Fuel-Saving Warship Drives

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (08) ◽  
pp. 63-67
Author(s):  
Steven Ashley
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Operational Reliability ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Acoustic Signature ◽  
Heat Recuperation ◽  
New Generation

This article focuses on a fuel-efficient gas turbine engine featuring intercooling and heat recuperation, which is being developed to power a new generation of warships. Modern warships are often powered by gas turbine engines so they can take advantage of the turbine’s rapid response capabilities, solid operational reliability, high power density, and compact dimensions. For medium-size surface combatants such as destroyers, aircraft-derivative gas turbines have become the dominant propulsion engine type, having largely replaced traditional steam or diesel power plants. Though the all-electric concept is far from new, having been applied previously to merchant vessels, the technology is looking better of late. The NRC panel stated that gas turbine propulsion units, modular rare-earth permanent magnetic motors, and power control module technologies have matured to the point that all-electric ships appear feasible. The technology cited “unique advantages” in reduced volume, modular flexible propulsion, lower acoustic signature, enhanced survivability, high propeller torque at low speed, and inherent reversing capability. The result would be a submarine-type propulsion design with diesel-like fuel consumption.

scholarly journals Clear Skies Ahead

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (06) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
Lee S. Langston
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Innovative Design ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Boom And Bust

This article discusses various fields where gas turbines can play a vital role. Building engines for commercial jetliners is the largest market segment for the gas turbine industry; however, it is far from being the only one. One 2015 military gas turbine program of note was the announcement of an U.S. Air Force competition for an innovative design of a small turbine engine, suitable for a medium-size drone aircraft. The electrical power gas turbine market experienced a sharp boom and bust from 2000 to 2002 because of the deregulation of many electric utilities. Since then, however, the electric power gas turbine market has shown a steady increase, right up to present times. Coal-fired plants now supply less than 5 percent of the electrical load, having been largely replaced by new natural gas-fired gas turbine power plants. Working in tandem with renewable energy power facilities, the new fleet of gas turbines is expected to provide reliable, on-demand electrical power at a reasonable cost.

Design, Development and Application of Vehicle Gas Turbine Engines

1966 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-172
Author(s):  
P. A. Phillips ◽  
Peter Spear
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Engine Performance ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cycle Temperature

After briefly summarizing worldwide automotive gas turbine activity, the paper analyses the power plant requirements of a wide range of vehicle applications in order to formulate the design criteria for acceptable vehicle gas turbines. Ample data are available on the thermodynamic merits of various gas turbine cycles; however, the low cost of its piston engine competitor tends to eliminate all but the simplest cycles from vehicle gas turbine considerations. In order to improve the part load fuel economy, some complexity is inevitable, but this is limited to the addition of a glass ceramic regenerator in the 150 b.h.p. engine which is described in some detail. The alternative further complications necessary to achieve satisfactory vehicle response at various power/weight ratios are examined. Further improvement in engine performance will come by increasing the maximum cycle temperature. This can be achieved at lower cost by the extension of the use of ceramics. The paper is intended to stimulate the design application of the gas turbine engine.

scholarly journals A Small Scale Biomass Fueled Gas Turbine Engine

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe D. Craig ◽  
Carol R. Purvis
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Brayton Cycle ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Rice Hulls ◽  
Turbine Component ◽  
The Cost ◽  
New Generation

A new generation of small scale (less than 20 MWe) biomass fueled, power plants are being developed based on a gas turbine (Brayton cycle) prime mover. These power plants are expected to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of generating power from fuels such as wood. The new power plants are also expected to economically utilize annual plant growth materials (such as rice hulls, cotton gin trash, nut shells, and various straws, grasses, and animal manures) that are not normally considered as fuel for power plants. This paper summarizes the new power generation concept with emphasis on the engineering challenges presented by the gas turbine component.

Gas Turbine Power Systems for Military Tracked Vehicles

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey D. Woodhouse
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Tracked Vehicles ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Response Characteristics ◽  
Air Inlet

The gas turbine engine has been examined as a power plant for military tracked vehicles for over 30 years. Advocates have stressed the potentially high power density and high reliability as factors in favor of the turbine. Several turbine engines have been evaluated experimentally in military tracked vehicles resulting in a better understanding of such aspects as response characteristics and air inlet filtration requirements. Moreover, although the small volume and light weight of aircraft derivative gas turbines have certain virtues, it generally has been concluded that some form of waste heat recuperation is essential to achieve an acceptable level of fuel consumption, despite the increased weight and volume incurred. The selection of the AVCO Lycoming AGT1500 recuperated gas turbine as the power unit for the U.S. Army new M1 “Abrams” main battle tank was a major milestone in the evolution of gas turbine engines for tank propulsion.

Low-Leakage Modular Regenerators for Gas-Turbine Engines

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Anthony Kluka ◽  
David Gordon Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Regenerative Heat ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Low Leakage ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Ceramic Honeycomb

One of the significant problems plaguing regenerator designs is seal leakage resulting in a reduction of thermal efficiency. This paper describes the preliminary design and analysis of a new regenerative heat-exchanger concept, called a modular regenerator, that promises to provide improved seal-leakage performance. The modular regenerator concept consists of a ceramic-honeycomb matrix discretized into rectangular blocks, called modules. Separating the matrix into modules substantially reduces the transverse sealing lengths and substantially increases the longitudinal sealing lengths as compared with typical rotary designs. Potential applications can range from small gas-turbine engines for automotive applications to large stationary gas turbines for industrial power generation. Descriptions of two types of modular regenerators are presented including sealing concepts. Results of seal leakage analysis for typical modular regenerators sized for a small gas-turbine engine (120 kW) predict leakage rates under one percent for most seal-clearance heights.

