the time. 1899: Charles Gordon Curtis patented the first gas-turbine engine in the US. 1900: Sanford Alexander Moss submitted a thesis on gas turbines. In 1903, Moss became an engineer for General Electric's Steam Turbine Department in Lynn, Massachusetts. While there, he applied some of his concepts in the development of the turbocharger.
Gas turbine development 1903: A Norwegian, Ægidius Elling, built the first gas turbine that was able to produce more power than needed to run its own components. Using rotary compressors and turbines it produced 8 kW (11 hp). 1904: A gas-turbine engine designed by Franz Stolze, based on his earlier 1873 patent application, is built and tested in Berlin. The Stolze gas turbine was too inefficient to sustain its own operation. 1906: The Armengaud–Lemale gas turbine tested in France. This was a relatively large machine which included a 25-stage centrifugal compressor designed by Auguste Rateau and built by the Brown Boveri Company. The gas turbine could sustain its own air compression but was too inefficient to produce useful work. 1910: The first operational Holzwarth gas turbine (pulse combustion) achieves an output of 150 kW (200 hp). Planned output of the machine was 750 kW (1,000 hp), and its efficiency is below that of contemporary reciprocating engines. 1920s The practical theory of gas flow through passages was developed into the more formal (and applicable to turbines) theory of gas flow past airfoils by A. A. Griffith, resulting in the publication in 1926 of An Aerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design. Working testbed designs of axial turbines suitable for driving a propeller were developed by the Royal Aeronautical Establishment. 1930: Having found no interest from the RAF for his idea, Frank Whittle patented the design for a centrifugal gas turbine for jet propulsion. The first successful test run of his engine occurred in England in April 1937. 1932: The Brown Boveri Company of Switzerland starts selling axial compressor and turbine turbosets as part of the turbocharged steam generating Velox boiler. Following the gas-turbine principle, the steam evaporation tubes are arranged within the gas-turbine combustion chamber; the first Velox plant is erected at a French Steel mill in Mondeville, Calvados. 1936: The first constant-flow industrial gas turbine is commissioned by the Brown Boveri Company and goes into service at Sun Oil's Marcus Hook refinery in Pennsylvania, US. 1937: Working proof-of-concept prototype turbojet engine runs in the UK (Frank Whittle's) and Germany (Hans von Ohain's Heinkel HeS 1). Henry Tizard secures UK government funding for further development of Power Jets engine. 1939: The First 4 MW utility power generation gas turbine is built by the Brown Boveri Company for an emergency power station in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft, makes its first flight. 1940: Jendrassik Cs-1, a turboprop engine, made its first bench run. The Cs-1 was designed by Hungarian engineer György Jendrassik, and was intended to power a Hungarian twin-engine heavy fighter, the RMI-1. Work on the Cs-1 stopped in 1941 without the type having powered any aircraft. 1944: Volume production of the Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet begins. The engine-powered operational German jet aircraft included the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter and Arado Ar 234 reconnaissance bomber. 1946: National Gas Turbine Establishment formed from Power Jets and the RAE turbine division to bring together Whittle and Hayne Constant's work. In Beznau, Switzerland the first commercial reheated/recuperated unit generating 27 MW was commissioned. 1947: A Metropolitan Vickers G1 (Gatric) becomes the first marine gas turbine when it completes sea trials on the Royal Navy's M.G.B 2009 vessel. The Gatric was an aeroderivative gas turbine based on the Metropolitan Vickers F2 jet engine. 1995: Siemens becomes the first manufacturer of large electricity producing gas turbines to incorporate single crystal turbine blade technology into their production models, allowing higher operating temperatures and greater efficiency. 2011: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries tests the first >60% efficiency combined cycle gas turbine (the M501J) at its Takasago, Hyōgo, works. 2018: General Electric's 7HA gas turbine at Chubu Electric Power's Nishi-Nagoya power station in Japan was recognized by Guinness World Records after achieving a then-record 63.08% gross combined cycle efficiency. 2020: The General Electric GE9X, a high-bypass turbofan using advanced materials including ceramic matrix composite hot-section components, receives Federal Aviation Administration certification. 2024: Siemens Energy's SGT5-9000HL gas turbine at Keadby 2 Power Station in North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, was recognized by Guinness World Records after achieving 64.18% combined cycle efficiency, making it the world's most efficient combined-cycle power plant as of 2026. 2025: Mitsubishi Power and Georgia Power complete a 50% hydrogen fuel-blend test on an M501GAC gas turbine at Plant McDonough-Atkinson in the United States.
