Wave-Rotor Pressure-Gain Combustion Analysis for Power Generation and Gas Turbine Applications

Author(s):  
Manikanda Rajagopal ◽  
Abdullah Karimi ◽  
Razi Nalim

A wave-rotor pressure-gain combustor (WRPGC) ideally provides constant-volume combustion and enables a gas turbine engine to operate on the Humphrey-Atkinson cycle. It exploits pressure (both compression and expansion) waves and confined propagating combustion to achieve pressure rise inside the combustor. This study first presents thermodynamic cycle analysis to illustrate the improvements of a gas turbine engine possible with a wave rotor combustor. Thereafter, non-steady reacting simulations are used to examine features and characteristics of a combustor rig that reproduces key features of a WRPGC. In the thermodynamic analysis, performance parameters such as thermal efficiency and specific power are estimated for different operating conditions (compressor pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature). The performance of the WRPGC is compared with the conventional unrecuperated and recuperated engines that operates on the Brayton cycle. Fuel consumption may be reduced substantially with WRPGC introduction, while concomitantly boosting power. Simulations have been performed of the ignition of propane by a hot gas jet and subsequent turbulent flame propagation and shock-flame interaction.

Author(s):  
C. A. Fucinari ◽  
J. K. Vallance ◽  
C. J. Rahnke

The design and development of the regenerator seals used in the AGT101 gas turbine engine are described in this paper. The all ceramic AGT101 gas turbine engine was designed for 100 hp at 5:1 pressure ratio with 2500F (1371C) turbine inlet temperature. Six distinct phases of seal design were investigated experimentally and analytically to develop the final design. Static and dynamic test rig results obtained during the seal development program are presented. In addition, analytical techniques are described. The program objectives of reduced seal leakage, without additional diaphragm cooling, to 3.6% of total engine airflow and higher seal operating temperature resulting from the 2000F (1093C) inlet exhaust gas temperature were met.


Author(s):  
S. Y. Kim ◽  
M. R. Park ◽  
S. Y. Cho

This paper describes on/off design performance of a 50KW turbogenerator gas turbine engine for hybrid vehicle application. For optimum design point selection, a relevant pa4rameter study is carried out. The turbogenerator gas turbine engine for a hybrid vehicle is expected to be designed for maximum fuel economy, ultra low emissions, and very low cost. A compressor, combustor, turbine, and a permanent-magnet generator will be mounted on a single high speed (80,000 rpm) shaft that will be supported on air bearings. As the generator is built into the shaft, gearbox and other moving parts become unnecessary and thus will increase the system’s reliability and reduce the manufacturing cost. The engine has a radial compressor and turbine with design point pressure ratio of 4.0. This pressure ratio was set based on calculation of specific fuel consumption and specific power variation with pressure ratio. For the turbine inlet temperature, a rather conservative value of 1100K was selected. Designed mass flow rate was 0.5 kg/sec. Parametric study of the cycle indicates that specific work and efficiency increase at a given pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature. Off design analysis shows that the gas turbine system reaches self operating condition at about N/NDP = 0.48. Bleeding air for a turbine stator cooling is omitted considering the low TIT in the present engine and to enable the simple geometric configuration for manufacturing purpose. Various engine performance simulations including ambient temperature influence, surging at part load condition; transient analysis were performed to secure the optimum engine operating characteristics. Surge margin throughout the performance analysis were maintained to be over 50% approximately. Present analysis will be compared with performance test result which is scheduled at the end of 1998.


Author(s):  
O. Dessornes ◽  
S. Landais ◽  
R. Valle ◽  
A. Fourmaux ◽  
S. Burguburu ◽  
...  

To reduce the size and weight of power generation machines for portable devices, several systems to replace the currently used heavy batteries are being investigated worldwide. As micro gas turbines are expected to offer the highest power density, several research groups launched programs to develop ultra micro gas turbines: IHI firm (Japan), PowerMEMS Consortium (Belgium). At Onera, a research program called DecaWatt is under development in order to realize a demonstrator of a micro gas turbine engine in the 50 to 100 Watts electrical power range. A single-stage gas turbine is currently being studied. First of all, a calculation of the overall efficiency of the micro gas turbine engine has been carried out according to the pressure ratio, the turbine inlet temperature and the compressor and turbine efficiencies. With realistic hypotheses, we could obtain an overall efficiency of about 5% to 10% which leads to around 200 W/kg when taking into account the mass of the micro gas turbine engine, its electronics, fuel and packaging. Moreover, the specific energy could be in the range 300 to 600 Wh/kg which exceeds largely the performance of secondary batteries. To develop such a micro gas turbine engine, experimental and computational work focused on: • a 10 mm in diameter centrifugal compressor, with the objective to obtain a pressure ratio of about 2.5 • a radial inflow turbine • journal and thrust gas bearings (lobe bearings and spiral grooves) and their manufacturing • a small combustor working with hydrogen or hydrocarbon gaseous fuel (propane) • a high rotation speed micro-generator • the choice of materials Components of this tiny engine were tested prior to the test with all the parts assembled together. Tests of the generator at 700,000 rpm showed a very good efficiency of this component. In the same way, compressor testing has been performed up to 500,000 rpm and has shown that the nominal compression rate at the 840,000 rpm nominal speed should be nearly reached.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Welch ◽  
S. M. Jones ◽  
D. E. Paxson

