Introduction:

During this lab we are asked to conduct two experiments, both of which we are required to
change the Rpm in two different gas turbines to several different speeds. This is repeated at a
slow rate measuring each component of the experiment at each state; this includes
measurements such as pressure, temperature and mass flow rate at different stages. Both
experiments aim to produce the same end product, power.
A gas turbines job is relatively simple and dates back in history as early as the 1500s as a
simple version of the modern gas turbine was used by
Leonardo da Vinci where hot air was used to rotate a roast
spit by a chain mechanism.*
Figure 1.
The main changes of the more modern gas turbine can be
defined by the amount of energy it can produce, the modern
gas turbines main purpose today is to produce power in a
Megawatts scale although it has the same elements present
in the first ever designed gas turbine, sketched by John
Barber in 1791 ( as shown in figure 1).
How a modern gas turbine works is quite complex but to
simplify it an internal combustion engine ignites fuel in the
internal combustion chamber and is mixed with air, the
ignition of the fuel air mixture causes an increase in
temperature and therefore an increase in energy within the chamber.
(With the gas turbine we used it could have added another combustion chamber to increase
the power output / delivered, but that was is not possible in this case)
Firstly air is accelerate and compressed by use of an axial compressor.
Next the high speed high pressure air is mixed with fuel and ignited within the combustion
chamber; this process is ideally isobaric, thus the specific volume of the air increases. The
end products from these two processes, these being the high temperature the high pressure
and the high velocity ignited air fuel
mixture are accelerated through use
Figure 2.
of a nozzle onto the blades of a
turbine whilst under isentropic
expansion.

Apparatus:
The instrument used known as the Cussons P9005 consists of two shaft gas turbines meaning
the compressor and the turbine are mounted on separate shafts independently. There is no
physical link between the two turbines; hence it is a two shaft gas turbine. Our aim of using
this machine is to understand the main facts of a gas turbine and how different parameters
interact with changes.

Parameters:
We will be using a selection of different parameters to measure the output of the gas turbine,
to be able to do this we must first understand what these parameters are. All parameters are
easily obtained by looking at recording instruments on the gas turbine, the only calculable
result was power (Volts x Amps = Power.).
Firstly we have T1-T5:
These are the different temperature sections. T1 and T2 are given as 1x10C and T3,T4&T5
are given as 1x100C
T1: Air inlet (Entry temperature)
T2: Compressor exit
T3: Combustion chamber exit. This will be constant trough out the experiment
T4: Power turbine inlet
T5: power turbine outlet.
Next we have the pressure sections; P2-P4:
All pressured are measured in BAR
P2 is the fuel control.
P3 is the gas generator inlet.
P4 would be the power turbine inlet.
We dont measureP1 and P5 as they are
given as atmospheric pressure.
Ngg (rps): Is the gas generator speed
which was kept at a constant of 100
rev/s
N (fpt): is the power turbine speed
which was also kept at the same unit of
100 rev/s
M: Mass flow rate of Q grams per second.
Also note that the Speed of high pressure turbine is measured in revs per second (100x)
Procedure Raw recorded results and observances during the experiment
During this lab we are asked to complete two different experiments:

Experiment one we are asked to Fix the speed of the gas generator also known as the HP
(high pressure) turbine from 550 to 250 revs per second decreasing at a rate of 50 revs per
second in seven stages, at each stages we would measure our parameters; t3 is supposed to be
constant but did change a little bit but at the slightest amount so we did not record any change
in exit temperature. Temperature T3 is set to a constant between 700 and 760 degrees Celsius
we also recorded the Ngg, volts and amps to calculate power; we also took a note of ambient
pressure from the digital display.

Parameter

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

Set 7

N(gg)

11.2

11.6

11.8

12

12

12

12

Power(VxA) 162

364

450

512

512

512

450

N fpt

550

500

450

400

350

300

250

Volts

18

26

30

32

32

32

30

Amps

19

14

15

16

16

16

15

Power

342

364

450

512

512

512

450

Next for the second experiment we changed and fix the speed of the HP (high pressure)
turbine this time from 1400 revs per second to 1000 revs per second at decreasing by a rate of
100rps every set for 5 sets. Once the rps has been set on the HP turbine we measured the
speed of the LP (low pressure) turbine at each stage.
Parameters we needed to look at during this experiment are all of the known temperatures as
well as all known pressure including atmospheric given to us by a digital reader, we also
needed to record the mass flow rate at each stage which we expected to decrease during the
experiment. Finally we needed to record the power by calculating the given amps and volts.

