Page 41: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1970)

Philadelphia Gear Corp. Develops

Synchroclutches For Gas Turbines

Figure 1—New clutch for gas-turbine propulsion units undergoing pre-delivery test.

The Philadelphia Gear Corpora- tion has developed a compact, heavy-duty, synchronizing clutch which was specifically designed for marine-propulsion systems using high-powered gas turbines, such as the Pratt & Whitney FT-4 or the

General Electric LM2500. The clutch, known as the Synchro- clutch, features a friction and den- tal mechanism in parallel.

The friction elements are used to bring the prime mover and load into fixed synchronism and the dental elements are then engaged to transmit the full-load power.

The dental elements will remain engaged without external power required.

Two specific sizes have been de- veloped to date, one under a Navy contract and the other under a con- tract from the Naval Ship Engi- neering Center, Philadelphia Divi- sion. Both of these models are rated at 30,000 hp at 4,000 rpm. The first model is intended for quill shaft mounting and the other for in-line mounting. The unit ordered by the Naval Ship Engineering

Center in Philadelphia has been delivered for qualification testing, which will include full load runs using a Pratt & Whitney FT-4 gas turbine.

Figure 1 shows the clutch un- dergoing pre-delivery tests at the Philadelphia Gear plant using inertia wheels that simulate the entire propulsion train, including the propeller shafting and propel- ler. Figure 2 shows the internal assembly of the clutch and indi- cates the compactness of the rotat- ing elements.

The new clutch is available in either "in-line" or "quill shaft"con- figurations, and may be used at speeds up to 6,000 rpm. It comes in four sizes with ratings from 9,000 to 110,000 hp.

East Asiatic Names

Pignaz And Saunders

To Container Dept.

The East Asiatic Company, San

Francisco, Calif., has named Ross

M. Pignaz and George D. Saund- ers to head the company's new container department, in anticipa- tion of the introduction of pure container vessels in 1971 by the

Blue Star-EAC Joint Service.

The joint service began opera- tions with existing ships on Sep- tember 1 of this year, operating between the United States and

Canadian west coast and the United

Kingdom, North European Con- tinent, and Scandinavia.

The Eugenie S. Niarchos, sixth in a series

Kockums, is shown above underway in the

The 212,350-dwt tanker Eu- genie S. Niarchos, built by Kock- ums Mekaniska Verkstad, Malmo,

Sweden, was delivered recently to the Bethel Shipping Company, a subsidiary of the Niarchos group.

This ship is the sixth in the yard's series of seven 210,000 tonners. It was built under special survey of the American Bureau of Shipping and safety arrangements comply with the SOLAS 60 recommenda- tions.

The Eugenie S. Niarchos has an overall length of 1,037 feet, a beam of 160 feet, a depth of 80 feet 4y2 inches, and a draft of 62 feet 4}£ inches. It has a cargo capacity of 9,161,775 cubic feet and a ballast capacity of 34,092 tons. The hull is longitudinally framed and is pro- vided with a cylindrical bow raked : seven 210,000-dwt tankers ordered from ads of Stavanger on delivery trip. at the upper end. High-tensile steel was used in the longitudinal strength members in the deck and bottom.

The main propulsion machinery consists of a triple-reduction gear- ed Kockum-Stal-Laval Advanced

Propulsion type turbine rated at 32,000 shp at 85 rpm. Steam is sup- plied by two Kockum-Combustion

Engineering type boilers, each hav- ing a maximum capacity of 66 tons of steam per hour at 865 psig and 950° F. The boilers are regulated by a Kockum Combustion Control

Mk 3 T. The turbine drives a 28- foot propeller. This machinery pro- vides a service speed of 16 knots.

The engine-room alarm system is based on continuous one-man operation from an open control station. shippers and all interests using the

State Docks facilities. "The Port of Mobile," said Mr.

Smith, "is outstanding among the ports of the world. We expect to maintain this high rank of per- formance."

Mr. Smith has a background of experience in business and finance.

He has been in the merchandising field for a number of years. A native of Mobile, he formerly served as a member of the Mobile

County Commission, the county's governing body, and also as a mem- ber of the Mobile County Person- nel Board, the agency operating the merit system for employees of local governing agencies.

Mr. Smith was serving in the cabinet rank post of chairman of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage

Control Board at the time of his appointment as State Docks direc- tor. He resigned that position to assume his new duties at the State

Docks.

A veteran of World War II, he is a board member and vice-presi- dent of Guaranty Savings and

Loan Association of Mobile, and a member of the Mobile Area

Chamber of Commerce.

Kockums Delivers 212,350-DWT Tanker

Eugenie S. Niarchos To Bethel Shipping

Aldon Smith Named

Director Alabama

State Docks Dept.

Aldon L. Smith

Aldon L. Smith, 45-year-old businessman and civic leader, is the new director of the Alabama State

Docks Department. Appointed by

Governor Albert P. Brewer, Mr.

Smith succeeds Houston H. Fea- ster in the position.

Upon taking over the top man- agement post for Port of Mobile operations, Mr. Smith said that progressive operational policies will continue with the same em- phasis on development of port fa- cilities and services to provide ex- peditious and efficient services to Figure 2—Internal assembly of new Phila-delphia Gear synchronizing clutch.

October 1, 1770 43