Svenska Turbinfabriks Aktiebolaget Ljungström

STAL (Svenska Turbinfabriks AB Ljungström; "Swedish Turbine Manufacturing Co.") was an industrial company established in 1913 in

Finspång Finspång () is a locality and the seat of Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,440 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Finspång is a traditional industrial town. The first industries were established in 1580 when a Royal fa ...

, Sweden, by the brothers Birger Ljungström, and

Fredrik Ljungström Fredrik Ljungström (16 June 1875 – 18 February 1964) was a Swedes, Swedish engineer, Industrial design, technical designer, and industrialist. Considered one of the foremost inventors of Sweden, Fredrik Ljungström accounted for hundreds ...

, developing the Ljungström turbine. In 1916, STAL became a subsidiary of

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' ( English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås as ...

. In 1959, the company was merged with ''AB de Laval Steam Turbine'' in Stockholm and formed ''Turbin AB de Laval Ljungström'', which changed its name to ''STAL-LAVAL Turbin AB'' in 1962. After ASEA merged with Brown Boveri to ABB 1988, the name was changed to ''ABB STAL AB''. This company later joined forces with

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Av ...

. Ever since, the business is split between Alstom (Alstom Power Sweden AB) and Siemens (Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB).

History

''AB Ljungströms Ångturbin'' was formed in 1908 for the production of the Ljungström turbine (later called ''STAL turbine'') and other inventions of the two brothers Birger Ljungström (1872-1948) and

(1875-1964). The first Ljungström turbine was completed, and in 1912 the second copy was delivered to 7000 kW to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

to supply

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's trains with power. Manufacturing was originally placed at workshops at Lövholmen at

Liljeholmen Liljeholmen is a district of the Hägersten-Liljeholmen borough in Söderort, the southern suburban part of Stockholm. History In 1860 Liljeholmen became the first suburb outside Stockholm city limits. The district was then one of two self-g ...

just outside central Stockholm. ''Svenska Turbinfabriks AB Ljungström '' (STAL) was formed in 1913 to take over the manufacturing and sales right of Ljungström turbine. The production moved simultaneously to

. The operations expanded rapidly and steam turbines for both industrial and marine purposes were exported to, among others, Japan,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

took over the majority of shares in STAL 1916, and in 1932, it delivered Northern Europe's largest power plant, a 50 MW STAL turbine, to the public

Västerås steam power plant Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the ...

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

. The same year was also saw the production of refrigeration from another of ASEA's subsidiaries, Luth & Roséns Elektriska AB in Stockholm. During the 1940s, STAL began to develop gas turbines for

jet engines A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

. Among other things, the idea was to manufacture combat engines for the Swedish Air Force, but when they preferred British manufacturers, STAL instead focused on stationary industrial gas turbines. The result was the GT-35 model, which in further developed form is still sold, now under the name SGT-500. In 1959, the operations were merged with ''AB de Lavals Ångturbin''. The new company name ''STAL-LAVAL Turbin AB'' came a few years later and the business was concentrated in Finspång.

List of Managing Directors

STAL had the following

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

s:STAL 75th 1988: Executive Directors of STAL
* 1913-1916: Birger Ljungström * 1917-1919:

Ivar Hahne Ivar (Old Norse ''Ívarr'') is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements c ...

* 1920-1940:

Georg Leire Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

* 1941-1955: Erik David Lindblom * 1955-1959 (1961):

Curt Nicolin Curt René Nicolin (10 March 1921 – 8 September 2006) was a Swedish businessman. He served as the chairman of ASEA and the Swedish Employers Association. Early life Nicolin was born on 10 March 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Felix Nic ...

Gallery

File:STAL Ljungström ångturbingenerator 50MW 1932.jpg, The Ljungström turbine with 50 MW electronical effect (G5 in :sv:Västerås ångkraftverk). File:STAL Ljungström steam turbine rotor 50MW.jpg, 50 MW Ljungström steam turbine. File:Västerås gamla ångkraftverk1000.jpg,

, exteriors. File:STAL mottrycks ångturbin, Tekniska museet, Stockholm.jpg, STAL turbine exhibited at the entrance of the

Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology The Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology ( sv, Tekniska museet) is a Swedish museum in Stockholm. It is Sweden’s largest museum of technology, and has a national charter to be responsible for preserving the Swedish cultural herit ...

in Stockholm, Sweden. File:Louis De Geer-STAL-medalj, frånsida.jpg, Plaquette in bronze depicting on one side Louis De Geer and Finspång Castle, on the other side STAL (Svenska Turbinfabriks Aktiebolaget Ljungström). Produced by AB Sporrong & Co. From the

References

* http://www.leteckemotory.cz/motory/dovern/
Hans Johnssson. Scandinavian pioneering efforts on the gasturbine area.pdf

External links

Turbine History in the STAL Club - Person Club Division at Siemens in Finspång for collection of turbine history

About the growth of group-union cooperation at, among others, STAL by Anders Kjellberg

Documentary about Västerås steam power plant in Västerås: ''Kokpunkten -- Det gamla ångkraftverket'' (YouTube)
{{Authority control Technology companies established in 1913 Companies based in Östergötland County Defunct manufacturing companies of Sweden Ljungström