Gas turbine

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Examples of gas turbine configurations: (1) turbojet, (2) turboprop, (3) turboshaft (electric generator), (4) high-
bypass turbofan, (5) low-bypass afterburning turbofan

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous combustion, internal

combustion engine. There are three main components:

1. An upstream rotating gas compressor;

2. A downstream turbine on the same shaft;
3. A combustion chamber or area, called a combustor, in between 1. and 2. above.
A fourth component is often used to increase efficiency (turboprop, turbofan), to convert power into
mechanical or electric form (turboshaft, electric generator), or to achieve greater power to
mass/volume ratio (afterburner).
The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid. Fresh
atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure. Energy is then added
by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so the combustion generates a high-temperature flow. This
high-temperature high-pressure gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to the exhaust
pressure, producing a shaft work output in the process. The turbine shaft work is used to drive the
compressor; the energy that is not used for shaft work comes out in the exhaust gases that
produce thrust. The purpose of the gas turbine determines the design so that the most desirable split
of energy between the thrust and the shaft work is achieved. The fourth step of the Brayton cycle
(cooling of the working fluid) is omitted, as gas turbines are open systems that do not use the same
air again.
Gas turbines are used to power aircraft, trains, ships, electrical generators, pumps, gas
compressors, and tanks.[1]

Theory of operation[edit]
In an ideal gas turbine, gases undergo four thermodynamic processes: an isentropic compression,
an isobaric (constant pressure) combustion, an isentropic expansion and heat rejection. Together,
these make up the Brayton cycle.

Brayton cycle

In a real gas turbine, mechanical energy is changed irreversibly (due to internal friction and
turbulence) into pressure and thermal energy when the gas is compressed (in either a centrifugal or
axial compressor). Heat is added in the combustion chamber and the specific volumeof the gas
increases, accompanied by a slight loss in pressure. During expansion through the stator and rotor
passages in the turbine, irreversible energy transformation once again occurs. Fresh air is taken in,
in place of the heat rejection.
If the engine has a power turbine added to drive an industrial generator or a helicopter rotor, the exit
pressure will be as close to the entry pressure as possible with only enough energy left to overcome
the pressure losses in the exhaust ducting and expel the exhaust. For a turboprop engine there will
be a particular balance between propeller power and jet thrust which gives the most economical
operation. In a jet engine only enough pressure and energy is extracted from the flow to drive the
compressor and other components. The remaining high-pressure gases are accelerated to provide a
jet to propel an aircraft.
The smaller the engine, the higher the rotation rate of the shaft(s) must be to attain the required
blade tip speed. Blade-tip speed determines the maximum pressure ratios that can be obtained by
the turbine and the compressor. This, in turn, limits the maximum power and efficiency that can be
obtained by the engine. In order for tip speed to remain constant, if the diameter of a rotor is reduced
by half, the rotational speed must double. For example, large jet engines operate around 10,000
rpm, while micro turbines spin as fast as 500,000 rpm.[23]
Mechanically, gas turbines can be considerably less complex than internal combustion piston
engines. Simple turbines might have one main moving part, the compressor/shaft/turbine rotor
assembly (see image above), with other moving parts in the fuel system. This, in turn, can translate
into price. For instance, costing 10,000 ℛℳ for materials, the Jumo 004 proved cheaper than
the Junkers 213 piston engine, which was 35,000 ℛℳ,[24] and needed only 375 hours of lower-skill
labor to complete (including manufacture, assembly, and shipping), compared to 1,400 for the BMW
801.[25] This, however, also translate into poor efficiency and reliability. More advanced gas turbines
(such as those found in modern jet engines or combined cycle power plants) may have 2 or 3 shafts
(spools), hundreds of compressor and turbine blades, movable stator blades, and extensive external
tubing for fuel, oil and air systems; they use temperature resistant alloys, and are made with tight
specifications requiring precision manufacture. All this often make the construction of a simple gas
turbine more complicated than a piston engine.
Moreover, to reach optimum performance in modern gas turbine power plants the gas needs to be
prepared to exact fuel specifications. Fuel gas conditioning systems treat the natural gas to reach
the exact fuel specification prior to entering the turbine in terms of pressure, temperature, gas
composition, and the related wobbe-index.
Thrust bearings and journal bearings are a critical part of a design. They are hydrodynamic oil
bearings or oil-cooled rolling-element bearings. Foil bearings are used in some small machines such
as micro turbines[26] and also have strong potential for use in small gas turbines/auxiliary power
units[27]