Parameter

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

N gg

1400

1300

1200

1100

1000

N fpt

0.85

0.65

0.6

0.55

0.65

T1

2.2

2.2

2.2

T2

8.4

7.2

6.2

5.6

T3

7.6

7.25

7.2

T4

6.6

6.4

6.4

6.25

6.25

T5

6.2

6.0

6.0

P2

0.6

0.47

0.42

0.34

0.27

P3

0.56

0.44

0.4

0.32

0.26

P4

0.12

0.09

0.08

0.06

0.04

Volts

25

18

14

12.5

9.5

Amps

12.5

7.5

6.5

Power

312

162

105

81

47.5

1.95

1.69

1.65

1.58

1.32

- fuel

Gas turbine cycles do not like change in speed, they perform much better at a constant
condition and in stable states and this is the main reason why they are not use in more
application where they could potentially be useful such as in cars.
In both experiment we change parameters very slowly. For the 2nd experiment we were
required to run the turbine with no load but we commenced the experiment with the gas
turbine carrying a full load, the reason for this as our instructor informed us with no load the
turbine can get very loud disallowing us from communicate during the experiment.
We found that from our second experiment things that we would expect to see such as the
mass flow rate decreasing as the experiment proceeded as it is being consumed to produce the
final product of experiment, power.
Other aspects we anticipated is the decrease in temperature, pressure and power as we
reduced the revs per second, simply due to less working being done.
We also found that the temperature at T1 was around 22 degrees constantly and this was
slightly higher than the room temperature which was recorded at around 20 degrees, this was
because of heat released by machine. We know that for the gas turbine to work well we need
the inter cooling system as this will lower the entry temperature and we know that the entry
temperature should be as cool as possible as the higher the entry temperature the more energy
the compressor needs and thus the more electricity generation you lose.

Tabulated results from the experiments carried out.

In this part of the report we shall discuss and tabulate any recorded readings and graphs in
relation to the work being discussed. At the start of the experiment room temperature and
pressure are recorded as show below.
Ambient temperature and pressure
Ambient pressure in (mBar)
1006.44
Ambient temperature in
20
Celsius

1.00644 Bars
293 K

In experiment 1 the following set of results were obtained and tabulated in order to be used
under the instructions given.

Parameter

Set 1

T3
NGG

993.15
973.15
973.15
963.15
963.15
963.15
963.15
1120
1160
1180
1200
1200
1200
1200

NGG-Corrected

1110.4026 1150.0598 1169.8884 1189.717 1189.717 1189.717 1189.717

NFPT (RPS)

Set 2

EXPERIMENT 1
Set 3
Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

Set 7

500

450

400

350

300

250

545.287

495.715

446.144

396.572

347.001

297.429

247.858

32.717

29.743

26.769

23.794

20.820

17.846

14.871

NFPT -Corrected
NFPT -Corrected

550

(RPM/1000)

Volts

18

26

30

32

32

32

30

Amps
Power (Volts x

19

14

15

16

16

16

15

342

364

341.3772

363.3371

0.341

0.363

Amps)

Power corrected
Power corrected in
KW

450

512

512

512

449.1805 511.0676 511.0676 511.0676 449.1805

0.449

0.511

0.511

0.511

N:B
In the instructions T3 is assumed to be constant but because we are not in the ideal world
there have been notable temperature changes but these are ignored as we are assuming its
fixed.
All tabulated results will be worked out using the same method for each set as shown below
but with their corresponding values.
Ngg corrected for set 1

450

0.449

Nfpt corrected for set 1

Power corrected for set 1

Power in KW for set 1

Power in KW vs LPT speed in (RPM/1000)

0.600
Power in KW vs LPT speed
in (RPM/1000)
0.500

Power in KW

0.400

0.300

0.200

0.100

0.000
7.000

12.000

17.000

22.000

27.000

32.000

Nfpt corrected in RPM/1000

The above graph shows the corrected values of power in KW against the corrected NFPT speed
in (RPM/1000)
Experiment 2&3 HP turbine efficiency & overall plant efficiency
In this experiment we shall have to ensure that the flow is steady and stabilised to the best
before taking any reading. The turbine is set initially at the high and its reduced slowly to the
given reading.
The corrected values will be calculated as shown below using the recorded values. An
example is shown below

Ngg corrected for set 1

Nfpt corrected for set 1

Power corrected for set 1

fuel corrected in for set 1

HP turbine for set 1

( )

( )

)
(

Overall efficiency of the plant for set 1

The above results are shown in the table below for all sets. All values are worked out
following the above methods.

