Volvo Aero Turbines
During the 1990s Volvo developed an innovative small recuperated gas turbine for fitment to a vehicle, this unit was later developed further as a stationary microturbine unit for combined heat and power (CHP) applications. The 50kw unit was also conceived as a lightweight ground power unit for supplying power to stationary aircraft. Turbo-machinery that was way ahead of it’s time! It would also appear Volvo may have obtained the intellectual property of Noel Penny turbines LTD the company that ceased trading in 1990. For a while a Volvo turbo-machinery base was close to where NPT were based in Coventry, documentation shows an illustration of what looks like the NPT301 turbojet. Ironically also Bladon jets are also based in the same region. But this was all in the past, the Volvo CHP microturbine was sold to another company Turbec that has now changed again. And what off the small automotive/aerospace unit? Today it’s all happening again for range extending cars and small planes, or is it? Bladon jets, Delta Motorsport, Wrightspeed, Techrules have yet to actually demonstrate such a unit, in 2018 where is the real microturbine progress? And in 2023 still no progress and nothing demonstrated!
