INTRODUCTION

A gas turbine is a combustion engine that can convert natural gas or other liquid fuels to
mechanical energy. This energy then drives a generator that produces electrical energy. It is
electrical energy that moves along power lines to homes and businesses.

A gas turbine engine is a type of internal combustion engine. Essentially, the engine can be
viewed as an energy conversion device that converts energy stored in the fuel to useful mechanical
energy in the form of rotational power. The term gas refers to the ambient air that is taken into the
engine and used as the working medium in the energy conversion process.

This air is first drawn into the engine where it is compressed, mixed with fuel and ignited. The
resulting hot gas expands at high velocity through a series of airfoil-shaped blades transferring
energy created from combustion to turn an output shaft. The residual thermal energy in the hot
exhaust gas can be harnessed for a variety of industrial processes.

The gas turbine has become an important, widespread, and reliable device in the field of
power generation, transportation and other applications. A gas turbine is an internal combustion
engine, it can burn a variety of fuels (which contributes to its great versatility).
BRIEF HISTORY
Gas turbines developed from two fields of
technology: the steam turbine, and the internal
combustion engine. Work on both of these fields helped
lead to the "Modern Gas Turbine" of the post 1940's
period. 1500 - 1870s: Leonardo da Vinci, Gionvanni
Branca, John Barber, and others mention or design
devices that use hot gas or steam to create motion.
Simultaneously work by Samuel Brown, Sadi Carnot,
Samuel Morel, William Barnett, and others develop the
design of the internal combustion engine. Basic
understanding and theory of how gases burn and behave
in enclosed spaces is developed.

Steam and Gas Turbine Turbine work Combine:

Sir Charles Parsons built the first steam turbine used in a power station in Cambridge,
England. Charles Curtis (US) develops a different design and sells the patent to E.W. Rice at
General Electric. Rice gives Curtis all the manpower and resources he needs to develop the worlds
most powerful steam turbines which are commercially sold across the continent. Dr. Sanford Moss
develops a thesis on gas turbines in 1903, he joins GE in Massachusetts. Moss Develops the
superturbocharger during World War 1. This device uses hot exhaust gases from an internal
combustion engine to drive a turbine wheel which ran a centrifugal compressor. This device
increased the power output of the engine. In 1918 GE begins a gas turbine division. This sets the
stage for GE to lead the commercial gas turbine industry decades later. Dr. A. A. Griffith develops
vital theories regarding gas flow past airfoils vs the previous method of using passages.

Jet engines use gas turbine technology. This application of gas turbines was developed first
by Sir Frank Whittle, Hans von Ohian, Dr. Franz Anslem, and more from the 1930-42 period. Jet
engine development is another topic best discussed in a separate page.The first modern Gas
Turbine:

BCC Brown Boveri & Cie (Switzerland) conducts development of gas turbines for utility
power generation starting in the 1930s. Raul pateras de Pescara , Hans von Ohain, Max Hahn
develop their own designs outside of BCC Brown Boveri. In 1936 BCC Brown Boveri built a
supercharged velox boiler for a refinery in Pennsylvania which was used in the catalytic cracking
process for oil. In 1939 a 4 Megawatt power generation gas turbine is installed in Neuchatel,
Switzerland. You can now see this turbine on display at Birr, Switzerland. It ran from 1939-2002.

The first commercially sold gas turbine in the Western Hemisphere used for electric power
generation was installed in 1949 at Belle Isle Station, Oklahoma, US. A core group of engineers from
General Electric pioneered an efficient and power design that formed the basis for a multi-billion
dollar industry. The design led to an explosion in sales of gas turbines worldwide. Gas turbines
finally had established a firm place in reliable power generation after 1950.
GAS TURBINE PARTS

The combustion (gas) turbines being installed in many of today's natural-gas-fueled power plants
are complex machines, but they basically involve three main sections:

The compressor, which draws air into the engine, pressurizes it, and feeds it to the
combustion chamber at speeds of hundreds of miles per hour.
The combustion system, typically made up of a ring of fuel injectors that inject a steady
stream of fuel into combustion chambers where it mixes with the air. The mixture is burned at
temperatures of more than 2000 degrees F. The combustion produces a high temperature,
high pressure gas stream that enters and expands through the turbine section.
The turbine is an intricate array of alternate stationary and rotating aerofoil-section blades.
As hot combustion gas expands through the turbine, it spins the rotating blades. The rotating
blades perform a dual function: they drive the compressor to draw more pressurized air into
the combustion section, and they spin a generator to produce electricity.
Land based gas turbines are of two types: (1) heavy frame engines and (2) aeroderivative
engines. Heavy frame engines are characterized by lower pressure ratios (typically below 20) and
tend to be physically large. Pressure ratio is the ratio of the compressor discharge pressure and the
inlet air pressure. Aeroderivative engines are derived from jet engines, as the name implies, and
operate at very high compression ratios (typically in excess of 30). Aeroderivative engines tend to be
very compact and are useful where smaller power outputs are needed. As large frame turbines
have higher power outputs, they can produce larger amounts of emissions, and must be designed to
achieve low emissions of pollutants, such as NOx.
One key to a turbine's fuel-to-power efficiency is the temperature at which it operates. Higher
temperatures generally mean higher efficiencies, which in turn, can lead to more economical
operation. Gas flowing through a typical power plant turbine can be as hot as 2300 degrees F, but
some of the critical metals in the turbine can withstand temperatures only as hot as 1500 to 1700
degrees F. Therefore, air from the compressor might be used for cooling key turbine components,
reducing ultimate thermal efficiency
GAS TURBINE WORKING PRINCIPLE
Gas turbines are comprised of three primary sections mounted on the same shaft: the
compressor, the combustion chamber (or combustor) and the turbine. The compressor can be either
axial flow or centrifugal flow. Axial flow compressors are more common in power generation because
they have higher flow rates and efficiencies. Axial flow compressors are comprised of multiple
stages of rotating and stationary blades (or
stators) through which air is drawn in parallel to
the axis of rotation and incrementally compressed
as it passes through each stage. The acceleration
of the air through the rotating blades and diffusion
by the stators increases the pressure and reduces
the volume of the air. Although no heat is added,
the compression of the air also causes the
temperature to increase.

