Gas Turbine Technology : Flying Machine to

Ground Utilities

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department

A White Collar Power Generation

Progress in Rankine Cycle

1907

1919

1938

1950

1958

1959

1966

1973

1975

MW

20

30

60

120

200

500

660

1300

p,MPa

1.3

1.4

4.1

6.2

10.3

16.2

15.9

15.9

24.1

Th oC

260

316

454

482

538

566

566

565

538

Tr oC

--

--

--

--

538

538

566

565

538

FHW

--

5.1

4.5

3.4

3.7

3.7

4.4

5.4

5.1

~17

27.6

30.5

35.6

37.5

39.8

39.5

40

Year

Pc,kPa 13.5

,%

--

The most Unwanted Characteristic of Rankine

Group of Power Generation Systems
The amount of cooling required by any steam-cycle power plant
is determined by its thermal efficiency.
It has nothing essentially to do with whether it is fuelled by coal,
gas or uranium.
Where availability of cooling water is limited, cooling does not
need to be a constraint on new generating capacity.
Alternative cooling options are available at slightly higher cost.
Nuclear power plants have greater flexibility in location than
coal-fired plants due to fuel logistics, giving them more potential
for their siting to be determined by cooling considerations.

Cooling Problems !!!!

The bigger the temperature difference between the internal
heat source and the external environment where the
surplus heat is dumped, the more efficient is the process in
achieving mechanical work.
The desirability of having a high temperature internally
and a low temperature environmentally.
In a coal-fired or conventionally gas-fired plant it is
possible to run the internal boilers at higher temperatures
than those with finely-engineered nuclear fuel assemblies
which must avoid damage.
The external consideration gives rise to desirably siting
power plants alongside very cold water.

Steam Cycle Heat Transfer

For the heat transfer function the water is circulated
continuously in a closed loop steam cycle and hardly any is
lost.
The water needs to be clean and fairly pure.
This function is much the same whether the power plant is
nuclear, coal-fired, or conventionally gas-fired.
Cooling to condense the steam and surplus heat discharge.
The second function for water in such a power plant is to cool
the system so as to condense the low-pressure steam and
recycle it.
This is a major consideration in siting power plants, and in the
UK siting study in 2009 all recommendations were for sites
within 2 km of abundant water - sea or estuary.

Water, Water & Water .!!!!!

A nuclear or coal plant running at 33% thermal efficiency
will need to dump about 14% more heat than one at 36%
efficiency.
Nuclear plants currently being built have about 34-36%
thermal efficiency, depending on site (especially water
temperature).
Older ones are often only 32-33% efficient.
The relatively new Stanwell coal-fired plant in Queensland
runs at 36%, but some new coal-fired plants approach 40%
and one of the new nuclear reactors claims 39%.

History & Repetition

1791: A patent was given to John Barber, an Englishman,
for the first true gas turbine.
His invention had most of the elements present in the
modern day gas turbines.
The turbine was designed to power a horseless carriage.
1872: The first true gas turbine engine was designed by Dr
Franz Stikze, but the engine never ran under its own power.
1903: A Norwegian, gidius Elling, was able to build the
first gas turbine that was able to produce more power than
needed to run its own components, which was considered
an achievement in a time when knowledge about
aerodynamics was limited.
Using rotary compressors and turbines it produced 11 hp
(massive for those days).
He further developed the concept, and by 1912 he had
developed a gas turbine system with separate turbine unit
and compressor in series, a combination that is now
common.

 1914: Application for a gas turbine engine filed by

Charles Curtis.
1918: One of the leading gas turbine manufacturers of
today, General Electric, started their gas turbine
division.
1920: The practical theory of gas flow through passages
was developed into the more formal (and applicable to
turbines) theory of gas flow past airfoils by Dr A. A.
Griffith.
1930: Sir Frank Whittle patented the design for a gas
turbine for jet propulsion.

THE WORLDS FIRST INDUSTRIAL GAS TURBINE

SET GT NEUCHTEL

4 MW GT for Power Generation

First turbojet-powered aircraft Ohains engine on He 178

The worlds first aircraft to fly purely on turbojet power, the

Heinkel He 178.
Its first true flight was on 27 August, 1939.

Steam Turbine Vs Gas Turbine : Power Generation

Experience gained from a large number of exhaust-gas turbines for
diesel engines, a temp. of 538C was considered absolutely safe for
uncooled heat resisting steel turbine blades.
This would result in obtainable outputs of 2000-8000 KW with
compressor turbine efficiencies of 73-75%, and an overall cycle
efficiency of 17-18%.
First Gas turbine electro locomotive 2500 HP ordered from BBC by
Swiss Federal Railways
The advent of high pressure and temperature steam turbine with
regenerative heating of the condensate and air pre-heating, resulted in
coupling efficiencies of approx. 25%.
The gas turbine having been considered competitive with steam turbine
plant of 18% which was considered not quite satisfactory.
The Gas turbine was unable to compete with modern base load steam
turbines of 25% efficiency.
There was a continuous development in steam power plant which led to
increase of Power Generation Efficiencies of 35% +
This hard reality required consideration of a different application for the
gas turbine.

Anatomy of A Jet Engine

Variation of Jet Technologies

l
a
m
r
e
h
T

D
y
g
r
e
n
E

n
o
i
t
u
b
i
r
ist

Ideal Jet Cycles

~1970s
Aero Rejected Engines & Aero Derivative Engines

4
3

T0
1

6f
6p
2
Direction

TurboJet
6j
Turbofan

7f
7p
Turboprop

Brayton Cycle
1-2 Isentropic compression (in a compressor)
2-3 Constant pressure heat addition
3-4 Isentropic expansion (in a turbine)
4-1 Constant pressure heat rejection

pv & Ts diagrams

SSSF Analysis of Control Volumes Making a Brayton Cycle:

V2

Q CV m h
gz

in

V2

m h
gz

W CV
out

Specific Energy equation of SSSF :

V2

q CV h
gz

in

V2

h
gz

wCV
out

No Change in potential energy across any CV

q CV h0,in h0,out wCV

Calorically perfect and Ideal Gas as working fluid.

q CV C pT0,in C pT0,out wCV

1 2 : Specific work input :

wcomp h2 h1 c p (T02 T01 )

2 3 : Specific heat input :

qin h3 h2 c p (T03 T02 )

3 4 : Specific work output :

wtur h3 h4 c p (T03 T04 )

4 1 : Specific heat rejection : qout

h4 h1 c p (T04 T01 )

Isentropic Processes:

p02 T02

p01 T01

p03 T03

p04 T04

Constant Stagnation Pressure Processes:

p03 p02 & p04 p01

p02 p03 T02

r0 p

p01 p04 T01

T02 T01 r0 p

T03

T04

T1 0

T04

T03

r
0p

T03

wnet wtur wcomp h03 h04 h02 h01

c p (T03 T04 ) (T02 T01 )

wnet

wnet

T03
c p (T03 ) ( T01 T01 )

0 1
T01 ( 0 1)
c p T03
0

T03

c p (T03 T01 )
T01

qin h03 h02 c p (T03 0T01 )

wnet
th
qin

T03

c p (T03 0T01 )
T01
0

c p T03 T01

wnet
1
1
th
1
1
qin
0
1
r0 p

0 1
T01 ( 0 1)
wnet c p T03
0

T03

0 1
T03 0T01
c p ( 0 1)
T01 c p
0

1
1
th

0
1
r0 p

Pressure Ratio Vs Efficiency

th

r0 p

Pressure Ratio Vs Specific Workoutput

wnet

r0 p

th

wnet

1872, Dr Franz Stikzes Paradox