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Standard vs. Extraordinary It's
no secret that turbine engines
have a greater power-to-weight ratio than reciprocating
engines and have been the industry standard in aviation
for years. Yet in an extraordinary show of turbine
innovation, MTT turned the industry on its head by successfully
installing turbines into non-aviation machines.
Initially the focus was high performance
boats with projects ranging
in diversity from a 14-ft airboat to a 32-ft Eliminator™
to even a 92-ft Sportfish™. But soon came the
desire to test the potential of turbine power in other markets.
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After developing the first turbine-powered
outboard sanctioned by
the US military and the RetroROCKET™
custom hot-rod, MTT produced not only the first turbine-powered
street legal motorcycle, but also the most powerful production
bike in the world: the Y2K Jet Bike, predecessor of the
MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE™.
Featured heavily in the media
including the Warner Brother's® movie "Torque" and holder
of two Guinness® World Records, the Turbine SUPERBIKE™
has been a showstopper since its conception. |
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Leading Turbine Innovation
Having produced the ultimate high-performance
machines, MTT moved to the industrial marketplace. Consequently,
the fully transportable turbine-powered
fire pump system and water delivery
unit was born, ranging in capacity from 1,700-gpm to 16,000-gpm
and with turbine power from 420-hp to 1,400-hp. These compact
units support port security, oil production, irrigation,
water jetting, and even flood control in New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina. |
MTT has embarked on an emergency vehicle
design combining the versatility of an airboat with full
fire-fighting, EMS, and rescue capabilities. The
MTT Turbine Fire-Fighting Airboat™
is powered by a 420-hp Rolls-Royce® turbine engine,
featuring an electronic control system managing all
starting procedures, fuel consumption, and engine
governing. This innovative, amphibious emergency vehicle
is akin to a Swiss Army Knife, with a multitude of
applications housed in one tidy 20’ package.
Our momentum has remained unmatched. As head
of technology for our oilfield service partner,
Turbine Stimulation
Technologies (TST), MTT designed and built the first
successful turbine-powered fracturing or
"frac" pump used in enhanced
oil and gas recovery. Pictured below is an MTT stack pack
with a 3,800-hp turbine driving our proprietary gearbox
and coupled to a 2,500+hp pump. The entire unit is packaged
in an 8' cube. |
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In addition to manufacturing turbine-powered
frac pumps, MTT integrates two 1,400-hp turbine engines
into TST's blending units
as part of a typical frac pump spread (pictured above).
Completely contained and mobile, each unit has a footprint
of only 9' x 4'.
To support frac operations along with
other high-use nitrogen applications, MTT is developing
a turbine-powered mobile nitrogen generator - the
MTT Turbine NitroGEN™
- generating gaseous nitrogen on-site.
Nitrogen is used to fulfill many oil well stimulation
requirements in the oilfield industry. But there are
size and weight limitations governing how much volume
can be delivered via the conventional diesel-powered
pump trucks. MTT has solved this problem by designing
the MTT Turbine Nitrogen
Pump™, providing greater product capacity
with the smallest footprint possible (420-hp - 3,800-hp), thereby
leaving more room for larger storage tanks.
As a response to the oil industry’s need
for high-density pump capacity in chemical and general
pumping trailers used for well stimulation, MTT also
produced the MTT Turbine
General Pump™, featuring dual 1,400-hp
turbines driving dual 1,000-hp quintiplex pumps on a
single trailer. Just released to the oilfield, these
chemical and general pumps can be used for any number of
fluids, cement, or acid. |
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All things considered, it's easy to see why
MTT's turbine-powered industrial equipment is well on its
way to making its diesel counterparts obsolete. And
with more product development underway, MTT will soon be
the benchmark by which the state-of-the-art is measured. |
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| Turbine
Vehicle History 1928: Opel's
RAK 1 ran up to 47-mph for a few seconds before they called
the project off.
1945: WWII was over and the spirit
of the jet age was everywhere. Car manufacturers intended
to make the jet car the vehicle of the future.
1950: While GM® was inspired by
tomorrow's fighters, the British company Rover recreated
yesterday's bombers. The Jet 1 was not aesthetically pleasing,
but it was the world's first gas turbine car and was tested
up to 152-mph. GM® saw their future in the sky, and set
out to produce jet fighters that ran on the ground. In Firebird
I, steering, acceleration, and braking were all controlled
using a single joystick. It traveled 230-mph.
1954: Fiat® releases La Turbina,
a streamlined coupe with huge fins, jet-fighter exhaust,
and a racing paint scheme. Its 200-bhp powerplant pushed
it to 155-mph, using a combination of wheel drive and jet
thrust. Chrysler® took a more practical approach by installing
a turbine in a standard 1954 Plymouth™, confusing
people with its whistling and roaring sounds.
1956: GM's® Firebird II was futuristic
in both appearance and design. The Firebird II could be
driven hands-free by an automatic guidance system. The central
stick would fold away, locking into a signal from a strip
in the road, and the cones in the front jet scoops would
align the car with the strip.
1958: Wildest of all was the Firebird
III, with nine fins and twin bubble canopies. It had an
automatic guidance system and single-stick control as well.
It also had power gull wing doors, a trunk floor that could
be raised for easy loading, and a small piston engine to
run all the accessories.
1961: As a response to the innovative
ideas coming out of GM®, Chrysler® produced the Turboflite.
In addition to a jet turbine engine, the Turboflite had
a wrap-around windshield attached to the roof. When a door
was opened, the entire top, including the windshield, raised
automatically, pivoting at its hinged rear edge. Side windows
were hinged at the roof and swung out as the top lifted.
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1998: MTT creates
the RetroROCKET™. Equipped with automatic transmission,
power steering, air conditioning, power brakes, power electric
windows, cruise control and more, this truck is capable
of traveling over 600-miles without re-fueling.
2000: The year
2000 is greeted by the introduction of the Y2K Jet Bike,
predecessor to the MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE™, the world's
first turbine-powered motorcycle produced by MTT.
Powered by an Allison-Rolls Royce® engine, the bike features
SmartStart™ ignition, full-color flat screen digital
dash, forward-and rear-seeking radar detector with laser
scrambler and more, securing MTT's place in the turbine
vehicle history books.
2007 - The Future:
MTT is exceeding the bounds of turbine innovation with a
turbine-powered hybrid vehicle. Emission friendly,
it runs on bio fuels. The powertrain uses a 420-hp turbine
for on-demand power generation then stores it for DC power
to operate the vehicle on all four wheels. This concept
vehicle can run on DC, prime turbine power, or the original
reciprocating engine if desired. Truly visionary,
it is ideal for personal use, long haul trucking, public
transportation - such as busses - and especially for military
transport, where electrical propulsion and a low heat signature
are required for stealth situations.
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