MECH7350 Rotating Machinery

7. Gas Turbines

7. GAS TURBINES
(This section is based largely on Black and Veatch)

Gas turbines are only briefly covered in these notes because (a) many of their mechanical fundamentals are similar to those for steam turbines, and (b) they are the topic of a guest lecturer.

Gas turbine technology is used in a variety of configurations for electric power generation. Conventional

applications in power stations are simple cycle and combined cycle. Simple cycle operation is used primarily for peaking power

generation. Smaller units (about 15 MW) are used for black starts. Fig 7.1 is a schematic of simple cycle operation.
Fig. 7.1 Simple gas turbine cycle (from Black and Veatch).

Combined cycles combine the gas turbine and steam turbine cycles into more efficient power plants by utilising the gas turbine exhaust gas heat. This is shown schematically in Fig. 7.2.

Fig. 7.2 Combined cycle gas turbine (from Black and Veatch).

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7. Gas Turbines

Gas turbine applications generally rely on natural gas, with its environmental benefits, or fuel oil for fuel. However, future power plants can be expected to use the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) in which coal is partially combusted in oxygen to produce syngas, which in turn is burned in a combined cycle process to produce electricity.

7.1 Gas Turbine Components The main components of a gas turbine (Fig. 7.3) are: Inlet air system Compressor Combustion systems Turbine Exhaust system generator

Fig. 7.3 Major sections of a gas turbine assembly (from Black and Veatch).

When the gas turbine is started, ambient air is drawn through the inlet air system, where it is filtered and then directed to the inlet of the compressor where it is compressed and directed to the combustion system. Inside the combustion system the air is mixed with fuel and the mixture is ignited by a spark plug ignition system. The compressed and heated combustion gases then flow to the turbine, expanding and causing it to rotate. The rotating turbine drives

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery

7. Gas Turbines

the compressor and accessory equipment, such as the main lube oil pump. The number of stages within the compressor and turbine may vary.

After leaving the last stage of the turbine, the exhaust gases are either released to the atmosphere or directed through an exhaust system to heat recovery equipment.

7.2 Multi- and Single-Shaft Plants In a multi-shaft combined-cycle plant, there are generally several gas turbines with heat recovery generators producing steam for a single steam turbine. The steam and gas turbines use different shafts and generators. With the largest gas turbines on the market, one steam turbine per gas turbine or one steam turbine for two gas turbines is common.

If one steam turbine per gas turbine is installed, the single-shaft application is most common gas turbine and steam turbine driving the same generator. A plant with two gas turbines can be built either in a multi-shaft or a single-shaft configuration.

7.3 Sequential Combustion In a gas turbine with sequential combustion, air enters the first combustion chamber after the compressor. There, fuel is burned, raising the gas temperature to the inlet temperature for the first turbine. The hot gas expands through this turbine stage, generating power before

entering the second combustion chamber where additional fuel is burned to reach the inlet temperature for the second part of the turbine. There, the hot gas is expanded to atmospheric pressure. Sequential combustion increases efficiency.

7.4 Materials Gas and steam turbines experience similar problems. However, the magnitude of these problems is different, leading to more demands on the materials in gas turbines. In modern, high performance, long-life gas turbines, the critical components are the combustor liner and the turbine blades.

Creep and corrosion are the primary failure mechanisms in a gas turbine blade, followed by thermal fatigue. The first-stage blades must withstand the most severe conditions of

temperature, stress and environment. Temperatures can be as high as 1500C. Nickel-base alloys are widely used with coatings to protect against hot corrosion. 7-3

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7. Gas Turbines

7.5 An Example An example of a large gas turbine used in power generation is the Alstom Model GT26 shown in Fig. 7.4. It has the following features: Sequential combustion Turbine speed of 3,000 rpm (50 Hz) Gross electrical output of 288 MW Natural gas primary fuel, with fuel oil as a backup Blade cooling with air extracted from the compressor Hydrodynamic journal and tilting-pad thrust bearings Turbine outer casing and compressor casing split horizontally

Fig. 7.4 Alston GT26 gas turbine.

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