A MIDGET TURBINE

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 165, 15 July 1939, Page 7

A MIDGET TURBINE

ENGINEER'S CLAIM.

30 PER CENT FUEL SAVING. MAY REVOLUTIONISE SHIPPING. (Special.—By Air Mail.) LONDON, June 24. After 30 years of experiments Mr. James MacLeod, a Glasgow engineer, hae produced a baby turbine engine which may revolutionise shipping. It is claimed that the invention will effect 30 per cent saving in fuel, a 50 per cent saving in engine-room space and a saving of several hundreds per cent in weight. "Chief features of the system." said Mr. McLeod, this week, "are high efficiency, light weight, small size and ease in manipulation. A fortnight ago tests under the most rijiid conditions were successfully carried through on an experimental unit, which I built for inspection at Birmingham. These teste were attended by report* and distinguished marine propulsion authorities from all over Britain. They were entirely successful. "At, an example of what it means to shipping, I quote the actual case of the experimental unit tested in Birmingha-m. That unit developed 2500 shaft horsepower, yet, in its completed condition, it weighed only 28 tons, as against the 153 tons required for a modern reciprocating unit developing exactly the same power. "In size my engine measures only 14 feet high and could be installed in an engine room of 17 feet 6 inches in length. IA present-day propulsion unit developing I the same power would measure 24 feet in height, and would require an engine room of at least 31 feet in length."