Theory of operation
In the ideal Brayton cycle, the working fluid undergoes four processes: isentropic compression, constant-pressure heat addition, isentropic expansion, and constant-pressure heat rejection. This ideal cycle is used to model gas-turbine engines. In an open-cycle gas turbine, air flows continuously through the compressor, combustor, and turbine; the exhaust is discharged to the surroundings rather than recirculated, so the heat-rejection step is an idealized representation of the exhaust being replaced by fresh intake air. In a real gas turbine, shaft work supplied to the compressor raises the pressure and temperature of the incoming air. Heat is then added in the combustor by burning fuel in the compressed air. The resulting high-temperature gas expands through the turbine, producing work to drive the compressor and, depending on the engine type, additional shaft power or jet thrust. Real compressors, combustors, and turbines depart from the ideal Brayton cycle because of friction, turbulence, pressure losses, heat transfer, and other irreversible effects. Air is taken in by a compressor, which may use an axial, centrifugal, mixed-flow, or combined design. The compressed air is then ducted into the combustor, which may use an annular, can, or can-annular design. The combustor adds heat to the compressed air by burning fuel in the flow, while part of the compressor air is also used for flame control, dilution, and cooling of combustor and turbine components. The resulting hot gas expands through the turbine, which extracts work from the flow. Part of this work drives the compressor; the remaining energy may be used to produce jet thrust, drive a fan, drive a propeller through reduction gearing, or power a rotor, accessory gearbox, industrial load, or electrical generator. The compressor, combustor, and compressor-driving turbine together form the core of the engine, also known as the gas generator, because their output is hot, high-energy gas. If the engine has an additional turbine to drive an industrial generator, helicopter rotor, marine propeller, fan, or other load, a larger share of the flow energy is extracted as shaft work. In some designs, this turbine is mechanically independent of the gas generator and is then called a free power turbine. In a turbofan, the turbine extracts additional work to drive the fan, while some remaining exhaust energy may still contribute to jet thrust. In a turboprop, most of the useful propulsive power is delivered through the propeller; in a typical turboprop engine, the propeller produces roughly 90 percent of the total thrust under sea-level standard-day conditions. In a turbojet engine, only enough energy is extracted from the flow to drive the compressor and other engine components; the remaining gas energy is accelerated through a nozzle to provide the jet that propels the aircraft. The smaller the engine, the higher the rotation rate of the shaft must be to attain the required blade tip speed. Blade-tip speed is one of the factors that affects the pressure ratios that can be obtained by the turbine and the compressor, along with blade aerodynamics, stage count, material limits, and component efficiency. These factors affect the maximum power and efficiency that can be obtained by the engine. For the tip speed to remain constant, if the diameter of a rotor is reduced by half, the rotational speed must double. For example, large jet engines operate around 10,000–25,000 rpm, while micro turbines may spin as fast as 500,000 rpm. Mechanically, gas turbines can be less complex than some reciprocating engines, because a simple gas turbine may have one main rotating assembly, the compressor/shaft/turbine rotor, with other moving parts in the fuel and accessory systems. This can reduce manufacturing costs in some cases. For instance, costing 10,000 ℛℳ for materials, the Jumo 004 proved cheaper than the Junkers 213 piston engine, which was 35,000 ℛℳ, and needed only 375 hours of lower-skill labor to complete (including manufacture, assembly, and shipping), compared to 1,400 for the BMW 801. This, however, came with poor efficiency and reliability in early production turbojets. The low moving-part count of a simple gas turbine does not necessarily make it easier to manufacture than a simple piston engine. Gas turbines operate at high rotational speeds and high gas temperatures, and their compressors and turbines require precise blade shapes, small clearances, careful rotor balance, and heat-resistant materials. More advanced gas turbines, such as modern turbofan engines or combined-cycle power-plant turbines, may have two or three shafts (spools), many rows of