Engineering Marvels: The Future of Power Generation
In our age, we are creating mechanisms and installations so grand that even the legendary Gulliver would seem like a mere dwarf in comparison…
Indeed…
Take, for instance, a steam turbine with a capacity of 150,000 kilowatts. To produce its rotor, a special heat-resistant steel ingot weighing 200 tons is required. But this massive chunk of metal must be transformed into a rotor through forging. Clearly, a blacksmith with a hammer is out of the question here. A human cannot even approach this steel mountain, radiating unbearable heat. Only a gigantic forging press with a force of 20,000 tons can handle it.
Yet, we already have designs for turbines with capacities of 500,000 and even 800,000 kilowatts!
What will the landscape look like in two decades? Will turbines require rotors weighing thousands of tons?
It seems unlikely. Even now, welding techniques are being employed in the manufacturing of turbine components, stitching them together with electric arcs from smaller parts, much like a coat or suit is crafted from sleeves, backs, and panels.
It is entirely possible that, over time, the most powerful power plants will operate without boilers and steam turbines altogether. These bulky, complex, and costly machines may be replaced by plasma generators.
And who can say that this method won’t find successful application in the future?