Creep[edit]
A major challenge facing turbine design is reducing the creep that is induced by the high
temperatures. Because of the stresses of operation, turbine materials become damaged through
these mechanisms. As temperatures are increased in an effort to improve turbine efficiency, creep
becomes more significant. To limit creep, thermal coatings and superalloyswith solid-solution
strengthening and grain boundary strengthening are used in blade designs. Protective coatings are
used to reduce the thermal damage and to limit oxidation. These coatings are often
stabilized zirconium dioxide-based ceramics. Using a thermal protective coating limits the
temperature exposure of the nickel superalloy. This reduces the creep mechanisms experienced in
the blade. Oxidation coatings limit efficiency losses caused by a buildup on the outside of the blades,
which is especially important in the high-temperature environment. [28] The nickel-based blades are
alloyed with aluminum and titanium to improve strength and creep resistance. The microstructure of
these alloys is composed of different regions of the composition. A uniform dispersion of the gamma-
prime phase – a combination of nickel, aluminum, and titanium – promotes the strength and creep
resistance of the blade due to the microstructure.[29] Refractory elements such
as rhenium and ruthenium can be added to the alloy to improve creep strength. The addition of
these elements reduces the diffusion of the gamma prime phase, thus preserving
the fatigue resistance, strength, and creep resistance.[30]

Types[edit]
Jet engines[edit]

typical axial-flow gas turbine turbojet, the J85, sectioned for display. Flow is left to right, multistage compressor
on left, combustion chambers center, two-stage turbine on right

Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from the exhaust gases, or
from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines.[31] Jet engines that produce thrust from the direct
impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets, whereas those that generate thrust with the
addition of a ducted fan are often called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets.
Gas turbines are also used in many liquid rocket propellants, gas turbines are used to power
a turbopump to permit the use of lightweight, low-pressure tanks, which reduce the empty weight of
the rocket.

Turboprop engines[edit]
A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.
Turboprop engines are used on small aircraft such as the general-aviation Cessna 208
Caravan and Embraer EMB 312 Tucano military trainer, medium-sized commuter aircraft such as
the Bombardier Dash 8 and large aircraft such as the Airbus A400M transport and the 60 year-
old Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber.

Aeroderivative gas turbines[edit]

Diagram of a high-pressure film-cooled turbine blade

Aeroderivatives are also used in electrical power generation due to their ability to be shut down and
handle load changes more quickly than industrial machines. They are also used in the marine
industry to reduce weight. The General Electric LM2500, General Electric LM6000, Rolls-Royce
RB211 and Rolls-Royce Avon are common models of this type of machine. [citation needed]

Amateur gas turbines[edit]

Increasing numbers of gas turbines are being used or even constructed by amateurs.
In its most straightforward form, these are commercial turbines acquired through military surplus or
scrapyard sales, then operated for display as part of the hobby of engine collecting. [32][33] In its most
extreme form, amateurs have even rebuilt engines beyond professional repair and then used them
to compete for the Land Speed Record.
The simplest form of self-constructed gas turbine employs an automotive turbocharger as the core
component. A combustion chamber is fabricated and plumbed between the compressor and turbine
sections.[34]
More sophisticated turbojets are also built, where their thrust and light weight are sufficient to power
large model aircraft.[35] The Schreckling design[35] constructs the entire engine from raw materials,
including the fabrication of a centrifugal compressor wheel from plywood, epoxy and wrapped
carbon fibre strands.
Several small companies now manufacture small turbines and parts for the amateur. Most turbojet-
powered model aircraft are now using these commercial and semi-commercial microturbines, rather
than a Schreckling-like home-build. [36]