compressor and turbine blades, variable stator vanes, and extensive fuel, oil, air, cooling, and control systems. For example, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a three-shaft turbofan with separate low-, intermediate-, and high-pressure systems, an 8-stage intermediate-pressure compressor, a 6-stage high-pressure compressor, single-stage high-pressure turbine, 2-stage intermediate-pressure turbine, 6-stage low-pressure turbine, and dual-channel FADEC. A major advantage of gas-turbine engines, especially in aircraft and other applications requiring high sustained power, is their high power-to-weight ratio. The Federal Aviation Administration notes that turboprop engines develop more power per pound of weight than reciprocating engines in the 180–350 mph cruise-speed range. Because significant useful work can be generated by a relatively lightweight engine, gas turbines are well-suited to aircraft that require high power output, high speed, or sustained operation at altitude. Thrust bearings and journal bearings are a critical part of a design. They are hydrodynamic oil bearings or oil-cooled rolling-element bearings. Foil bearings are used in some small machines such as micro turbines and also have strong potential for use in small gas turbines/auxiliary power units.
Creep A major challenge facing turbine design, especially turbine blades, is reducing the creep that is induced by the high temperatures and stresses that are experienced during operation. Higher operating temperatures are continuously sought in order to increase efficiency, but come at the cost of higher creep rates. Several methods have therefore been employed in an attempt to achieve optimal performance while limiting creep, with the most successful ones being high performance coatings and single crystal superalloys. These technologies work by limiting deformation that occurs by mechanisms that can be broadly classified as dislocation glide, dislocation climb and diffusional flow. Protective coatings provide thermal insulation of the blade and offer oxidation and corrosion resistance. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are often stabilized zirconium dioxide-based ceramics, and oxidation/corrosion resistant coatings (bond coats) typically consist of aluminides or MCrAlY (where M is typically Fe and/or Cr) alloys. Using TBCs limits the temperature exposure of the superalloy substrate, thereby decreasing the diffusivity of the active species (typically vacancies) within the alloy and reducing dislocation and vacancy creep. It has been found that a coating of 1–200 μm can decrease blade temperatures by up to 200 °C (392 °F). Bond coats are directly applied onto the surface of the substrate using pack carburization and serve the dual purpose of providing improved adherence for the TBC and oxidation resistance for the substrate. The Al from the bond coats forms Al2O3 on the TBC-bond coat interface, which provides the oxidation resistance, but also results in the formation of an undesirable interdiffusion (ID) zone between itself and the substrate.. The oxidation resistance outweighs the drawbacks associated with the ID zone as it increases the lifetime of the blade and limits the efficiency losses caused by a buildup on the outside of the blades. Nickel-based superalloys boast improved strength and creep resistance due to their composition and resultant microstructure. The gamma (γ) FCC nickel is alloyed with aluminum and titanium in order to precipitate a uniform dispersion of the coherent Ni3(Al,Ti) gamma-prime (γ') phases. The finely dispersed γ' precipitates impede dislocation motion and introduce a threshold stress, increasing the stress required for the onset of creep. Furthermore, γ' is an ordered L12 phase that makes it harder for dislocations to shear past it. Further Refractory elements such as rhenium and ruthenium can be added in solid solution to improve creep strength. The addition of these elements reduces the diffusion of the gamma prime phase, thus preserving the fatigue resistance, strength, and creep resistance. The development of single-crystal superalloys has led to significant improvements in creep resistance as well. Due to the lack of grain boundaries, single crystals eliminate Coble creep and consequently deform by fewer modes – decreasing the creep rate. Although single crystals have lower creep at high temperatures, they have significantly lower yield stresses at room temperature, where strength is determined by the Hall–Petch relationship. Care needs to be taken in order to optimize the design parameters to limit high-temperature creep while not decreasing low-temperature yield strength.
