Gas

Turbine

Outline

Comprehend the basic components

of gas turbine engines and their
basic operation
Comprehend the thermodynamic
processes occurring in a gas
turbine
Comprehend the types of gas
turbine engines

Background
There are industrial gas turbines and there are jet engine
gas turbines
Gas Turbines find their applications in
- electric

power generation, mechanical drive systems,

supply of process heat and compressed air, pump drives
for gas or liquid pipelines
- jet propulsion, land and sea transport (infancy state)

Industrial turbines or prime movers

Brayton Cycle

Unlike diesels, operate on STEADY-FLOW cycle

Open cycle, unheated engine
1-2: Compression
2-3: Combustion
3-4: Expansion through
Turbine and Exhaust
Nozzle
(4-1: Atmospheric
Pressure)

Output 22.3 MW
Thermal Eff. 40%

Basic Components

Basic Components

Basic Components

Compressor

Combustion Chamber

Draws in air & compresses it

Fuel pumped in and ignited to burn with
compressed air

Turbine

Hot gases converted to work

Can drive compressor & external load

Basic Components

Compressor

Combustion Chamber

Draws in air & compresses it

Fuel pumped in and ignited to burn with
compressed air

Turbine

Hot gases converted to work

Can drive compressor & external load

Basic Components

Compressor

Combustion Chamber

Draws in air & compresses it

Fuel pumped in and ignited to burn with
compressed air

Turbine

Hot gases converted to work

Can drive compressor & external load

Compressor

Supplies high pressure air for

combustion process
Compressor types

Radial/centrifugal flow compressor

Axial flow compressor

Compressor

Radial/centrifugal flow

Adv: simple design,

good for low
compression ratios
(5:1)
Disadv: Difficult to
stage, less efficient

Axial flow

Good for high

compression ratios
(20:1)
Most commonly used

Compressor

Controlling Load on Compressor

To ensure maximum efficiency and allow

for flexibility, compressor can be split
into HP & LP sections
Vane control: inlet vanes/nozzle angles
can be varied to control air flow

Compressor Stall

Interruption of air flow due to turbulence

Use of Compressed Air

Primary Air (30%)

Secondary Air (65%)

Passes directly to combustor for

combustion process
Passes through holes in perforated
inner shell & mixes with combustion
gases

Film Cooling Air (5%)

Insulates/cools turbine blades

Combustion Chambers

Where air & fuel are mixed, ignited,

and burned
Spark plugs used to ignite fuel
Types

Can: for small, centrifugal

compressors
Annular: for larger, axial compressors
Can-annular: rarely used

Turbines

Consists of one or more stages

designed to develop rotational
energy
Uses sets of nozzles & blades
Single shaft

Power coupling on same shaft as

turbine
Same shaft drives rotor of compressor
and power components

Turbines

Split Shaft

Gas generator turbine drives compressor

Power turbine separate from gas generator
turbine
Power turbine driven by exhaust from gas
generator turbine
Power turbine drives power coupling

Dual Shaft, Split Shaft

Gas Turbine Systems

Air System

Fuel System

Air intakes are located high up &

multiple filters
Exhaust discharged out stacks
Uses either DFM or JP-5

Lubrication System

Supply bearings and gears with oil

Gas Turbine Accessory

Systems

Starting System

To get compressor initially rotated, HP

air used (can use electrical also)
Once at certain RPM, fuel injected and
spark ignited

Power Transmission System

Reduction gears used to transfer torque

With split shaft, turbines can run @
different speeds

GTG vs Steam

For the same hP,

Weight reduction of 70%

Simpler (less maintenance, fewer
components)
Reduced manning automated
control
Quicker response time
Modular replacement

Engine Power Transfer

Turbojet

Turbofan

Thrust provided by reaction against

expansion of large volumes of air

Turboprop

Thrust provided by reaction against

expansion of exhaust gases

Thrust provided by turbine

SCRAMjet/RAMjet

Characteristics and
Applications

The turbojet engine :

Turbojet engine derives its thrust by highly
accelerating a mass of air , all of which goes
through the engine. Since a high " jet "
velocity is required to obtain an acceptable of
thrust, the turbine of turbo jet is designed to
extract only enough power from the hot
gas stream to drive the compressor and
accessories . All of the propulsive force
(100% of thrust ) produced by a jet
engine derived from exhaust gas.

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The turboprop engine :

Turboprop engine derives its propulsion by the
conversion of the majority of gas stream energy into
mechanical power to drive the compressor ,
accessories , and the propeller load. The shaft on
which the turbine is mounted drives the
propeller through the propeller reduction gear
system . Approximately 90% of thrust comes from
propeller and about only 10% comes from exhaust gas.

The turbofan engine :

Turbofan engine has a duct enclosed fan mounted
at the front of the engine and driven either
mechanically at the same speed as the
compressor , or by an independent turbine
located to the rear of the compressor drive
turbine The fan air can exit seperately from the
primary engine air , or it can be ducted back to mix
with the primary's air at the rear .

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The turboshaft engine :

Turboshaft engine derives its propulsion by the
conversion of the majority of gas stream energy
into mechanical power to drive the
compressor , accessories , just like the
turboprop engine but the shaft on which the
turbine is mounted drives something
other than an aircraft propeller such as
the rotor of a helicopter through the
reduction gearbox . The engine is called
turboshaft.