The compressed air is mixed with fuel injected through nozzles. The fuel and compressed air
can be pre-mixed or the
compressed air can be
introduced directly into the
combustor. The fuel-air
mixture ignites under
constant pressure
conditions and the hot
combustion products
(gases) are directed
through the turbine where it
expands rapidly and
imparts rotation to the
shaft. The turbine is also
comprised of stages, each
with a row of stationary blades (or nozzles) to direct the expanding gases followed by a row of
moving blades. The rotation of the shaft drives the compressor to draw in and compress more air to
sustain continuous combustion. The remaining shaft power is used to drive a generator which
produces electricity. Approximately 55 to 65 percent of the power produced by the turbine is used to
drive the compressor. To optimize the transfer of kinetic energy from the combustion gases to shaft
rotation, gas turbines can have multiple compressor and turbine stages.
Because the compressor must reach a certain speed before the combustion process is
continuous or self-sustaining initial momentum is imparted to the turbine rotor from an external
motor, static frequency converter, or the generator itself. The compressor must be smoothly
accelerated and reach firing speed before fuel can be introduced and ignition can occur. Turbine
speeds vary widely by manufacturer and design, ranging from 2,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) to
10,000 rpm. Initial ignition occurs from one or more spark plugs (depending on combustor design).
Once the turbine reaches self-sustaining speed above 50% of full speed the power output is
enough to drive the compressor, combustion is continuous, and the starter system can be
disengaged.
GAS TURBINE PERFORMANCE
The thermodynamic process used in gas turbines is the Brayton cycle. Two significant
performance parameters are the pressure ratio and the firing temperature. The fuel-to-power
efficiency of the engine is optimized by increasing the difference (or ratio) between the compressor
discharge pressure and inlet air pressure. This compression ratio is dependent on the design. Gas
turbines for power generation can be either industrial (heavy frame) or aeroderivative designs.
Industrial gas turbines are designed for stationary applications and have lower pressure ratios
typically up to 18:1. Aeroderivative gas turbines are lighter weight compact engines adapted from
aircraft jet engine design which operate at higher compression ratios up to 30:1. They offer higher
fuel efficiency and lower emissions, but are smaller and have higher initial (capital) costs.
Aeroderivative gas turbines are more sensitive to the compressor inlet temperature.
The temperature at which the turbine operates (firing temperature) also impacts efficiency,
with higher temperatures leading to higher efficiency. However, turbine inlet temperature is limited by
the thermal conditions that can be tolerated by the turbine blade metal alloy. Gas temperatures at
the turbine inlet can be 1200C to 1400C, but some manufacturers have boosted inlet temperatures
as high as 1600C by engineering blade coatings and cooling systems to protect metallurgical
components from thermal damage.
Because of the power required to drive the compressor, energy conversion efficiency for a
simple cycle gas turbine power plant is typically about 30 percent, with even the most efficient
designs limited to 40 percent. A large amount of heat remains in the exhaust gas, which is around
600C as it leaves the turbine. By recovering that waste heat to produce more useful work in a
combined cycle configuration, gas turbine power plant efficiency can reach 55 to 60 percent.
However, there are operational limitations associated with operating gas turbines in combined cycle
mode, including longer startup time, purge requirements to prevent fires or explosions, and ramp
rate to full load.

Another way to boost efficiency is to install a recuperator or heat recovery steam generator
(HRSG) to recover energy from the turbine's exhaust. A recuperator captures waste heat in the
turbine exhaust system to preheat the compressor discharge air before it enters the combustion
chamber. A HRSG generates steam by capturing heat from the turbine exhaust. These boilers are
also known as heat recovery steam generators. High-pressure steam from these boilers can be used
to generate additional electric power with steam turbines, a configuration called a combined cycle
A simple cycle gas turbine can achieve energy conversion efficiencies ranging between 20
and 35 percent. With the higher temperatures achieved in the Department of Energy's turbine
program, future hydrogen and syngas fired gas turbine combined cycle plants are likely to achieve
efficiencies of 60 percent or more. When waste heat is captured from these systems for heating or
industrial purposes, the overall energy cycle efficiency could approach 80 percent.

REFERENCES:
https://www.gepower.com/resources/knowledge-base/what-is-a-gas-turbine

https://mysolar.cat.com/en_US/products/gas-turbine-overview.html

https://www.wartsila.com/energy/learning-center/technical-comparisons/gas-turbine-for-power-
generation-introduction
http://www.edisontechcenter.org/gasturbines.html