Types
Jet engines
Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from the exhaust gases, or from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines. Jet engines that produce thrust from the direct impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets. While still in service with many militaries and civilian operators, turbojets have mostly been phased out in favor of the turbofan engine due to the turbojet's low fuel efficiency and high noise. Those that generate thrust with the addition of a ducted fan are called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets. These engines produce nearly 80% of their thrust by the ducted fan, which can be seen from the front of the engine. They come in two types, low-bypass turbofan and high bypass, the difference being the amount of air moved by the fan, called "bypass air". These engines offer the benefit of more thrust without extra fuel consumption.
Turboprop engines
A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear to translate high turbine section operating speed (often in the 10s of thousands) into low thousands necessary for efficient propeller operation. The benefit of using the turboprop engine is to take advantage of the turbine engine's high power-to-weight ratio to drive a propeller, thus allowing a more powerful, but also smaller engine to be used. Turboprop engines are used on a wide range of business aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-12, commuter aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900, and small cargo aircraft such as the Cessna 208 Caravan or De Havilland Canada Dash 8, and large aircraft (typically military) such as the Airbus A400M transport, Lockheed AC-130 and Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber. While military turboprop engines can vary, in the civilian market there are two primary engines to be found: the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6, a free-turbine turboshaft engine, and the Honeywell TPE331, a fixed turbine engine (formerly designated as the Garrett AiResearch 331).
Aeroderivative gas turbines
Aeroderivative gas turbines are generally based on existing aircraft gas-turbine engines and are smaller and lighter than industrial gas turbines. Aeroderivatives are used in electrical power generation due to their ability to be shut down and handle load changes more quickly than industrial machines. They are also used in the marine industry to reduce weight. Common types include the General Electric LM2500, General Electric LM6000, and aeroderivative versions of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000, Pratt & Whitney FT4 and Rolls-Royce RB211. Aeroderivatives may also be conversions of operating aircraft engines. FTAI Aviation in 2026 announced plans to rebuild 100 CFM International CFM56 annually into 25-megawatt power turbines.
Amateur gas turbines Increasing numbers of gas turbines are being used or even constructed by amateurs. In its most straightforward form, these are commercial turbines acquired through military surplus or scrapyard sales, then operated for display as part of the hobby of engine collecting. In its most extreme form, amateurs have even rebuilt engines beyond professional repair and then used them to compete for the land speed record. The simplest form of self-constructed gas turbine employs an automotive turbocharger as the core component. A combustion chamber is fabricated and plumbed between the compressor and turbine sections. More sophisticated turbojets are also built, where their thrust and light weight are sufficient to power large model aircraft. The Schreckling design constructs the entire engine from raw materials, including the fabrication of a centrifugal compressor wheel from plywood, epoxy and wrapped carbon fibre strands. Several small companies now manufacture small turbines and parts for the amateur. Most turbojet-powered model aircraft are now using these commercial and semi-commercial microturbines, rather than a Schreckling-like home-build.
Auxiliary power units Small gas turbines are used as auxiliary power units (APUs) to supply auxiliary power to larger, mobile machines such as an aircraft, and are a turboshaft design. They supply:
compressed air for air-cycle-machine-style air conditioning and ventilation, compressed-air start-up power for larger jet engines, mechanical (shaft) power to a gearbox to drive shafted accessories, and electrical, hydraulic, and other power-transmission sources to consuming devices remote from the APU.
