GAS TURBINE ENGINES

In this section we will examine the basic

layout of common gas turbine engine
sets. The simplest gas turbine draws in
air from the atmosphere with a
continuous flow compressor. This is
usually an axial stage followed by a
centrifugal stage to turn the flow through
90o to the combustion chamber. The fuel
is injected into the hot air and ignited.
This requires an electric ignition system
as the air is not hot enough for
spontaneous
ignition
until
the
combustion
is
up
to
working
temperature. The hot air then expands
into the turbine. The shaft of the turbine
powers the compressor and the load
attached to the output. The exhaust
passes out to atmosphere.
Studying the thermodynamics of the ideal cycle shows that the theoretical efficiency is given by the
following formulae.
P
(T - T )
th = nett = 1 4 1 and th = 1 rp - 0.286 rp is the pressure compression ratio.
in
(T3 - T2 )
This is called the Joule Cycle Efficiency and is based on the properties of air throughout the cycle.
The efficiency of gas turbine engines increases with pressure compression ratio. In practice this is
limited, as the type of compressor needed to produce very large flows of air cannot do so at high
pressures. 6 bar is a typical pressure for the combustion chamber. Also in reality the gas after the
combustion chamber is not air but a mixture of air and combustion products so this formula is only
a guide to performance.

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 4

A gas turbine uses a pressure ratio is 6/1. The air is heated from 200oC to 950oC in the
combustion chamber. The flow rate of air is 0.2 kg/s. Assuming a specific heat of 1.005 kJ/kg
K, calculate the following.
i. The ideal thermal efficiency.
ii. The heat transfer into the combustion chamber.
iii. The net power output to the load.
SOLUTION
th = 1 rp - 0.286 = 1 6

- 0.286

= 0.4 or 40%

in = mc p (T3 - T2 ) = 0.2 x 1.005 x (1223 - 472.4) = 150.8 kW

th =

Pnett
in

Pnett = 0.4 x 150.8 = 60.3 kW

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

10

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 5

The specific heat capacity is 1.005 kJ/kg K throughout.

1. A simple gas turbine draws in air at 1 bar and compresses it to 7 bar. The air is heated from 185
oC to 700oC in the combustion chamber. The flow rate of air is 0.4 kg/s. Calculate the
following.
i.
The ideal thermal efficiency. (42.7 %)
ii. The heat transfer into the heater. (206.7 kW)
iii. The net power output. (88.26 kW)
2. A simple gas turbine draws in 3 kg/s of air from atmosphere at 1 bar and compresses it to
10 bar. The air is heated from 293 oC to 920oC in the combustion chamber. Calculate the
following.
i.
The ideal thermal efficiency. (48.2 %)
ii. The net power output. (911 Kw)
3. A simple gas turbine draws in 7 kg/s of air from atmosphere at 1 bar and compresses it to 9 bar.
The air is heated from 267 oC to 850oC in the combustion chamber. Calculate the following.
i.
The ideal thermal efficiency. (46.7 %)
ii. The net power output. (1.916 MW)

FREE TURBINES

Most designs used for gas turbine sets use two turbines, one to drive the compressor and a free
turbine. The free turbine drives the load and it is not connected directly to the compressor. It may
also run at a different speed to the compressor. The diagram shows the layouts for parallel and
series turbines.

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

11

INTERCOOLING AND REHEATING

The power output and thermal

efficiency of a gas turbine are
improved by the use of reheaters and
coolers. The air is compressed in
stages and cooled between each
stage. This reduces the power input
to the compressor. The reverse also
applies. If several stages of turbine
expansions are used and the gas
reheated between stages, the power
output and efficiency is increased.
The diagram shows this configuration.
EXHAUST GAS HEAT EXCHANGER

The exhaust gas from a turbine is hotter than

the air leaving the compressor. If heat is
passed to the air from the exhaust gas, then
less fuel is needed in the combustion chamber
to raise the air to the operating temperature.
This requires an exhaust heat exchanger. The
layout is shown in the diagram.

In order to solve problems associated with this cycle, it is necessary to determine the temperature
prior to the combustion chamber (T3).
A perfect heat exchanger would heat up the air so that T3 is the same as T5. It would also cool
down the exhaust gas so that T6 becomes T2. In reality this is not possible so the concept of
THERMAL RATIO is used. This is defined as the ratio of the enthalpy given to the air to the
maximum possible enthalpy lost by the exhaust gas. cpa is the specific heat capacity of air and cpg
is the specific heat capacity of the exhaust gas. ma is the mass of the air and mg is the mass of the
exhaust gas.
The enthalpy lost by the exhaust gas is H = mgcpg(T5 - T6)
This would be a maximum if the gas is cooled down such that T6 = T2. Of course in reality this
does not occur and the maximum is not achieved and the gas turbine does not perform as well as
predicted by this idealisation.
H (maximum) = mgcpg(T5-T2)
The enthalpy gained by the air is
Hence the thermal ratio is

H (air) = macpa(T3-T2)
m a c pa (T3 T2 )
T.R. =
m g c pg (T 5 T2 )

Since the mass of fuel added in the combustion chamber is small compared to the air flow we often
neglect the difference in mass and the equation becomes
c pa (T3 T2 )
T.R. =
c pg (T 5 T2 )

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

12

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 5

A gas turbine draws in air from atmosphere and compresses it with a pressure ratio of 7.5. The
air passes through an exhaust gas heat exchanger before reaching the combustion chamber. The
temperatures at various points in the cycle are given on the diagram. The specific heat capacity
cp for air is 1.005 kJ/kg K and for the exhaust gas is 1.15 kJ/kg K. Assume no losses and a
constant mass flow rate of 1kg/s.
Calculate the ideal efficiency given that the exhaust heat exchanger has a thermal ratio of 0.8.
Compare this to the efficiency when no heat exchanger is used.