Analysis of Indirectly Fired Gas Turbine Power Systems

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Donald Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Engine Design ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
System Configurations

This paper describes the results of modelling the performance of several indirectly fired gas turbine (IFGT) power generation system configurations based on four gas turbine class sizes, namely 5 kW, 50 kW, 5 MW and 100 MW. These class sizes were selected to cover a wide range of installations in residential, commercial, industrial and large utility power generation installations. Because the IFGT configurations modelled consist of a gas turbine engine, one or two recuperators and a furnace; for comparison purpose this study also included simulations of simple cycle and recuperated gas turbine engines. Part-load, synchronous-speed simulations were carried out with generic compressor and turbine maps scaled for each engine design point conditions. The turbine inlet temperature (TIT) was varied from the design specification to a practical value for a metallic high-temperature heat exchanger in an IFGT system. As expected, the results showed that the reduced TIT can have dramatic impact on the power output and thermal efficiency when compared to that in conventional gas turbines. However, the simulations also indicated that several configurations can lead to higher performance, even with the reduced TIT. Although the focus of the study is on evaluation of thermodynamic performance, the implications of varying configurations on cost and durability are also discussed.

Predictive Compressor Wash Optimization for Economic Operation of Gas Turbine

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Houman Hanachi ◽  
Jie Liu ◽  
Ping Ding ◽  
Il Yong Kim ◽  
Chris K. Mechefske
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Considerable Saving ◽  
Service Period ◽  
Power Deficit

Gas turbine engines (GTEs) are widely used for power generation, ranging from stationary power plants to airplane propulsion systems. Compressor fouling is the dominant degradation mode in gas turbines that leads to economic losses due to power deficit and extra fuel consumption. Washing of the compressor removes the fouling matter and retrieves the performance, while causing a variety of costs including loss of production during service time. In this paper, the effect of fouling and washing on the revenue of the power plant is studied, and a general solution for the optimum time between washes of the compressor under variable fouling rates and demand power is presented and analyzed. The framework calculates the savings achievable with optimization of time between washes during a service period. The methodology is utilized to optimize total costs of fouling and washing and analyze the effects and sensitivities to different technical and economic factors. As a case study, it is applied to a sample set of cumulative gas turbine operating data for a time-between-overhauls and the potential saving has been estimated. The results show considerable saving potential through optimization of time between washes.

scholarly journals Generalized High Speed Simulation of Gas Turbine Engines

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanahisa Sugiyama
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Jet Engines ◽  
Industrial Gas Turbine ◽  
High Degree

This paper describes a real-time or faster-than-real-time simulation of gas turbine engines, using an ultra high speed, multi-processor digital computer, designated the AD100. It is shown that the frame time is reduced significantly without any loss of fidelity of a simulation. The simulation program is aimed at a high degree of flexibility to allow changes in engine configuration. This makes it possible to simulate various types of gas turbine engines, including jet engines, gas turbines for vehicles and power plants, in real-time. Some simulation results for an intercooled-reheat type industrial gas turbine are shown.

On the Economics of the Use of Biomass Fuels in Gas Turbine Cycles: Gasification vs. Externally Firing

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Barros Ferreira ◽  
Pericles Pilidis
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Pilot Scale ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Current Technology ◽  
Integrated Gasification

The use of biomass as gas turbine combined cycle fuels is broadly seen as one of the alternatives to diminish greenhouse gas emissions, mainly CO2, due to the efficiency delivered by such systems and the renewable characteristic of biomass itself. Integrated gasification cycles, BIGGT, are the current technology available; however the gasification system severely penalizes the power plant in terms of efficiency and demands modifications in the engine to accommodate the large fuel mass flow. This gives an opportunity to improvements in the current technologies and implementation of new ones. This paper intends to analyze new alternatives to the use of solid fuels in gas turbines, from the economical point of view, through the use of external combustion, EFGT, discussing its advantages and limitations over the current technology. The results show that both EFGT and BIGGT technologies are economically competitive with the current natural gas fired gas turbines. However, BIGGT power plants are still in pilot scale and the EFGT plants need further technological development. Thermodynamically speaking, the inherently recuperative characteristic of the EFGT gas turbine engine makes it well suited to the biomass market. The thermal efficiency of this cycle is higher than the BIGGT system. Furthermore, its fuel flexibility and negligible pre-treatmet is another advantage that makes it an interesting option for the Brazilian market.

scholarly journals Automation and Electronic Control of Marine Gas Turbine Engine for Ship Revamp

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 98-108
Author(s):  
Filip Niculescu ◽  
Claudia Borzea ◽  
Adrian Savescu ◽  
Andrei Mitru ◽  
Mirela Letitia Vasile
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Weight Ratio ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Control Panel ◽  
Electronic Control ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Operation Costs

Gas turbines used in propulsion ensure increased efficiency and safety, with a very good power / weight ratio and with low maintenance and operation costs. Due to becoming out-of-date and reaching the maximum operation hours and expected lifetime, which can cause malfunctioning, older turbine engines on frigates need to be replaced with newer generation propulsion engines. The paper presents the replacement of the turbine engine on a defence frigate, focusing on the automation and electronic control solution employed for a propulsion turbine, integrating state-of-the-art techniques. The electronic system ensures control, monitoring and alarm functions, including overspeed protection. A local control panel interfacing the PLC displays the operating parameters and engine controls, also providing maintenance and calibration sequences. The proposed solution enables both the local and the remote control of the ship’s gas turbine.

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