Industrial gas turbines for power generation
Industrial gas turbines differ from aeronautical designs in that the frames, bearings, and blading are of heavier construction. They are also much more closely integrated with the devices they power—often an electric generator—and the secondary-energy equipment that is used to recover residual energy (largely heat). They range in size from portable mobile plants to large, complex systems weighing more than a hundred tonnes housed in purpose-built buildings. When the gas turbine is used solely for shaft power, its thermal efficiency is about 30%. However, it may be cheaper to buy electricity than to generate it. Therefore, many engines are used in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) configurations that can be small enough to be integrated into portable container configurations. Gas turbines can be particularly efficient when waste heat from the turbine is recovered by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration. The 605 MW General Electric 9HA achieved a 62.22% efficiency rate with temperatures as high as 1,540 °C (2,800 °F). For 2018, GE offers its 826 MW HA at over 64% efficiency in combined cycle due to advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs, up from 63.7% in 2017 orders and on track to achieve 65% by the early 2020s. In March 2018, GE Power achieved a 63.08% gross efficiency for its 7HA turbine. Aeroderivative gas turbines can also be used in combined cycles, leading to a higher efficiency, but it will not be as high as a specifically designed industrial gas turbine. They can also be run in a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption chiller for cooling the inlet air and increasing the power output, a technology known as turbine inlet air cooling. Another significant advantage is their ability to be turned on and off within minutes, supplying power during peak or unscheduled demand. Since single-cycle (gas turbine only) power plants are less efficient than combined cycle plants, they are usually used as peaking power plants, which operate anywhere from several hours per day to a few dozen hours per year—depending on the electricity demand and the generating capacity of the region. In areas with a shortage of base-load and load following power plant capacity or with low fuel costs, a gas-turbine power plant may regularly operate most hours of the day. A large single-cycle gas turbine typically produces 100 to 400 megawatts of electric power and has 35–40% thermodynamic efficiency.
Industrial gas turbines for mechanical drive Industrial gas turbines that are used solely for mechanical drive or used in collaboration with a recovery steam generator differ from power generating sets in that they are often smaller and feature a dual shaft design as opposed to a single shaft. The power range varies from 1 megawatt up to 50 megawatts. These engines are connected directly or via a gearbox to either a pump or compressor assembly. The majority of installations are used within the oil and gas industries. Mechanical drive applications increase efficiency by around 2%. Oil and gas platforms require these engines to drive compressors to inject gas into the wells to force oil up via another bore, or to compress the gas for transportation. They are also often used to provide power for the platform. These platforms do not need to use the engine in collaboration with a CHP system due to getting the gas at an extremely reduced cost (often free from burn off gas). The same companies use pump sets to drive the fluids to land and across pipelines in various intervals.
Compressed-air energy storage
One modern development seeks to improve efficiency in another way, by separating the compressor and the turbine with a compressed-air store. In a conventional turbine, up to half the generated power is used driving the compressor. In a compressed-air energy storage configuration, power is used to drive the compressor, and the compressed air is released to operate the turbine when required.
Turboshaft engines
Turboshaft engines are used to drive compressors in gas pumping stations and natural gas liquefaction plants. They are also used in aviation to power all but the smallest modern helicopters, and function as an auxiliary power unit in large commercial aircraft. A primary shaft carries the compressor and its turbine, which, together with a combustor, is called a gas generator. A separately spinning power turbine is usually used to drive the rotor on helicopters. Allowing the gas generator and power turbine/rotor to spin at their own speeds allows more flexibility in their design.
Radial gas turbines
Scale jet engine
A typical scale-jet engine, or miniature gas turbine or micro-jet, uses a centrifugal compressor. The pioneer of modern micro-jets, Kurt Schreckling, produced one of the world's first micro-turbines, the FD3/67. This engine can produce up to 22 newtons of thrust and can be built by most mechanically minded people with basic engineering tools, such as a metal lathe.
