Gustaf de Laval

Gustaf de Laval
Gustaf de Laval 1875
Born	9 May 1845 Orsa, Dalarna
Died	2 February 1913 (aged 67)
Nationality	Swedish
Alma mater	Institute of Technology in Stockholm
Known for	Steam turbines and dairy machinery
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Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (9 May 1845 – 2 February 1913) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and dairy machinery.

Gustaf de Laval was born at Orsa in Dalarna in the Swedish de Laval Huguenot family. He enrolled at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm (later the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH) in 1863, receiving a degree in mechanical engineering in 1866, after which he matriculated at Uppsala University in 1867.

He was then employed by the Swedish mining company, Stora Kopparberg. From there he returned to Uppsala University and completed his doctorate in 1872. He was further employed in Kloster Iron works in Husby parish, Sweden.

Gustaf de Laval was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1886. He was a successful engineer and businessman. He also held national office, being elected to Swedish parliament, from 1888 to 1890 and later became a member of the senate. De Laval died in Stockholm in 1913 at the age of 67.

In 1882 he introduced his concept of an impulse steam turbine and in 1887 built a small steam turbine to demonstrate that such devices could be constructed on that scale. In 1890 Laval developed a nozzle to increase the steam jet to supersonic speed, working off the kinetic energy of the steam, rather than its pressure. The nozzle, now known as a de Laval nozzle, is used in modern rocket engine nozzles. De Laval turbines can run at up to 30,000 rpm. The turbine wheel was mounted on a long flexible shaft, its two bearings spaced far apart on either side. The higher speed of the turbine demanded that he also design new approaches to reduction gearing, which are still in use today. Since the materials available at the time were not strong enough for the immense centrifugal forces, the output from the turbine was limited, and large scale electric steam generators were dominated by designs using the alternative compound steam turbine approach of Charles Parsons.