Ottó Bláthy

Blathy Otto
Born 11 August 1860
Tata, Hungary
Died 26 September 1939 (aged 79)
Budapest, Hungary
Nationality Hungarian
Fields Electrical engineering
Known for Electric transformer
Prototypes of the world's first high-efficiency transformers. (Széchenyi István Memorial Exhibition Nagycenk)

Ottó Titusz Bláthy (11 August 1860 – 26 September 1939) was a Hungarian electrical engineer. In his career, he became the co-inventor of the modern electric transformer,[1] the tension regulator,[2] (Voltage stabilizer), the AC watt-hour meter,[2][3] Motor capacitor for the single-phase (AC) electric motors, the turbo generator, and the high efficiency turbo generator.

Ottó Titusz's career as an inventor began during his time at the Ganz Works in 1883. It is noteworthy, that the name "transformer" was created by Ottó Titusz Bláthy. There, he conducted experiments for creating a transformer. In 1885 the ZBD model alternating-current transformer was invented by three Hungarian engineers: Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri and Károly Zipernowsky. (ZBD comes from the initials of their names). In the autumn of 1889 he patented the AC Watt meter.[4]

Bláthy's Wattmeter

Early life

He attended schools in Tata and Vienna where he obtained diploma of machinery in 1882. Between 1881-1883 he worked at the machinery workshop of the Hungarian Railways (MAV). Attracted by the successes of Károly Zipernowsky, he joined his team on 1 July 1883. He admitted he has learnt nothing about electrotechnics in university, so he started to learn about the theory himself. Using the Maxwell equations he invented a practical approach of sizing magnetic coils. Kapp and Hopkinson who have been named after the magnetic ohm law, has only been publishing their findings later in 1886, and 1887.

Professional life

This practical calculation method was critical to build the first transformator. Based on his findings, he has rebuilt the machines in 1883 and he obtained better efficiency with the same weight. He was the first to examine on the heat dissipation problems of the electric motors, as at that time the connection between current density and heat was determined.

At the Torino Italian National Exhibition in 1884, he saw Gaulard and Gibbs's secunder generator AC system, and he decided to optimise it. Including the closed loop magnetic field, based on the findings of Faraday, he conducted experiments with Miksa Déri in the summer of 1884 in Ganz factory. Based on these experiments, they have invented the transformator in 1885, which was presented first in the Budapest National Exhibition in 1885.

Based on the opinions of Galileo Ferraris, the Italian government has ordered a power transformer for Rome, and was installed in October 1886. Later, they have build a power plant for Tivoli again delivered by Ganz, with six water turbines and 5000 V which were working in parallel with the old steam engine generators. This was the first time in history to connect two power plants with high voltage.

His other invention, the electricity meter was first introduced to the market in 1889. He was trying to optimise it and decrease its weight.

Chess works

Besides his scientific work, Ottó Titusz Bláthy is well known as an author of chess problems. He specialized in the field of very long moremovers, also known as longmovers. (see grotesque (chess) for one of his problems).

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Biography of Otto Titusz Blathy". Incredible People. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  3. ↑ Eugenii Katz. "Blathy". People.clarkson.edu. Archived from the original on 25 June 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  4. ↑ Ricks, G.W.D. (March 1896). "Electricity Supply Meters". Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 25 (120): 57–77. doi:10.1049/jiee-1.1896.0005. Student paper read on 24 January 1896 at the Students' Meeting.

External links