Babcock & Wilcox
| File:Babcock&Wilcox Logo.png | |
| Industry | Nuclear power, Fossil power |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1867 |
| Founder | Stephen Wilcox and George Herman Babcock |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Brandon C. Bethards |
| Products | Nuclear Power Plants and Research |
Number of employees | ~20,000 worldwide |
| Parent | McDermott International, Inc. |
| Website | http://www.babcock.com/ |
The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) is an U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed capacity in over 90 countries around the world.[1]
During World War II, over half of the American US Navy fleet was powered by Babcock & Wilcox boilers.[2] The company is based in Lynchburg, Virginia and is a unit of McDermott International, Inc. B&W also has operations in: West Point, Mississippi; Cambridge, Ontario, Canada; Mount Vernon, Indiana; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Barberton, Ohio; and Euclid, Ohio.
History
- In 1867, Providence, Rhode Island, residents Stephen Wilcox and his partner George Herman Babcock patented the Babcock & Wilcox Non-Explosive Boiler, which used tubing to generate higher pressures and was more efficient than existing designs.[2]
- In 1902 the New York City's first subway is powered by B&W boilers.[3]
- During 1907 and 1909 Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet were powered by B&W Boilers.
- In 1929 B&W installs the world's first commercial size recovery boiler using the magnesium bisulfite process in Quebec, Canada.[4]
- Between 1941 and 1945 B&W designed and delivered 4,100 marine boilers for combat and merchant ships, including 95 percent of the US fleet in Tokyo Bay at Japanese surrender.
- In 1942, the company developed the cyclone furnace.
- Between 1943 and 1945 B&W provided components, materials and process development for Manhattan Project.[2]
- Between 1953 and 1955 B&W designed and fabricated components for USS Nautilus, world’s first nuclear-powered submarine .
- In 1961 B&W designed and supplied reactors for world’s first commercial nuclear ship NS Savannah.
- In 1962 B&W designed and furnished reactor systems for first commercial reactor, Indian Point, using HEU 233.
- In 1975 B&W designed and built components for liquid metal fast breeder reactors.
- In 1979 B&W designed and built the nuclear reactor that was involved in the Three Mile Island accident.
- In 1999 B&W was awarded the contract to develop fuel cells and steam reforming for US Navy.
- After B&W emerged from bankruptcy in 2006, B&W and BWX Technologies, both subsidiaries of the McDermott International, Inc., merged on 26 November 2007 to form The Babcock and Wilcox Companies, headed by President John Fees. The old company logo was changed.
- In 2009, B&W created a new unit, B&W Modular Nuclear Energy, LLC, to develop scalable nuclear power plants. The mPower plant is a Generation III reactor that would be manufactured in a factory, shipped by rail, then buried underground.[5][6]
See also
References
- ^ "B&W Power Generation Group: Facts and Figures". Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ a b c "About B&W - History". Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ "Records of Babcock International Group plc, boiler makers and engineers, England". Retrieved 2009-04-28.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 73 (help) - ^ "B&W Power Generation Group: Company History". Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ "McDermott B&W unit unveils small nuclear reactor". Reuters. Jun 10, 2009. Retrieved Jun 10, 2009.
- ^ Katherine Ling and GreenWire (June 10, 2009). "Company Calls New Small Nuclear Reactor a 'Game Changer'". New York Times. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
External links
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Babcock and Wilcox boilers.