Product Code Database
Solar Turbines Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., designs and manufactures industrial for onshore and offshore electrical power generation, for marine propulsion and for producing, processing and transporting natural gas and oil.
The company traces its history to the 1927 founding of the Prudden-San Diego Airplane Company, which became the Solar Aircraft Company in 1929. Through the Great Depression, they mainly produced components for other manufacturers, growing during World War II and diversifying into non-aircraft products after the war. During this period, they won a number of contracts to produce jet engine components. Convinced that the gas turbine was the prime mover of the future, the company invested heavily in the development of small turbines.
The turbine never came to be the main prime mover, but Solar's expertise in small turbines found a number of niche roles. The company was purchased by International Harvester Company in early 1960, becoming the Solar Division of International Harvester in 1963. In 1973, the Solar Division exited the aerospace industry to focus solely on industrial turbines. In 1975, the development and manufacture of the Solar Division's radial engines was moved into a newly formed Radial Engines Group, renamed the Turbomach Division in 1980.
Solar Turbines Incorporated became a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Tractor Co. after Caterpillar purchased the assets of the Solar Division and the Turbomach division from International Harvester on 31 May 1981. In 1985, Caterpillar sold the Turbomach Division to Sundstrand Corporation.
Business dropped considerably after World War II and the management developed a plan to diversify into producing other stainless steel products including caskets, frying pans, bulk milk containers and even redwood furniture; immediately after World War II, the company also produced the Solar Midget race car. Solar's expertise in hard-to-manufacture parts able to withstand high-temperatures led to contracts to produce jet engine components. Solar Aircraft began to design and manufacture completed turbine engines for the United States military for applications such as auxiliary power units, , and rocket engine components of guided missiles. Missiles and Rockets, March, 1957, v. 2, no. 3, p. 11. Solar Aircraft continued to expand its product line and grow its business until it was purchased by International Harvester Company in early 1960, becoming the Solar Division of International Harvester in 1963.
Solar Aircraft Company's work in the jet engine field convinced the company's president, Edmund Price, that the turbine would be the main prime mover in the future. Solar Aircraft Company assembled a team under the direction of Paul Pitt in 1946 and started developing a small axial-flow turbine as an auxiliary power unit for the US Army Air Force's Convair B-36 strategic bomber. The Army eventually canceled this contract, but Solar Aircraft Company soon won a contract from the US Navy in 1947 for a 250 kW system to provide emergency power on ships. First running in 1949, the T-400 would go on to provide power on minesweepers and landing craft. Solar did win the contract to provide the APU for the first 632 KC-135A tankers for the Strategic Air Command.
In 1947, Leon Wosika and Eric Balje set up a second design line and developed a centrifugal-flow system that was much more compact than Solar's previous designs. Originally known as the MPM-45, the unit was delivered as the "Mars". The Navy purchased the Mars to power portable fire fighting pumps on ships and gave it the designation T41. In 1956, the Navy turned to Solar to provide a slightly larger design to power a small helicopter, the Gyrodyne XRON-1. Solar Aircraft Company responded by developing a slightly larger version of the Mars, the "Titan", which the Navy designated the T62. When the Navy abandoned development of Gyrodyne's XRON helicopter, Solar Aircraft Company adapted the Titan for service as an auxiliary power unit. Deliveries of this auxiliary power unit started in 1962. The Navy also had Solar adapt the Titan into a free-turbine version designated by the Navy as the T66, but this unit was never put into use. Solar Aircraft Company designed other versions of the basic Mars design, including the Spartan, and the Gemini.
In the late 1950s, the Navy once again turned to Solar, this time for a larger unit that would be used as an engine in a high-speed boat. The result was the axial-flow "Saturn" engine, which entered production in 1960. Solar started marketing the Saturn to industrial users needing a unit for any role, and it went on to become the world's most widely used industrial gas turbine with some 4800 units in 80 countries. It remains in production today in two uprated and enhanced configurations. In order to make the system more attractive, Solar also started the design of various "front ends" that could be purchased as a complete unit with the Saturn. These included gas compressor sets, pump-drive packages and generator sets. These units, especially the gas compressors, are widely used in the natural gas industry as pumping units on pipelines.
In 1963, Solar Aircraft Company was re-organized as the Solar Division of International Harvester.