Microturbines
Evolved from piston engine turbochargers, aircraft APUs or small jet engines, microturbines are 25 to 500 kilowatt turbines the size of a refrigerator. Microturbines have around 15% efficiencies without a recuperator, or 20 to 30% with one, and they can reach 85% combined thermal–electrical efficiency in cogeneration.
External combustion Most gas turbines are internal combustion engines, but it is also possible to manufacture an external combustion gas turbine, which is, effectively, a turbine version of a hot-air engine. Those systems are usually indicated as EFGT (externally-fired gas turbine) or IFGT (indirectly-fired gas turbine). External combustion has been used for the purpose of using pulverized coal or finely ground biomass (such as sawdust) as a fuel. In the indirect system, a heat exchanger is used, and only clean air with no combustion products travels through the power turbine. The thermal efficiency is lower in the indirect type of external combustion; however, the turbine blades are not subjected to combustion products, and much lower quality (and therefore cheaper) fuels are able to be used. When external combustion is used, it is possible to use exhaust air from the turbine as the primary combustion air. This effectively reduces global heat losses, although heat losses associated with the combustion exhaust remain inevitable. Closed-cycle gas turbines based on helium or supercritical carbon dioxide also hold promise for use with future high-temperature solar and nuclear power generation.
In surface vehicles
Gas turbines have been used in some ships, locomotives, tanks, experimental cars, buses, and motorcycles. In surface vehicles, a gas turbine may be used either as a direct mechanical prime mover or as a generator in a series hybrid or turbine-electric powertrain. A key advantage of gas turbines in aircraft—their ability to maintain performance at high altitude compared with piston engines, particularly naturally aspirated ones—is generally irrelevant in surface vehicles. Their high power-to-weight ratio and compact size can still be useful, especially in military vehicles, marine propulsion, and specialized heavy vehicles. Gas turbines offer high power from a relatively small and light engine, but they have disadvantages in many road-vehicle applications. They are typically less responsive and less efficient than piston engines over the wide range of speeds and loads required in normal driving. In series hybrid vehicles, these problems are reduced because the turbine can run mainly as a generator at a more efficient operating point, while batteries or ultracapacitors supply transient power demand. A continuously variable transmission can also reduce, but not eliminate, the mismatch between turbine operation and road-vehicle drive requirements. Small gas turbines have historically been more expensive to produce than piston engines, partly because piston engines have been mass-produced in much larger numbers. Although turbochargers and turbo-compound engines also use exhaust-driven turbines, they are not gas-turbine surface vehicles. A turbocharger is an exhaust-driven turbine and compressor used to boost a reciprocating engine, while a turbo-compound engine is a reciprocating engine with power-recovery turbines in its exhaust system.
Passenger road vehicles (cars, bikes, and buses) A number of experiments have been conducted with gas-turbine-powered automobiles, the largest by Chrysler. More recently, there has been some interest in the use of turbine engines for hybrid electric cars. In 2012 a micro-gas-turbine manufacturer, Bladon Jets, secured investments to develop an Ultra Lightweight Range Extender (ULRE) for electric vehicles.
Concept cars
The first serious investigation of using a gas turbine in cars was in 1946, when two engineers, Robert Kafka and Robert Engerstein of Carney Associates, a New York engineering firm, came up with the concept where a unique compact turbine engine design would provide power for a rear-wheel drive car. After an article appeared in Popular Science, there was no further work, beyond the paper stage.
Early concepts (1950s/60s) In 1950, designer F.R. Bell and Chief Engineer Maurice Wilks from British car manufacturers Rover unveiled the first car powered with a gas-turbine engine. The two-seater JET1 had the engine positioned behind the seats, air intake grilles on either side of the car, and exhaust outlets on the top of the tail. During tests, the car reached top speeds of 140 km/h (87 mph), at a turbine speed of 50,000 rpm. After being shown in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1950, JET1 was further developed, and was subjected to speed trials on the Jabbeke highway in Belgium in June 1952, where it exceeded 240 km/h (150 mph). The car ran on petrol, paraffin (kerosene) or diesel oil, but fuel consumption problems proved insurmountable for a production car. JET1 is on display at the London Science Museum. A French turbine-powered car, the SOCEMA-Grégoire, was displayed at the October 1952 Paris Auto Show. It was designed by the French engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire.