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26

RAMJET/
SCRAMJET

a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion

takes place in supersonic airflow.
Ramjets/scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to forcefully
compress the incoming air before combustion
scramjet is supersonic throughout the entire engine.
ramjet decelerates the air to subsonic velocities before
combustion
operate efficiently at extremely high speeds: theoretical
projections place the top speed of a scramjet between Mach 12
(8,400 mph; 14,000 km/h) and Mach 24 (16,000 mph;
25,000 km/h)

Energy balance
mFqRcomb

minCpTin

Gas Turbine

(min+mF)CpTout

Shaft power

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Simplistic Gas Turbines working principles

1-2 Isentropic compression (in a compressor); h 2-h1 = mCp(T2-T1)

2-3 Constant pressure heat addition (in a combustor); h 3-h2 = mCp(T3-T2)
3-4 Isentropic expansion (in a turbine); h3-h4 = mCp(T3-T4)
4-1 Constant pressure heat rejection

Wnett = Wturbine - Wcompressor

Wnett = Cp [ (T3-T4) - (T2-T1) ]
Because T3-T4 > T2-T1, then Wnett > 0

 OPEN CYCLE
CLOSED CYCLE
Based on the air supply

Brayton Cycle: Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine Engines

Gas turbines usually operate on an open cycle (Fig. 929).
Air at ambient conditions is drawn into the compressor, where its temperature and
pressure are raised. The high pressure air proceeds into the combustion chamber,
where the fuel is burned at constant pressure.
The high-temperature gases then
enter the turbine where they expand
to atmospheric pressure while
producing power output.
Some of the output power is used to
drive the compressor.
The exhaust gases leaving the
turbine are thrown out (not recirculated), causing the cycle to be
classified as an open cycle.
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Closed Cycle Model

The open gas-turbine cycle can be
modelled as a closed cycle, using
the air-standard assumptions (Fig.
930).
The compression and expansion
processes remain the same, but the
combustion process is replaced by
a constant-pressure heat
addition process from an external
source.
The exhaust process is replaced by
a constant-pressure heat
rejection process to the ambient
air.
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Parameters Affecting Thermal

Efficiency
The thermal efficiency of an ideal Brayton
cycle depends on the pressure ratio, rp of
the gas turbine and the specific heat ratio,
k of the working fluid.
The thermal efficiency increases with both
of these parameters, which is also the
case for actual gas turbines.
A plot of thermal efficiency versus the
pressure ratio is shown in Fig. 932, for
the case of k =1.4.

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Actual Gas-Turbine Cycles

Some pressure drop occurs during the
heat-addition and heat rejection processes.
The actual work input to the compressor is
more, and the actual work output from the
turbine is less, because of irreversibilities.
Deviation of actual compressor and
turbine behavior from the idealized
isentropic behavior can be accounted
for by utilizing isentropic efficiencies
of the turbine and compressor.

Turbine:
Compressor:
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Brayton Cycle With Regeneration

Temperature of the exhaust gas leaving the turbine
is higher than the temperature of the air leaving
the compressor (T4 > T2)
The air leaving the compressor can be heated by
the hot exhaust gases in a counter-flow heat
exchanger (a regenerator or recuperator) a
process called regeneration (Fig. 9-38 & Fig. 939).
The thermal efficiency of the Brayton cycle
increases due to regeneration since less fuel is
used for the same work output.
Note:
The use of a regenerator
is recommended only
when the turbine exhaust
temperature is higher than
the compressor exit
temperature.

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Effectiveness of the Regenerator

Assuming the regenerator is well insulated and changes in kinetic and potential
energies are negligible, the actual and maximum heat transfers from the exhaust
gases to the air can be expressed as

Effectiveness of the regenerator,

Effectiveness under cold-air standard

assumptions,

Thermal efficiency under

cold-air standard
assumptions,

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Factors Affecting Thermal

Efficiency
Thermal efficiency of Brayton cycle
with regeneration depends on:
a) ratio of the minimum to
maximum temperatures, and
b) the pressure ratio.
Regeneration is most effective at
lower pressure ratios and small
minimum-to-maximum temperature
ratios.

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Brayton Cycle With Intercooling,

Reheating, & Regeneration
The net work output of a gas-turbine cycle
can be increased by either:
a) decreasing the compressor work, or
b) increasing the turbine work, or
c) both.
The compressor work input can be decreased by
carrying out the compression process in stages
and cooling the gas in between (Fig. 9-42), using
multistage compression with intercooling.
The work output of a turbine can be increased by
expanding the gas in stages and reheating it in
between, utilizing a multistage expansion with
reheating.
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Physical arrangement of an ideal two-stage gasturbine cycle with intercooling, reheating, and
regeneration is shown in Fig. 9-43.

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Conditions for Best Performance

The work input to a two-stage compressor is minimized when equal pressure
ratios are maintained across each stage. This procedure also maximizes the
turbine work output.
Thus, for best performance we have,

Intercooling and reheating always

decreases thermal efficiency unless
are accompanied by regeneration.
Therefore, in gas turbine power
plants, intercooling and reheating are
always used in conjunction with
regeneration.
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