Viktor Kaplan facts for kids
Viktor Kaplan was an important Austrian engineer. He was born on November 27, 1876, and passed away on August 23, 1934. He is most famous for inventing the Kaplan turbine, a special type of water turbine that changed how we produce electricity from rivers.
Viktor Kaplan's Life
Viktor Kaplan was born in Mürzzuschlag, Austria. His father worked for the railroad. Viktor finished high school in Vienna in 1895. After that, he went to the Technical University of Vienna. There, he studied mechanical engineering and learned a lot about diesel engines. From 1900 to 1901, he served in the military in Pula.
After working in Vienna and focusing on engines, Kaplan moved to the German Technical University in Brno. He went there to do research at the civil engineering institute. He spent about 30 years of his life in Brno. Most of his amazing inventions and research happened while he was a professor there. In 1913, he became the head of the institute for water turbines.
The Kaplan Turbine
In 1912, Viktor Kaplan shared his most famous invention: the Kaplan turbine. This was a new and very important type of water turbine. It was especially good at making electricity from large rivers that did not have a very steep drop. Between 1912 and 1913, he received four patents for these new turbines. A patent is like an official document that protects an invention.
The very first Kaplan turbine was built in 1918. It had 26 kW of power and was 60 cm wide. A company called Storek built it for a textile factory in Lower Austria. This first turbine worked until 1955! Today, you can see it at the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Technical Museum). After this first success, Kaplan turbines started to be used all over the world. They are still one of the most common types of water turbines used today.
Later Life and Honors
Viktor Kaplan received special honorary doctorate degrees in 1926 and 1934. These are degrees given to people to honor their great achievements. He died in 1934 from a stroke in Unterach am Attersee, Austria.
In 1961, Viktor Kaplan was honored in Austria. His picture was featured on the 1000 Austrian schilling banknote. This showed how important his work was to his country.
See also
In Spanish: Viktor Kaplan para niños
