Skip to main content
×

GE.com has been updated to serve our three go-forward companies.

Please visit these standalone sites for more information

GE Aerospace | GE Vernova | GE HealthCare 

The GE Brief — August 6, 2019

August 06, 2019
GE Brief logo

August 6, 2019


 width=

HEAVY METTLE


The world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, GE Power’s 9HA.02, will also be an exquisitely well-traveled machine, operating in a range of conditions and at temperature extremes from one end of the thermometer to the other — from Malaysia all the way to northern Europe. Before it starts generating power, then, GE Power is putting the turbine through its paces at a test facility in Greenville, South Carolina, where the machine is undergoing a rigorous program of exercises this summer to ensure it performs at its peak. “We will explore the turbine’s entire operational envelope — inside and out,” said Bert Stuck, a GE veteran of 37 years. In other words, no summer vacation for this turbine. It’s going to boot camp.

Feeling the burn: The 9HA.02 is capable of generating 571 megawatts — enough to power a city with 650,000 households. In South Carolina, it’s getting its temperature taken by about 5,000 instruments that collect data from across the turbine and transmit it 1 gigabyte per second to a mission-control-like nerve center staffed by dozens of engineers. They’re looking at every aspect of the machine’s function, Stuck said: “Performance, efficiency, operational flexibility, mechanical and aeromechanical durability, gas and liquid fuel capability, its response to grid fluctuations, and so on.” And they’re hunting for any marginal gain in efficiency or performance that might be available. “Our customers love the idea that we’re testing the turbines like this before they arrive,” Stuck said. “It gives them a massive level of confidence in our products.”

Click here to go further behind the scenes of the rigorous turbine-testing process.

 

ADDITIVE MULTIPLIES POSSIBILITIES


GE Reports has published a lot of articles on 3D printing — you could even say we’re laser-focused on the technology, which allows designers and engineers to print complex metal parts directly from a computer file, using a laser to fuse layers of metal powder together to create something previously unthinkable. And sure: 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is great for making the complicated fuel nozzle for the GE9X, the world’s largest commercial jet engine, or the ribbed gearbox covers for the Catalyst, the first designed-from-scratch turboprop engine in 50 years, created by GE Aviation. But GE’s 3D-printing technology is doing important work far from the factory floor, as well. For instance, in the veterinarian’s office.

Woof woof: In the UK, a company prints bespoke surgical implants for humans’ best (no offense to cats) four-legged friends; specially designed tools like this can give relief to Shih Tzus, for instance, born with bone deformities. Of course, people themselves can make use of the medical benefits of 3D printing too. A doctor in Brazil has taken to creating lifelike models of fetuses based on ultrasound images — to allow blind parents to get to know the child they’ll soon be welcoming into the world. And in New Zealand, a Paralympic athlete is using a prosthetic arm, 3D-printed from tough-as-nails titanium, to get a grip on the weightlifting routines that are a part of her rigorous training regimen.

Haute couture? 3D printing rose to that occasion too. Click here to learn about the 3D-printed, rose-shaped gown that stunned the crowd at May’s Met Gala, plus other new applications for this new-wave technology.

 

OSHKOSH, BY GOSH


Visitors to Wisconsin may enjoy a pint or two of Spotted Cow, a farmhouse ale available only within state borders, and they may also enjoy spotting cows — the animals that dot the fields of America’s Dairyland. But in July, cows weren’t the only things that could be spotted in and around the town of Oshkosh: Spectators casting their eyes to the skies could see all manner of aircraft — new and old, experimental, funky, familiar — dropping by for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual EAA AirVenture fly-in, possibly the largest gathering of pilots and aviation enthusiasts anywhere in the world. GE Reports was there with camera in hand — and we spotted a thing or two, as well.

See, spot, fly: This July, Oshkosh — as the fly-in is known for short — celebrated its 50th year. It wasn’t the only anniversary being observed, though. GE Aviation is celebrating 100 years in business in 2019, and another staple of the skies, the iconic Boeing 747, turns 50. GE Aviation’s CF6 engines power many present-day 747s, including Air Force One, and the company’s newer GEnx engines fit perfectly under the wings of newer-model Boeings like the 787 Dreamliner. Oshkosh attendees were able to get a glimpse of some of these bigger planes and engines as well as some more modestly sized, but no less impressive, craft: The fest featured smaller GE-powered machines like a Thrush crop duster, a HondaJet, an A-10 Warthog and military helicopters as well.

And, as usual, Oshkosh featured a big nighttime airshow to close things out. Click here for pics.

 

COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ? 


 

1. Cell Defense

Scientists at Stanford found that cancer cells emit a “don’t eat me” signal to hide themselves from the immune system. The signal could potentially be blocked or turned off to boost the body’s ability to fight cancer. 

2. Microtargeting Pollution

A team led by researchers at Australia’s University of Adelaide designed a system of “tiny coil-shaped carbon-based magnets” that could help break down the microplastics that pollute waterways around the world.

3. AI For AKI

The artificial intelligence company DeepMind says it’s developed an algorithm that can help doctors find signs of acute kidney injury, or AKI, up to 48 hours before it occurs.

Read more about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth here.

 

— QUOTE OF THE DAY —


“Testing has paid for itself many times over. You can run all the computer simulations you want, but you will always have things that you cannot simulate.”


Bert Stuck, engineer at GE Power


 
Quote: GE Reports. Image: Brian Erkens of Reel Video and Stills.

ENJOY THIS NEWSLETTER?
Please send it to your friends and let them know they can subscribe here.