The benefits of wave rotor topping in small (300- to 500-kW [400- to 700-hp] class) and intermediate (2000- to 3000-kw [3000- to 4000-hp] class) turboshaft engines, and large (350- to 450-kN [80,000- to 100,000-lbf] class) high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines are evaluated. Wave rotor performance levels are calculated using a one-dimensional design/analysis code. Baseline and wave-rotor-enhanced engine performance levels are obtained from a cycle deck in which the wave rotor is represented as a burner with pressure gain. Wave rotor topping is shown to enhance the specific fuel consumption and specific power of small- and intermediate-sized turboshaft engines significantly. The specific fuel consumption of the wave-rotor-enhanced large turbofan engine can be reduced while it operates at a significantly reduced turbine inlet temperature. The wave-rotor-enhanced engine is shown to behave off-design like a conventional engine. Discussion concerning the impact of the wave rotor/gas turbine engine integration identifies technical challenges.


Author(s):  
Yousef S. H. Najjar ◽  
Taha K. Aldoss

To reduce the inefficiency and the drawbacks incurred by reheat in a gas turbine engine with the two turbines in series, a parallel arrangement is investigated. The combustion gases expand to atmospheric pressure in each turbine. One of the turbines drives the compressor to which it is mechanically coupled while the other develops the power output of the plant. Two methods of control for the reduction of power are considered: a) Varying the fuel supply to the combustion chambers so that the inlet temperature to the turbine driving the compressor is constant, while the inlet temperature to the power turbine is reduced. b) Reducing both temperatures while keeping them equal. The effects of turbines inlet temperatures, pressure ratio and pressure loss in combustion chambers on the cycle efficiency and power output are studied and a sensitivity analysis is carried out, with the aid of a specially constructed computer program. The first method of control proved to be superior.


Author(s):  
Scott M. Jones ◽  
Gerard E. Welch

The benefits of wave rotor-topping in turboshaft engines, subsonic high-bypass turbofan engines, auxiliary power units, and ground power units are evaluated. The thermodynamic cycle performance is modeled using a one-dimensional steady-state code; wave rotor performance is modeled using one-dimensional design/analysis codes. Design and off-design engine performance is calculated for baseline engines and wave rotor-topped engines, where the wave rotor acts as a high pressure spool. The wave rotor-enhanced engines are shown to have benefits in specific power and specific fuel flow over the baseline engines without increasing turbine inlet temperature. The off-design steady-state behavior of a wave rotor-topped engine is shown to be similar to a conventional engine. Mission studies are performed to quantify aircraft performance benefits for various wave rotor cycle and weight parameters. Gas turbine engine cycles most likely to benefit from wave rotor-topping are identified. Issues of practical integration and the corresponding technical challenges with various engine types are discussed.


Author(s):  
O. Dessornes ◽  
S. Landais ◽  
R. Valle ◽  
A. Fourmaux ◽  
S. Burguburu ◽  
...  

To reduce the size and weight of power generation machines for portable devices, several systems to replace the currently used heavy batteries are being investigated worldwide. As micro gas turbines are expected to offer the highest power density, several research groups launched programs to develop ultra micro gas turbines: IHI firm (Japan), PowerMEMS Consortium (Belgium). At Onera, a research program called DecaWatt is under development in order to realize a demonstrator of a micro gas turbine engine in the 50 to 100 Watts electrical power range. A single-stage gas turbine is currently being studied. First of all, a calculation of the overall efficiency of the micro gas turbine engine has been carried out according to the pressure ratio, the turbine inlet temperature, and the compressor and turbine efficiencies. With realistic hypotheses, we could obtain an overall efficiency of about 5% to 10%, which leads to around 200 W/kg when taking into account the mass of the micro gas turbine engine, its electronics, fuel and packaging. Moreover, the specific energy could be in the range 300 to 600 Wh/kg, which largely exceeds the performance of secondary batteries. To develop such a micro gas turbine engine, experimental and computational work focused on: (1) a 10-mm diameter centrifugal compressor, with the objective to obtain a pressure ratio of about 2.5; (2) a radial inflow turbine; (3) journal and thrust gas bearings (lobe bearings and spiral grooves) and their manufacturing; (4) a small combustor working with hydrogen or hydrocarbon gaseous fuel (propane); (5) a high rotation speed microgenerator; and (6) the choice of materials. Components of this tiny engine were tested prior to the test with all the parts assembled together. Tests of the generator at 700,000 rpm showed a very good efficiency of this component. In the same way, compressor testing was performed up to 500,000 rpm and showed that the nominal compression rate at the 840,000 rpm nominal speed should nearly be reached.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Watts ◽  
T. E. Dwan ◽  
C. G. Brockus

An analog fuel control for a gas turbine engine was compared with several state-space derived fuel controls. A single-spool, simple cycle gas turbine engine was modeled using ACSL (high level simulation language based on FORTRAN). The model included an analog fuel control representative of existing commercial fuel controls. The ACSL model was stripped of nonessential states to produce an eight-state linear state-space model of the engine. The A, B, and C matrices, derived from rated operating conditions, were used to obtain feedback control gains by the following methods: (1) state feedback; (2) LQR theory; (3) Bellman method; and (4) polygonal search. An off-load transient followed by an on-load transient was run for each of these fuel controls. The transient curves obtained were used to compare the state-space fuel controls with the analog fuel control. The state-space fuel controls did better than the analog control.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document