Turbine

GE has just opened a US$73 million Advanced Manufacturing Works plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Gizmag was on hand for the grand opening and has your sneak peek.

China's Techrules is hell-bent on putting turbines into road-going vehicles. Its first concepts use an ultra-potent, turbine-charged series hybrid powertrain, promising supercar levels of performance and Prius-like fuel economy.

It's been a few years since turbine-equipped electric supercars were in vogue, but they're making a semi-comeback at the Geneva Motor Show. Beijing-based Techrules will reveal a 1,030-hp electric supercar concept with range-extending turbine.

Imagine a Rolls Royce helicopter turbine that produces a scorching 542 hp and over 450 lb-ft of torque strapped to a bare naked motorcycle, a streetfighter. This is what Madmax Race Team brought to Elvington for the Straightliners Speed Record event, leaving with three new official world records.

A metallic nanocoating derived from a virus of the tobacco plant could lead to more efficient steam production, improving the performance of steam turbines, air conditioning and electronics cooling systems.

Having invested US$1 billion in its 500,000 bhp 9HA Harriet gas turbine, GE had to fork over another US$185 million to build a full-load test bed that can handle the grid-busting output of Harriet, the world's largest and most powerful gas turbine.

Jet turbine blades need to drilled with tiny cooling holes in an operation that can ruin them. To prevent this from happening, GE is combining the heat of the laser beam with the cooling of the water jet to drill holes without weakening the blades.

Migrating salmon in the Pacific Northwest are set to be helped on their journey by Sensor Fish. Developed by PNNL, these devices record and analyze the physical stressors faced by the fish on their trek and provide hydroelectric dams with data to become more fish-friendly.

GE is looking to a new generation of carbon-fiber composites to make the fan blades for its GE9X jet engine. That engine is being developed for the Boeing 777X passenger airplanes set to enter service in 2020 and the new blades promise to provide larger, lighter engines with greater fuel efficiency.

The CSIRO has claimed a world record for the highest temperatures ever recorded using solar energy to generate "supercritical" steam at its solar thermal test plant in Newcastle, Australia. This achievement is touted as a breakthrough for solar energy production.

Rolls-Royce has announced that the first production Trent XWB turbofan engine that powers the Airbus A350 XWB has left the factory and is on its way to Toulouse, France to be installed in a Qatar Airways A350 XWB.

A helium-filled shell with a wind turbine in the middle, the Buoyant Air Turbine from Altaeros has already been tested to 500 feet off the ground in 45 mph winds. Now it's set to break the world record for the highest wind turbine in history.