The first marine application of a gas turbine was in 1947 in a Motor Gun Boat. Since then they have been used, mainly for naval and cruise ship applications. Small turbines or microturbines differ from their larger cousins in several ways. They run on air bearings, have a multi fuel capability and run up to speeds of 96,000 rpm. Capstone Turbine Corp. manufacture microturbines with outputs of 30, 60 and 200 kW. The largest can be stacked to produce more powerful combinations. This summer Capstone signed an agreement with Electric Ship Facilities of the Netherlands for what is believed to be the first marine application of a microturbine. [More]