Parameter
NGG
NGG Corrected
NGG - Corrected (RPM/1000)
NFPT (RPS)
NFPT Corrected
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
P2 (P2gauge + Pa)
P3 (P3gauge + Pa)
P4 (P4gauge + Pa)
Volts
Amps
Power (Volts x Amps)
Power corrected
m fuel
m fuel corrected
HP turbine

EXPERIMENT 2 & 3 Hp turbine effeciency

Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
1388.003
1288.86
1189.717
1090.574
991.4309
83.280
77.332
71.383
65.434
59.486
85
65
60
55
65
84.2716
293
357
1033
933
893
1.6064
1.5664
1.1264
25
12.5
312.5
311.931
1.95
1.67395
0.929
0.0036

64.4430
295
345
998
913
873
1.4764
1.4464
1.0964
18
9
162
161.705
1.69
1.45075
0.894
0.0022

59.4859
293
343
993
913
873
1.4264
1.4064
1.0864
14
7.5
105
104.809
1.65
1.41642
0.883
0.0014

54.5287
295
335
973
898
873
1.3464
1.3264
1.0664
12.5
6.5
81.25
81.102
1.5
1.28765
0.784
0.0012

64.4430
295
329
973
898
873
1.2764
1.2664
1.0464
9.5
5
9.9408
9.923
1.32
1.13313
0.688
0.0002

HP turbine efficiency VS HP turbine speed in

(RPM/1000)
1.000
HP turbine efficiency VS HP

HP turbine efficiency

0.900
0.800
0.700
0.600
0.500
0.400
50.000

55.000

60.000

65.000 70.000 75.000

Ngg corrected in RPM/1000

80.000

85.000

90.000

The above graph shows the Hp turbine efficiency against the corrected NGG speed in
(RPM/1000)
Experiment 3
The graph below shows the overall efficiency of the plant against the corrected Ngg values in
(RPM/1000).

Overall plant effeciency VS corrected Ngg

values in (RPM/1000)
0.0040
0.0035

of the plant

0.0030

Overall plant effeciency

VS corrected Ngg values
in (RPM/1000)

0.0025
0.0020
0.0015
0.0010
0.0005
0.0000
50.000

55.000

60.000

65.000

70.000

75.000

80.000

85.000

Ngg corrected in RPM/1000

Q.6
In the final part of the experiment I am required to draw a TS diagram of the full cycle for the
values of set 4 assuming the chamber efficiency is 100%.
In this question we are asked to describe how specific heat (Cp in J/Kg K) of the gas can be
determined.
Cp will be determined by using the equation for the work done by the turbine given below

The time will be taken as one minute but it will be in seconds as its the primary time for time.
The corrected power for set 4 is 81.102 and the time is 60

The above value is assumed that it will remain constant for this particular set 4 values.
I will use the

value for set and the T3 and T4 values to calculate the Cp.

The values known are

, T3 = 973K and T4 = 898K

The TS will be after calculating the change in entropy. This will be calculated using the
formula below but the respective temperature must be taken into account.

From the above since temperature is considered at different points we shall instead take the
temperature recorded at each point rather than the change there for the equation will become

Where Q is 4866.12W and Tn is the respective temperature being considered for example for
T1 =

The procedure above is followed to produce a table below.

Tn
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5

295
335
973
898
873

Q
4866.123
4866.123
4866.123
4866.123
4866.123

Sn in J/K
16.49533
14.52574
5.001154
5.418845
5.574023

The above points are plotted to give me the TS diagram shown below for the set 4 results.