Auxiliary power units[edit]

APUs are small gas turbines designed to supply auxiliary power to larger, mobile, machines such as
an aircraft. They supply:

 compressed air for air conditioning and ventilation,

 compressed air start-up power for larger jet engines,
 mechanical (shaft) power to a gearbox to drive shafted accessories or to start large jet
engines, and
 electrical, hydraulic and other power-transmission sources to consuming devices remote
from the APU.
Industrial gas turbines for power generation[edit]

GE H series power generation gas turbine: in combined cycleconfiguration, its highest thermal efficiency is
62.22%

Industrial gas turbines differ from aeronautical designs in that the frames, bearings, and blading are
of heavier construction. They are also much more closely integrated with the devices they power—
often an electric generator—and the secondary-energy equipment that is used to recover residual
energy (largely heat).
They range in size from portable mobile plants to large, complex systems weighing more than a
hundred tonnes housed in purpose-built buildings. When the gas turbine is used solely for shaft
power, its thermal efficiency is about 30%. However, it may be cheaper to buy electricity than to
generate it. Therefore, many engines are used in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) configurations
that can be small enough to be integrated into portable container configurations.
Gas turbines can be particularly efficient when waste heat from the turbine is recovered by a heat
recovery steam generator to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration.
[37]
 The 605 MW General Electric 9HA achieved a 62.22% efficiency rate with temperatures as high
as 1,540 °C (2,800 °F).[38] For 2018, GE offers its 826 MW HA at over 64% efficiency in combined
cycle due to advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs, up from 63.7% in
2017 orders and on track to achieve 65% by the early 2020s. [39]
Aeroderivative gas turbines can also be used in combined cycles, leading to a higher efficiency, but
it will not be as high as a specifically designed industrial gas turbine. They can also be run in
a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption
chiller for cooling the inlet air and increase the power output, technology known as Turbine Inlet Air
Cooling.
Another significant advantage is their ability to be turned on and off within minutes, supplying power
during peak, or unscheduled, demand. Since single cycle (gas turbine only) power plants are less
efficient than combined cycle plants, they are usually used as peaking power plants, which operate
anywhere from several hours per day to a few dozen hours per year—depending on the electricity
demand and the generating capacity of the region. In areas with a shortage of base-load and load
following power plant capacity or with low fuel costs, a gas turbine powerplant may regularly operate
most hours of the day. A large single-cycle gas turbine typically produces 100 to 400 megawatts of
electric power and has 35–40% thermal efficiency.[40]
Industrial gas turbines for mechanical drive[edit]
Industrial gas turbines that are used solely for mechanical drive or used in collaboration with a
recovery steam generator differ from power generating sets in that they are often smaller and feature
a dual shaft design as opposed to a single shaft. The power range varies from 1 megawatt up to 50
megawatts.[citation needed] These engines are connected directly or via a gearbox to either a pump or
compressor assembly. The majority of installations are used within the oil and gas industries.
Mechanical drive applications increase efficiency by around 2%.
Oil and Gas platforms require these engines to drive compressors to inject gas into the wells to force
oil up via another bore, or to compress the gas for transportation. They're also often used to provide
power for the platform. These platforms don't need to use the engine in collaboration with a CHP
system due to getting the gas at an extremely reduced cost (often free from burn off gas). The same
companies use pump sets to drive the fluids to land and across pipelines in various intervals.
Compressed air energy storage[edit]
Main article: Compressed air energy storage

One modern development seeks to improve efficiency in another way, by separating the compressor
and the turbine with a compressed air store. In a conventional turbine, up to half the generated
power is used driving the compressor. In a compressed air energy storage configuration, power,
perhaps from a wind farm or bought on the open market at a time of low demand and low price, is
used to drive the compressor, and the compressed air released to operate the turbine when
required.