The first turbine-powered car built in the US was the GM Firebird I, which began evaluations in 1953. While photos of the Firebird, I may suggest that the jet turbine's thrust propelled the car like an aircraft, the turbine actually drove the rear wheels. The Firebird I was never meant to be a commercial passenger car and was built solely for testing & evaluation as well as public relations purposes. Additional Firebird concept cars, each powered by gas turbines, were developed for the 1953, 1956, and 1959 Motorama auto shows. The GM Research gas-turbine engine was also fitted to a series of transit buses, starting with the Turbo-Cruiser I of 1953.
Starting in 1954 with a modified Plymouth, the American car manufacturer Chrysler demonstrated several prototype gas-turbine-powered cars from the early 1950s through the early 1980s. Chrysler built fifty Chrysler Turbine Cars in 1963 and conducted the only consumer trial of gas turbine-powered cars. Each of their turbines employed a unique rotating recuperator, referred to as a regenerator that increased efficiency. In 1954, Fiat unveiled the Fiat Turbina, a concept car with a turbine engine. In addition to the shaft power from the engine, the Turbina used thrust from the turbine exhaust to provide additional forward power. According to Popular Mechanics, the vehicle was able to reach a speed of 282 km/h (175 mph). In the 1960s, Ford and GM were also developing gas-turbine semi-trucks. Ford displayed the Big Red at the 1964 World's Fair. With the trailer, it was 29 m (96 ft) long, 4.0 m (13 ft) high, and painted crimson red. It contained the Ford-developed gas-turbine engine, with output power and torque of 450 kW (600 hp) and 1,160 N⋅m (855 lb⋅ft). The cab boasted a highway map of the continental U.S., a mini-kitchen, a bathroom, and a TV for the co-driver. The fate of the truck was unknown for several decades, but it was rediscovered in early 2021 in private hands, having been restored to running order. The Chevrolet division of GM built the Turbo Titan series of concept trucks with turbine motors as analogs of the Firebird concepts, including Turbo Titan I (c. 1959, shares GT-304 engine with Firebird II), Turbo Titan II (c. 1962, shares GT-305 engine with Firebird III), and Turbo Titan III (1965, GT-309 engine); in addition, the GM Bison gas-turbine truck was shown at the 1964 World's Fair.
Emissions and fuel economy (1970s/80s) As a result of the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, research was funded into developing automotive gas-turbine technology. Design concepts and vehicles were conducted by Chrysler, General Motors, Ford (in collaboration with AiResearch), and American Motors (in conjunction with Williams Research). Long-term tests were conducted to evaluate comparable cost efficiency. Several AMC Hornets were powered by a small Williams regenerative gas turbine weighing 250 lb (113 kg) and producing 80 hp (60 kW; 81 PS) at 4450 rpm. In 1982, General Motors used an Oldsmobile Delta 88 powered by a gas turbine using pulverized coal dust. This was considered for the United States and the western world to reduce dependence on middle east oil at the time Toyota demonstrated several gas-turbine-powered concept cars, such as the Century gas-turbine hybrid in 1975, the Sports 800 Gas Turbine Hybrid in 1979 and the GTV in 1985. No production vehicles were made. The GT24 engine was exhibited in 1977 without a vehicle.
Later development In the early 1990s, Volvo introduced the Volvo ECC which was a gas-turbine-powered hybrid electric vehicle. In 1993, General Motors developed a gas-turbine-powered EV1 series hybrid—as a prototype of the General Motors EV1. A Williams International 40 kW turbine drove an alternator which powered the battery–electric powertrain. The turbine design included a recuperator. In 2006, GM went into the EcoJet concept car project with Jay Leno. At the 2010 Paris Motor Show Jaguar demonstrated its Jaguar C-X75 concept car. This electrically powered supercar has a top speed of 204 mph (328 km/h) and can go from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in 3.4 seconds. It uses lithium-ion batteries to power four electric motors, which combine to produce 780 bhp. It will travel 68 miles (109 km) on a single charge of the batteries, and uses a pair of Bladon Micro Gas Turbines to re-charge the batteries extending the range to 560 miles (900 km).
