Viktor Kaplan (27 November 1876 – 23 August 1934) was an Austrian engineer and the inventor of the
Kaplan turbine.
Life
Kaplan was born in
Mürzzuschlag,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
into a railroad worker's family. He graduated from high school in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1895, after which he attended the
Technical University of Vienna
TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...
, where he studied
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
and specialised in
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
engines. From 1900 to 1901 he was
drafted into military service in
Pula
Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...
.
After working in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
with a specialisation in motors, he moved to the
German Technical University in Brno
German Technical University in Brno (German: ''Deutsche Technische Hochschule Brünn'') was a technical university in Brno. It existed from 1849 to 1945 and instruction was in German.
At the time, Brno was a multicultural city with both Czech and ...
to conduct research at the institute of civil engineering. He spent the next three decades of his life in
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
, and nearly all his inventions and research are connected with his professorship there. In 1913 he was appointed head of the institute for
water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
s.
In 1912 he published his most notable work: the
Kaplan turbine, a revolutionary
water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
that was especially fitted to produce electricity from large streams with only a moderate incline. From 1912 to 1913 he received four patents on these kinds of
turbines.
In 1918 the first Kaplan turbine with 26
kW power and a diameter of 60
cm was built by the Storek construction company for a textile manufacturer in
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
. This turbine was used until 1955 and today is exhibited at the
Technisches Museum Wien
The Vienna Technical Museum (german: Technisches Museum Wien) is located in Vienna (Austria), in the Penzing district, at Mariahilferstraße 212.
The decision to establish a technical museum was made in 1908, and construction of the building sta ...
. After the success of the first Kaplan turbines they started being used worldwide and remain one of the most widely used kinds of
water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
s.
In 1926 and 1934 Kaplan received
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
s. He died of a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in 1934 at
Unterach am Attersee
Unterach is a village in the Austria state of Upper Austria on the southern shore of lake Attersee in the centre of the Salzkammergut region.
The name derives from the Austro-Bavarian ''Untr, aha'' ~ ''between, waters'' based on the geographical ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Kaplan was honored and featured on the 1000 Austrian schilling banknote in 1961.
References
*Austria Forum (2009)
Kaplan, Viktor 2. January 2013
External links
*
Austrian stamp, inventors series in 1936.
Austrian stamp, birth centenary in 1976.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Viktor
1876 births
1934 deaths
People from Mürzzuschlag
People from the Duchy of Styria
Austrian scientists
20th-century Austrian inventors
Fluid dynamicists
TU Wien alumni