TS Diagram for set 4 values

1200

TS Diagram for set 4

Temperature in Kelvin

1000
800
600
400
200
0
0

10
15
Change in entropy in Joules/Kelvin

20

Discussion
In experiment 1 it can be noted the speed of the low pressure turbine goes down the power
produced fluctuates from a low value to a maximum value and then back down. This is
mainly because at the start of the experiment the temperature inlet is low and the low pressure
turbine is just warming up and the fuel is at a low temperature even though its being heated
up gradually. This power is increases as the inlet temperature at the low pressure turbine is
increased. It is also notable that this work output starts to drop off after a while and this can
be said that the fuel as been heated up beyond its ideal temperature during the operation. This
loss is affected by many factors not only the temperature but there is also convection and
conduction heat loss by the plant. There is also friction since we do not operate in an ideal
work where parts are cooled to avoid heat loss from the plant. This relates to the real world
where engines cannot continuously work with maximum efficiency for a long time without
being cooled.
In experiment 2 it is seen that the efficiency of the high pressure turbine increases as the
speed of the high pressure turbine. The efficiency is almost 100% but as we are not in the
ideal world, there are bound to be energy loss, heat loss and the friction. We obtain a value
close to 92% efficiency which is good compared that other gas turbines. In the experiment its
evident that the efficiency drops as the as the Ngg speed is reduced. This case is similar to the
experiment 1 in that the power production by the plant is dropping as the speed is reduced
which is a direct result of the (turbine work-compressor work). The compressor has to do a
lot of work which reduces the useful power gained from the plant.
In experiment 3 the results obtained for the overall efficiency of the plant are relatively low.
The results are expected as the theory suggests that the overall cycle efficiency and the work
ratio of the basic gas turbine are relatively low. We are happy with the obtained results of the
experiment as they indicate the relationship between the theory and the practical values. The

graph should have increased gradually but it makes a bend between the Ngg corrected values
of (65.344RPM/1000) and the (71.383RPM/1000). This could be to human error but from
the obtained results are following a pattern so we can only point to the fact that may be the
results were recorded as the turbine was still stabilising giving us the incorrect reading.
For set 4 a required TS diagram was plotted but didnt not look like any of the previous TS
diagrams we have plotted in class. The typical TS for the complete cycle efficiency would
look like the one shown below but not like the one plotted for this task.

The obtained TS can be related to the above diagram between stages 3 and 4 in that we are
looking at one set of values of the cycle where the temperature is gradually reducing from T5
to T1 and the entropy is also gradually reducing from T5 to T1. The first few values of T5 and
T4 the graph appears to be coming from lower entropy and climaxing at temperature T3before
gradually dropping to the temperatures T2 and T1 with the lowest entropy and making the
same curve. This TS diagram for the one set clearly makes sense and we are happy with it as
it clearly relates to the typical TS diagram for a full gas turbine cycle.
Conclusion
In experiment 1 it can be noted the speed of the low pressure turbine goes down the power
produced fluctuates from a low value to a maximum value and then back down. This is
because gas turbines cannot operate at full power all the time otherwise they would not last
long enough. The turbine operates to give maximum power at an ideal temperature of which
is if this is exceeded it will drop off the cliff and the power produced will be low. This is
mainly due to the surfaces of the turbine heating up, the fuel heating up beyond its ideal
operating temperatures without any ideal cooling process. This can be improved by
effectively trying to maintain the ideal operation temperatures for both the fuel and turbine.

In experiment 2 it is seen that the efficiency of the high pressure turbine increases as the
speed of the high pressure turbine. The efficiency is almost 100% but as we are not in the
ideal world, there are bound to be energy loss, heat loss and the friction. We obtain a value
close to 92% efficiency. This obtained value is in flow with what the theory says that the
efficiency is less than 100% but for the case of the turbine a high degree of efficiency is
expected and this is obtained.
In experiment 3 the results obtained for the overall efficiency of the plant are relatively low.
The results are expected as the theory suggests that the overall cycle efficiency and the work
ratio of the basic gas turbine are relatively low. This efficiency can be improved through the
following means.

Better design and manufacture of the blades for the system.

It can also be improved by making improvements through the thermodynamics of the
system.

We found the experiment interesting as we were able to confirm what the theory says in
practical. We believe this has aided in our understanding of the propulsion even further.

References
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (). Gas turbine. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_turbine. Last accessed 22/11/2012.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (). Brayton cycle. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brayton_cycle. Last accessed 19/11/2012.
John Barbe. (1791). File:John Barber's gas turbine.jpg. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Barber%27s_gas_turbine.jpg. Last accessed
22/11/2012.
Sounak Bhattacharjee. (). GAS POWER CYCLES. Available:
http://sounak4u.weebly.com/gas-power-cycle.html. Last accessed 29/12/2012.
Aerodynamics and Propulsion notes GAS TURBINE CYCLES by Dr. Hicham Adjali