Gas Turbine Power Plant

By
Mr.B.Ramesh, M.E.,(Ph.D)
Research Scholar, CEG, Anna University, Chennai.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
St. Joseph’s College of Engineering,
Jeppiaar Trust, Chennai-119
 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant
• Gas turbine:
Working principle :

• Air is compressed(squeezed) to high

pressure by a fan-like device called
the compressor.
• Then fuel and compressed air are
mixed in a combustion chamber and
ignited.
• Hot gases are given off, which spin
the turbine wheels.
• Most of the turbine’s power runs the
compressor. Part of it drives the
generator/machinery.

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 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant…
• Gas turbine:
Description:

1. Gas turbines burn fuels such as oil,

nature gas and pulverised(powdered)
coal.
2. Instead of using the heat to produce
steam, as in steam turbines, gas
turbines use the hot gases directly to
turn the turbine blades.
3. Gas turbines have three main parts:
4. Air compressor
ii) Combustion chamber
iii) Turbine

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 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant…
• Gas turbine:
Air compressor:
• The air compressor and turbine are
mounted at either end on a common
horizontal axle(shaft), with the
combustion chamber between them.
• Gas turbines are not self starting. A
starting motor initially drives the
compressor till the first combustion of
fuel takes place, later, part of the
turbine’s power runs the compressor.
• The air compressor sucks in air and
compresses it, thereby increasing its
pressure.

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 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant…
• Gas turbine:
Combustion chamber:
• In the combustion chamber, the
compressed air combines with fuel
and the resulting mixture is burnt.
• The greater the pressure of air, the
better the fuel air mixture burns.
• Modern gas turbines usually use
liquid fuel, but they may also use
gaseous fuel, natural gas or gas
produced artificially by gasification of
a solid fuel.
Note :
• The combination of air compressor
and combustion chamber is called as
gas generator.

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 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant…
• Gas turbine:
Turbine:
• The burning gases expand rapidly
and rush into the turbine, where they
cause the turbine wheels to rotate.
• Hot gases move through a multistage
gas turbine.
• Like in steam turbine, the gas turbine
also has fixed(stationary) and
moving(rotor) blades.
• The stationary blades guide the
moving gases to the rotor blades and
adjust its velocity.
• The shaft of the turbine is coupled to
a generator or machinery to drive it.

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 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Gas turbine power plant…
• Applications of gas turbine:
• Gas turbines are used to drive pumps, compressors and high speed
cars.
• Used in aircraft and ships for their propulsion. They are not suitable for
automobiles because of their very high speeds.
• Power generation(used for peak load and as stand-by unit).

Note :
• Gas turbines run at even higher temperatures than steam turbines, the
temperature may be as high as 1100 – 12600C.
• The thermal efficiency of gas turbine made of metal components do
not exceed 36%.
• Research is underway to use ceramic components at turbine inlet
temperature of 13500C or more, and reach thermal efficiencies over
40% in a 300 kW unit.

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 Layout of a gas turbine power plant

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 Layout of gas turbine power plant…
• Starting motor:
• Gas turbines are not self
starting. They require a starting
motor to first bring the turbine
to the minimum speed called
coming –in speed, for this
purpose a starting motor is
required.

• Low pressure
compressor(LPC):
• The purpose of the compressor
is to compress the air. Air from • Intercooler:
the atmosphere is drawn into • The air after compression in the
the LPC and is compressed. LPC is hot. It is cooled by the
intercooler. The intercooler is
circulated with cooling water.
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 Layout of gas turbine power plant…
• High pressure
compressor(HPC):
• The air from the intercooler
enters the HPC where it is
further compressed to a high
pressure. The compressed air
passes through a regenerator.

• Regenerator(Heat exchanger):
• The air entering the combustion
chamber(CC) for combustion
must be hot. The heat from the • Combustion chamber:
exhaust gases is picked up by • The fuel(natural gas, pulverized
the compressed air entering the coal, kerosene or gasoline) is
combustion chamber. injected into the combustion
chamber.
• The fuel gets ignited because of
the compressed air.
• The fuel along with the
4 November 2010 compressed air is ignited
sometimes with a spark plug.
 Layout of gas turbine power plant…
• High pressure
compressor(HPC):
• The air from the intercooler
enters the HPC where it is
further compressed to a high
pressure. The compressed air
passes through a regenerator.

• Regenerator(Heat exchanger):
• The air entering the combustion
chamber(CC) for combustion
must be hot. The heat from the
exhaust gases is picked up by
the compressed air entering the
combustion chamber.
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• Combustion chamber:
• The fuel(natural gas, pulverized
coal, kerosene or gasoline) is
injected into the combustion
chamber.
• The fuel gets ignited because of
the compressed air.
• The fuel along with the
compressed air is ignited
sometimes with a spark plug.
 Layout of gas turbine power plant…
• High pressure turbine (HPT):
• In the beginning the starting
motor runs the compressor
shaft.
• The hot gases(products of
combustion) expands through
the high pressure turbine.
• It is important to note that when
the HPT shaft rotates it infact
drives the compressor shaft
which is coupled to it. Now the
HPT runs the compressor and
the starting motor is stopped.
Note : • Only 34% of the power developed
• About 66% of the power by the plant is used to generate
developed by the gas turbine electric power.
power plant is used to run the
compressor.

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 Layout of gas turbine power plant…
• Low pressure turbine (LPT):
• The purpose of the LPT is to
produce electric power.
• The shaft of the LPT is directly
coupled with the generator for
producing electricity.
• The hot gases(products of
combustion) after leaving the
HPT is again sent to a
combustion chamber where it
further undergoes combustion.
• The exhaust gases after
leaving the LPT passes through
the regenerator before being • The heat from the hot gases is
exhausted through the chimney used to preheat the air entering
into the atmosphere. the combustion chamber. This
preheating of the air improves the
efficiency of the combustion
chamber.
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 Gas turbine power plant…
• Advantages of gas turbine power plant :
• Storage of fuel requires less area and handling is easy.
• The cost of maintenance is less.
• It is simple in construction. There is no need for boiler, condenser
and other
accessories as in the case of steam power plants.
• Cheaper fuel such as kerosene , paraffin, benzene and powdered
coal can
be used which are cheaper than petrol and diesel.
• Gas turbine plants can be used in water scarcity areas.
• Less pollution and less water is required.
• Disadvantages of gas turbine power plant :
• 66% of the power developed is used to drive the compressor.
Therefore
the gas turbine unit has a low thermal efficiency.
• The running speed of gas turbine is in the range of (40,000 to
100,000
rpm) and the operating temperature is as high as 1100 – 12600C. For
this
4reason
Novemberspecial
2010 metals and alloys have to be used for the various parts of
the turbine.
 Videos and Animations

1. How a gas turbine engine works

– Gas turbine working principle

 Thank You

4 November 2010