SOLUTION

Referring to the numbers used on the diagram the solution is as follows.

T2 = 231oC
T5 = 681 oC
Solution with heat exchanger
Use the thermal ratio to find T3.
c pa (T3 T2 )
1.005(T3 231)
1.005(T3 231)
T.R. =
0.8 =
0.8 =
414 = T3 231
c pg (T 5 T2 )
1.15(681 231)
1.15(450)
T3 = 645 oC
In order find the thermal efficiency, it is best to solve the power of the compressor and turbine.
COMPRESSOR

P(in)= mCpa(T2-T1) = 1 x 1.005 (231- 10) = 222 Kw

TURBINE
P(out) = mCpg(T4-T5) = 1 x 1.15 (1300 - 681) = 712 kW
P(net) = P(out) - P(in) = 490 kW (to the load)
COMBUSTION CHAMBER
(in)combustion chamber) = mCpg(T4-T3)
(in)= 1.15(1300 - 645) = 753 kW
th = P(net)/(in) = 490/753 = 0.65 or 65%
-0.286

Without the heat exchanger the efficiency is th = 1 rp-0.286 = 1-7.5

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

13

= 0.438 or 43.8%

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 6

1. A gas turbine uses a pressure ratio of 7/1. The compressor draws in 0.7 kg/s of air at 10oC and
after compression the temperature is 220 oC. The temperature after heating in the combustion
chamber is 1000 oC and after expanding through nthe turbine it is 457 oC. The specific heat
capacity cp is 1.005 kJ/kg K for air and gas. Assume no losses from the compressor or turbine.
Calculate the net power output and the thermal efficiency when an exhaust heat exchanger with
a thermal ratio of 0.8 is used. (Answers 234 kW and 56%)
2. A gas turbine draws in air from the atmosphere at 1.02 bar and 27oC. The air is compressed to
6.4 bar and 234oC. The air entering the turbine is at 1227 oC and this expands to 1.02 bar and
615oC. Assume the specific heat cp is 1.005 kJ/kg K for both the turbine and compressor. Ignore
the addition of mass in the burner. Calculate the following.
i. The air standard efficiency. (40.8%)
ii. The efficiency when an exhaust heat exchanger with a thermal ratio of 0.75 is
added. (70.7%)

Note that in reality friction in the compressor and turbine result in higher temperatures at exit and
this reduces the efficiency so figures like that in the last problem are not obtained in practice. The
solution to the next problem is just the same as before but more realistic temperatures are given.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 7

1. A gas turbine uses a pressure ratio of 6.5/1. The compressor draws in 1 kg/s of air at 15oC and
after compression the temperature is 254 oC. The temperature after heating in the combustion
chamber is 1200 oC and after expansion through the turbine the temperature is 732 oC. The
specific heat capacity cp for air is 1.005 kJ/kg K and for the exhaust gas is 1.15 kJ/kg K.
i. The ideal efficiency without a heat exchanger. (41.4%)
ii. The ideal efficiency when an exhaust heat exchanger with a thermal ratio of 0.75 is
added. (48.3%)

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

14

EXHAUST GAS HEAT RECOVERY

When large amounts of hot exhaust gas is produced by either gas turbines or large diesel engines,
the heat in the exhaust gas may be recovered for useful applications such as using it to produce hot
water or steam in a boiler. A factory might well use a gas turbine to produce electric power and hot
water or steam. This is more economical than buying electricity.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 8

A factory is to be built that uses both electricity and steam. There are two proposals to be
considered.
PROPOSAL 1

Produce steam in an oil fired boiler and purchase electricity.

PROPOSAL 2
Generate electric power with a gas turbine and produce steam in a waste heat
boiler using the exhaust gas.
OPERATING DATA FOR STEAM BOILER
Mass Flow rate
Steam condition
Feed water temperature

1 kg/s
5 bar and dry saturated.
15oC.

When burning fuel, the combustion efficiency is typically 85%

When using exhaust gas, the heat transfer from the gas may be assumed to be equal to the heat
gained by the water and steam. The exhaust gas is cooled to 100oC before leaving the boiler.
GAS TURBINE DATA
Pressure ratio
Inlet air temperature
Combustion chamber temperature
Exhaust Temperature

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

7
15oC
229 oC at inlet and 1500 oC at outlet
743 oC

15

FUEL DATA
Any fuel to be burned in either the gas turbine or the boiler will be light oil with a calorific
value of 42 MJ/kg.
The cost of fuel is 12.7 pence per kg.
Electricity cost 2.5 pence per kWhr (1 kWhr = 3600 kJ)
PROPERTIES
AIR
cp=1.005 kJ/kg K

BURNED GAS
cp =1.1 kJ/kg K

Produce a report comparing the costs for both schemes. You will need to do the following tasks.
GUIDANCE

STEAM BOILER
Determine the following.
i. The energy required to make the steam.
ii. The fuel required in kg/s.
iii. The mass of exhaust gas required to produce the same steam in kg/s.
GAS TURBINE
You will need to equate the heat transfer from burning fuel to the energy required to raise the
temperature in the combustion chamber.
Determine the following.
vi. The mass flow of air.
v. The fuel burned in kg/s.
vi. The Power input of the compressor.
vii. The power output of the turbine.
viii. The net power for generating electricity.
COSTING
Base the cost of option 1 on the cost of fuel plus the cost of buying the same electricity as for
option 2.
Base the cost on the cost of fuel only.
What other factors would you consider when making a decision on which option take?

(c) D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk

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