Turboshaft engines[edit]
Turboshaft engines are often used to drive compression trains (for example in gas pumping stations
or natural gas liquefaction plants) and are used to power almost all modern helicopters. The primary
shaft bears the compressor and the high-speed turbine (often referred to as the Gas Generator),
while a second shaft bears the low-speed turbine (a power turbine or free-wheeling turbine on
helicopters, especially, because the gas generator turbine spins separately from the power turbine).
In effect the separation of the gas generator, by a fluid coupling (the hot energy-rich combustion
gases), from the power turbine is analogous to an automotive transmission's fluid coupling. This
arrangement is used to increase power-output flexibility with associated highly-reliable control
mechanisms.

Radial gas turbines[edit]

Main article: Radial turbine

In 1963, Jan Mowill initiated the development at Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk in Norway. Various

successors have made good progress in the refinement of this mechanism. Owing to a configuration
that keeps heat away from certain bearings the durability of the machine is improved while the radial
turbine is well matched in speed requirement. [citation needed]

Scale jet engines[edit]

Scale jet engines are scaled down versions of this early full scale engine

Also known as miniature gas turbines or micro-jets.

With this in mind the pioneer of modern Micro-Jets, Kurt Schreckling, produced one of the world's
first Micro-Turbines, the FD3/67.[35] This engine can produce up to 22 newtons of thrust, and can be
built by most mechanically minded people with basic engineering tools, such as a metal lathe.[35]

Microturbines[edit]
Main article: Microturbine

Evolved from piston engine turbochargers, aircraft APUs or small jet engines, microturbines are 25

to 500 kilowatt turbines the size of a refrigerator. Microturbines have around 15% efficiencies without
a recuperator, 20 to 30% with one and they can reach 85% combined thermal-electrical efficiency
in cogeneration.[41]

External combustion[edit]
Most gas turbines are internal combustion engines but it is also possible to manufacture an external
combustion gas turbine which is, effectively, a turbine version of a hot air engine. Those systems are
usually indicated as EFGT (Externally Fired Gas Turbine) or IFGT (Indirectly Fired Gas Turbine).
External combustion has been used for the purpose of using pulverized coal or finely ground
biomass (such as sawdust) as a fuel. In the indirect system, a heat exchanger is used and only
clean air with no combustion products travels through the power turbine. The thermal efficiency is
lower in the indirect type of external combustion; however, the turbine blades are not subjected to
combustion products and much lower quality (and therefore cheaper) fuels are able to be used.
When external combustion is used, it is possible to use exhaust air from the turbine as the primary
combustion air. This effectively reduces global heat losses, although heat losses associated with the
combustion exhaust remain inevitable.

Marine applications[edit]
Main article: Marine propulsion

Naval[edit]