Racing cars
The first race car (in concept only) fitted with a turbine was in 1955 by a US Air Force group as a hobby project with a turbine loaned them by Boeing and a race car owned by Firestone Tire & Rubber company. The first race car fitted with a turbine for the goal of actual racing was by Rover and the BRM Formula One team joined forces to produce the Rover-BRM, a gas-turbine-powered coupe, which entered the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Graham Hill and Richie Ginther. It averaged 107.8 mph (173.5 km/h) and had a top speed of 142 mph (229 km/h). American Ray Heppenstall joined Howmet Corporation and McKee Engineering together to develop their own gas-turbine sports car in 1968, the Howmet TX, which ran several American and European events, including two wins, and also participated in the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans. The cars used Continental gas turbines, which eventually set six FIA land speed records for turbine-powered cars. For open wheel racing, 1967's revolutionary STP-Paxton Turbocar fielded by racing and entrepreneurial legend Andy Granatelli and driven by Parnelli Jones nearly won the Indianapolis 500; the Pratt & Whitney ST6B-62 powered turbine car was almost a lap ahead of the second place car when a gearbox bearing failed just three laps from the finish line. The next year the STP Lotus 56 turbine car won the Indianapolis 500 pole position even though new rules restricted the air intake dramatically. In 1971 Team Lotus principal Colin Chapman introduced the Lotus 56B F1 car, powered by a Pratt & Whitney STN 6/76 gas turbine. Chapman had a reputation of building radical championship-winning cars, but had to abandon the project because there were too many problems with turbo lag.
Buses General Motors fitted the GT-30x series of gas turbines (branded "Whirlfire") to several prototype buses in the 1950s and 1960s, including Turbo-Cruiser I (1953, GT-300); Turbo-Cruiser II (1964, GT-309); Turbo-Cruiser III (1968, GT-309); RTX (1968, GT-309); and RTS 3T (1972). The arrival of the Capstone Turbine has led to several hybrid bus designs, starting with HEV-1 by AVS of Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1999, and closely followed by Ebus and ISE Research in California, and DesignLine Corporation in New Zealand (and later the United States). AVS turbine hybrids were plagued with reliability and quality control problems, resulting in liquidation of AVS in 2003. The most successful design by Designline is now operated in 5 cities in 6 countries, with over 30 buses in operation worldwide, and order for several hundred being delivered to Baltimore, and New York City. Brescia Italy is using serial hybrid buses powered by microturbines on routes through the historical sections of the city.
Motorcycles The MTT Turbine Superbike appeared in 2000 (hence the designation of Y2K Superbike by MTT) and is the first production motorcycle powered by a turbine engine – specifically, a Rolls-Royce Allison model 250 turboshaft engine, producing about 283 kW (380 bhp). Speed-tested to 365 km/h or 227 mph (according to some stories, the testing team ran out of road during the test), it holds the Guinness World Record for most powerful production motorcycle and most expensive production motorcycle, with a price tag of US$185,000.
Trains
Several locomotive classes have been powered by gas turbines, the most recent incarnation being Bombardier's JetTrain.
Tanks
The Third Reich Wehrmacht Heer's development division, the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Board), studied a number of gas-turbine engine designs for use in tanks starting in mid-1944. The first gas-turbine engine design intended for use in armored fighting vehicle propulsion, the BMW 003-based GT 101, was meant for installation in the Panther tank. Towards the end of the war, a Jagdtiger was fitted with one of the aforementioned gas turbines. The second use of a gas turbine in an armored figh