18 Gas Turbine Engines, Design and Dynamic

Performance

A gas turbine engine is a system that consists of several turbomachinery components

and auxiliary subsystems. Air enters the compressor component which is driven by
a turbine component and is placed on the same shaft. Air exits the compressor at a
higher pressure and enters the combustion chamber, where the chemical energy of the
fuel is converted into thermal energy producing combustion gas at a temperature that
corresponds to the turbine inlet design temperature. The combustion gas expands in
the following turbine component, where its total energy is partially converted into
shaft work and exit kinetic energy. For power generation gas turbines, the shaft work
is the major portion of the above energy forms. It covers the total work required by
the compressor component, the bearing frictions, several auxiliary subsystems, and
the generator. In aircraft gas turbines, a major portion of the total energy goes toward
generation of high exit kinetic energy that is essential for thrust generation.
Gas turbines are designed for particular applications that determine their design
configurations. For power generation purposes, the gas turbine usually has a single
spool. A spool combines a compressor and a turbine that are connected together via

Fig. 18.1: A single-spool power generation gas turbine, BBC-GT9

474 18 Gas Turbine Engines, Design and Dynamic Performance

Fig. 18.2: A twin-spool Pratt & Whitney high bypass ratio aircraft engine with multi-
stage compressors and turbines

Fig. 18.3: Schematic of a twin-spool core engine with its derivatives