During the next decade, the Solar Division introduced a number of new designs, both larger and smaller than the Saturn. The Centaur, which first entered service in 1968, supplied , while the modern versions supply . In 1973, Solar exited the aviation industry to concentrate its resources on industrial gas turbines.
In 1980, the Radial Engine Group was renamed, becoming the Turbomach Division.
In 1977, the Solar Division introduced a larger version of the Centaur, the Mars, re-using the name from the earlier smaller engine. The Mars is currently sold as the Mars 90 and Mars 100.
After the purchase, Caterpillar assigned development and manufacturing of the Caterpillar Model 5600 to Solar Turbines. The 5600 was originally developed by Boeing as the Boeing 551/553 series, which Caterpillar had purchased when Boeing decided to exit the gas turbine business in 1966.
Solar Turbines Incorporated has also been involved in a number of projects to improve the fuel economy of industrial turbines of all sorts. In 1992, Solar Turbines introduced the SoLoNOx system. The SoLoNOx system uses lean-burn technologies to reduce NOx emissions. The SoLoNOx system has been retrofitted to over 2,000 turbines and all of Solar Turbine's more recent designs can be equipped with SoLoNOx as a feature. In 1997, Solar Turbines introduced a ceramic hot-section design for the Centaur 50 and introduced a recuperator for the Mercury 50, in experiments conducted with the US Department of Energy.
| Saturn 20 | 1.2 | 14,810 | 1800 | 6.7 | 1 (annular) | 14.3 | 945 | 1960 |
| Centaur 40 | 3.5 | 12,910 | 1800 | 10.1 | 1 (annular) | 41.6 | 830 | 1968 |
| Centaur 50 | 4.6 | 11,630 | 1800 | 10.6 | 1 (annular) | 41.8 | 950 | |
| Mercury 50 | 4.6 | 8,865 | 1800 | 9.9 | 1 (annular) | 39 | 690 | 1998 |
| Taurus 60 | 5.7 | 10,830 | 1800 | 9.9 | 1 (annular) | 48 | 950 | 1989 |
| Taurus 65 | 6.5 | 10,295 | 1800 | 15 | 1 (annular) | 47.1 | 1000 | |
| Taurus 70 | 8.2 | 9,920 | 1800 | 17.6 | 1 (annular) | 59.2 | 970 | 1995 |
| Mars 100 | 11.4 | 10,365 | 1800 | 17.7 | 1 (annular) | 93.1 | 905 | |
| Titan 130 | 16.5 | 9,605 | 1800 | 17.1 | 1 (annular) | 124 | 915 | 1997 |
| Titan 250 | 23.1 | 8,775 | 1800 | 24.4 | 1 (annular) | 153.9 | 865 | 2008 |
| Titan 350 | 38 | 8,495 | 1800 | -- | 1 (annular) | 237.5 | 910 | |
| Taurus 60 MPU | 5.7 | 10,830 | 1800 | 9.9 | 1 (annular) | 48 | 950 | |
| Titan 130 MPU | 16.5 | 9,605 | 1800 | 17.1 | 1 (annular) | 124 | 915 |
| Saturn 20 | 1590 | 10360 | 22300 | 6.7 | 1 (annular) | 6.5 | 520 |
| Centaur 40 | 4700 | 9100 | 15500 | 10.3 | 1 (annular) | 18.2 | 450 |
| Centaur 50 | 6130 | 8485 | 16500 | 10.3 | 1 (annular) | 18.8 | 515 |
| Taurus 60 | 7700 | 7950 | 14000 | 12.2 | 1 (annular) | 21.7 | 510 |
| Taurus 70 | 11150 | 7190 | 11000 | 16.5 | 1 (annular) | 27.2 | 500 |
| Mars 90 | 13220 | 7655 | 9500 | 16.3 | 1 (annular) | 40.2 | 465 |
| Mars 100 | 15900 | 7395 | 9500 | 17.1 | 1 (annular) | 42.6 | 485 |
| Titan 130 | 22490 | 7020 | 8500 | 16.1 | 1 (annular) | 56.1 | 495 |
| Titan 250 | 30000 | 6360 | 7000 | 24.1 | 1 (annular) | 68.2 | 465 |
|
|
