Turbine Generators: Gas Turbines
combustion of gas or oil to power a turbine
You may have heard recently that new hybrid automobiles use gas turbine generators. If you have heard that, then it is absolutely correct! The new hybrid vehicles on the market today, or at least in the General Motors production lines, use gas turbine generators. The reason for this is that using gas turbine generators makes a vehicle a specifically high powered engine. However, one of the reasons that hybrid vehicles are so expensive is because producing a vehicle with the use of a gas turbine generator has historically been more expensive than just making a vehicle with the standard piston engines. But that being said, that is also part of the reason that most people are offered a tax cut and benefit that choose to purchase a hybrid vehicle.
Let's take a look at what gas turbine generators actually are. Gas turbine generators basically take the overflow of energy from the gas that is in the specific engine itself and combine it with air and the fuel that then engine uses. The compressor is powered by turning the gases over its blades and producing power.
There are many types of uses for gas turbine generators, however, one may not think about them as often as other types of generators. Although they are typically used for more commercial purposes, one of the more common ones that we have heard about lately is, of course, in the hybrid vehicle. But other engines and objects that use gas turbine generators include ships and tanks. Of course, locomotives, jet engines, and even helicopters are included in the use of gas turbine generators. All of those sources use gas turbine generators to produce extra energy that they need to get from point A to point B.
If you have never heard of anything having used a gas turbine generator, though, now you have. These types of generators, although not unheard of, offer commercially successful uses for their purpose!
Perhaps gas turbines sound more familiar to you than you expected. This may be because there are a huge number of hobbyists that build gas turbines for fun.