The Gas turbine from MGB 2009

Gas turbines are used in many naval vessels, where they are valued for their high power-to-weight
ratio and their ships' resulting acceleration and ability to get underway quickly.
The first gas-turbine-powered naval vessel was the Royal Navy's Motor Gun Boat MGB
2009 (formerly MGB 509) converted in 1947. Metropolitan-Vickers fitted their F2/3 jet engine with a
power turbine. The Steam Gun Boat Grey Goose was converted to Rolls-Royce gas turbines in 1952
and operated as such from 1953. [63] The Bold class Fast Patrol Boats Bold Pioneer and Bold
Pathfinder built in 1953 were the first ships created specifically for gas turbine propulsion. [64]
The first large-scale, partially gas-turbine powered ships were the Royal Navy's Type 81 (Tribal
class) frigates with combined steam and gaspowerplants. The first, HMS  Ashanti was commissioned
in 1961.
The German Navy launched the first Köln-class frigate in 1961 with 2 Brown, Boveri & Cie gas
turbines in the world's first combined diesel and gas propulsion system.
The Danish Navy had 6 Søløven-class torpedo boats (the export version of the British Brave class
fast patrol boat) in service from 1965 to 1990, which had 3 Bristol Proteus (later RR Proteus) Marine
Gas Turbines rated at 9,510 kW (12,750 shp) combined, plus two General Motors Diesel engines,
rated at 340 kW (460 shp), for better fuel economy at slower speeds.[65] And they also produced 10
Willemoes Class Torpedo / Guided Missile boats (in service from 1974 to 2000) which had 3 Rolls
Royce Marine Proteus Gas Turbines also rated at 9,510 kW (12,750 shp), same as the Søløven-
class boats, and 2 General Motors Diesel Engines, rated at 600 kW (800 shp), also for improved fuel
economy at slow speeds.[66]
The Swedish Navy produced 6 Spica-class torpedo boats between 1966 and 1967 powered by
3 Bristol Siddeley Proteus 1282 turbines, each delivering 3,210 kW (4,300 shp). They were later
joined by 12 upgraded Norrköping class ships, still with the same engines. With their aft torpedo
tubes replaced by antishipping missiles they served as missile boats until the last was retired in
2005.[67]
The Finnish Navy commissioned two Turunmaa-class corvettes, Turunmaa and Karjala, in 1968.
They were equipped with one 16,410 kW (22,000 shp) Rolls-Royce Olympus TM1 gas turbine and
three Wärtsilä marine diesels for slower speeds. They were the fastest vessels in the Finnish Navy;
they regularly achieved speeds of 35 knots, and 37.3 knots during sea trials. The Turunmaas were
paid off in 2002. Karjala is today a museum ship in Turku, and Turunmaa serves as a floating
machine shop and training ship for Satakunta Polytechnical College.
The next series of major naval vessels were the four Canadian Iroquois-class helicopter carrying
destroyers first commissioned in 1972. They used 2 ft-4 main propulsion engines, 2 ft-12 cruise
engines and 3 Solar Saturn 750 kW generators.

An LM2500 gas turbine on USS  Ford

The first U.S. gas-turbine powered ship was the U.S. Coast Guard's Point Thatcher, a cutter
commissioned in 1961 that was powered by two 750 kW (1,000 shp) turbines utilizing controllable-
pitch propellers.[68] The larger Hamilton-class High Endurance Cutters, was the first class of larger
cutters to utilize gas turbines, the first of which (USCGC  Hamilton) was commissioned in 1967.
Since then, they have powered the U.S. Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class
frigates, Spruance and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and Ticonderoga-class guided missile
cruisers. USS  Makin Island, a modified Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, is to be the Navy's first
amphibious assault ship powered by gas turbines. The marine gas turbine operates in a more
corrosive atmosphere due to the presence of sea salt in air and fuel and use of cheaper fuels.
Advantages and disadvantages[edit]
The following are advantages and disadvantages of gas-turbine engines: [78]

Advantages[edit]
 Very high power-to-weight ratio compared to reciprocating engines.
 Smaller than most reciprocating engines of the same power rating.
 Smooth rotation of the main shaft produces far less vibration than a reciprocating engine.
 Fewer moving parts than reciprocating engines results in lower maintenance cost and higher
reliability/availability over its service life.
 Greater reliability, particularly in applications where sustained high power output is required.
 Waste heat is dissipated almost entirely in the exhaust. This results in a high-temperature
exhaust stream that is very usable for boiling water in a combined cycle, or for cogeneration.
 Lower peak combustion pressures than reciprocating engines in general.
 High shaft speeds in smaller "free turbine units", although larger gas turbines employed in
power generation operate at synchronous speeds.
 Low lubricating oil cost and consumption.
 Can run on a wide variety of fuels.
 Very low toxic emissions of CO and HC due to excess air, complete combustion and no
"quench" of the flame on cold surfaces.
Disadvantages[edit]
 Core engine costs can be high due to use of exotic materials.
 Less efficient than reciprocating engines at idle speed.
 Longer startup than reciprocating engines.
 Less responsive to changes in power demand compared with reciprocating engines.
 Characteristic whine can be hard to suppress.