Gustaf de Laval
|
The former De Laval steam turbine factory, now converted to a conference centre, in Nacka, outside Stockholm |
Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (
May 9 1845 -
February 2 1913) was a
Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of
steam turbines and
dairy machinery.
Gustaf de Laval was born at
Orsa in
Dalarna. He enrolled at the
Institute of Technology in Stockholm (later the Royal Institute of Technology) in 1863, receiving a degree in mechanical engineering in 1866, after which he matriculated at
Uppsala University in 1867, completing a doctorate in chemistry in 1872.
In
1887 he built a small steam turbine to demonstrate that such devices could be constructed on a that scale, and in
1890 developed a
nozzle to increase the speed of the steam entering the turbine. This is now known as a
de Laval nozzle and is of great importance in
rocket design. The high rotational speeds that de Laval's turbines were reaching demanded that he also design new approaches to reduction gearing, which are still in use today.
De Laval also made important contributions to the dairy industry, including the first centifugal
milk-
cream separator and early
milking machines, the first of which he patented in
1894. It was not until after his death, however, that the company he founded marketed the first commercially practical milking machine, in
1918. Together with
Oscar Lamm, de Laval founded the company
Alfa Laval in
1883, which was known as
AB Separator until
1963 when the present name was introduced.
In
1991, Alfa Laval Agri, a company producing dairy and farming machinery was split from Alfa Laval when it was bought by the
Tetra Pak Group. When Alfa Laval was sold, Alfa Laval Agri remained a part of the Tetra Pak group and was renamed
DeLaval, after the company's founder.
Gustaf de Laval is interred in the
Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.
*
Alfa Laval - Official site
*
DeLaval - Official site
