In Parson's turbine, the blades were set in motion by the steam produced by coal-heated water. In the 1930s, coal-fired power plants slowly started to shift to natural gas to improve power ...

The majority of the world’s electricity is produced by steam turbines consisting of a cascade of turbine blades designed to optimize the efficient conversion of kinetic steam energy to ...

Steam turbine blades require a very precise shape, with contoured curves that narrow toward the tip. Wire arc 3D printing had not previously been used to make a rotating component of this scale.

Kyushu Electric tapped Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the project. The steam turbines to be delivered will include 54-inch blades that the company itself has designed and developed.