Gas Turbine Power Plant

Description:
Gas Turbine is a combustion engine in applications, much above 10MW. Large units regularly
operate in 100MW to approximately 230MW. Gas turbines burn fuels such as oil, nature gas and
pulverized (powdered) coal.
Working Principle:
 Air is compressed (squeezed) to high pressure by a compressor.
 Then fuel and compressed air are mixed in a combustion chamber and ignited.
 Hot gases are given off, which spin the turbine wheel.
In the gas turbine power plant air is compressed in a compressor. This compressed air then
passes through a combustion chamber where the temperature of the compressed air rises. That
high temperature and high-pressure air is passed through a gas turbine. In turbine the compressed
air is suddenly expanded; hence it gains kinetic energy, and because of this kinetic energy the air
can do mechanical work for rotating the turbine.
In a gas turbine power plant, the shaft of turbine, alternator and air compressor are common.
The mechanical energy created in the turbine is partly utilised to compress the air. Gas turbine
power plants are mainly used as standby auxiliary power supplier in a hydroelectric power plant.
It generates auxiliary power during starting of a hydroelectric power plant.

Three Main Parts:

1. Air compressor
2. Combustion chamber
3. Turbine
Air Compressor
 The air compressor and turbine are mounted at either end on a common shaft, with the
combustion chamber between them
 Gas turbines are not self starting. A starting motor is used.
 The air compressor sucks in air and compresses it, thereby increasing its pressure.
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.
Turbine
 Hot gases move through a multistage gas turbine.
 Like in steam turbine, the gas turbine also has stationary and moving blades
 The stationary blades
o guide the moving gases to the rotor blades
o adjust its velocity
 The shaft of the turbine is coupled to a generator.
Applications of Gas Turbine:
 Drive pumps, compressors and high speed cars
 aircraft and ships
 Power generation (used for peak load and as stand-by unit).

Advantages of Gas Turbine Power Plant

 It is simple in construction. There is no need for boiler, condenser and other accessories
as in the case of steam power plants.
 Storage of fuel requires less area and handling is easy
 The cost of maintenance is less
 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.
 The constant loss is quite smaller in gas turbine power plant compared to a steam turbine
power plant because in the steam turbine power plant boiler has to run continuously even
when the system does not supply load to the grid.
Disadvantages:
 66% of the power developed is used to drive the compressor. Therefore the gas turbine
unit has a low thermal efficiency. Because of its lower efficiency, a gas turbine power
plant cannot be utilized for commercial production of electricity instead it is normally
used to supply auxiliary power to other conventional power plants such as hydroelectric
power plant
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 110-12600℃ . For this reason special metals and alloys have to be
used for the various parts of the turbine. The temperature of the furnace is quite high in a
gas turbine power plant. This makes the system lifespan smaller than that of an
equivalent steam turbine power plant.
 High frequency noise from the compressor is objectionable.
 The mechanical energy created in the turbine is also utilised to run the air compressor.
Since a major portion of mechanical energy created in the turbine is utilised to run the air
compressor the overall efficiency of gas turbine power plant is not as high as an
equivalent steam turbine power plant.
 Not only have that, the exhaust gases in gas turbine power plant curries significant heat
from the furnace. This also causes the efficiency of the system low further.
 To start power plant pre-compressed is required. So before actual starting of the turbine
air should be pre-compressed which requires an auxiliary power supply for starting a gas
turbine power plant. Once the plant is started there is no more need of supplying external
power but at starting point external power is essential.

THE LUCKY NINE POINT TO REMEMBER FOR GAS TURBINES

1. Temperature of the gas entering the expander is 1200℃ to 1290℃.
2. Exhaust Temperature is 540℃ to 590℃.
3. The exhaust flowrate in modern heavy duty turbines per 100MW is approximately 240 to
250 kg/s.
4. Approximately 50 to 75% of the turbine power is used to drive the high efficiency
compressor.
5. Temperature of the air entering the turbine will be between 650℃ and 1000℃.
Maximum temperature by metalurgical reasons is 1700°K.
6. Thermal efficiency of existing heavy duty combustion turbines in simple cycle is 34 to
36%.
7. Thermal efficiency of aeroderivative turbines commonly achieve efficiencies up to 42%.
8. The back work ratio is approximately 50 to 75%.
9. Actual regeneration efficiency rarely exceeds 75%.
Brayton Cycle , the Ideal Cycle for Gas-turbine Engine
Sometimes called the Joule Cycle. Brayton cycle is the ideal cycle for gas-turbine engines in
which the working fluid undergoes a closed loop. That is the combustion and exhaust processes
are modeled by constant-pressure heat addition and rejection, respectively.
Basic Components:

Open Cycle Gas Turbine

Compressor
 Draws in air and compresses it.
Supplies high pressure air for combustion process
Compressor types
o Radial/centrifugal flow compressor – good for low compression ratios (5:1)
o Axial flow compressor – good for high compression ratios (20:1) and most commonly
used
Combustion Chamber
 Fuel pumped in and ignited to burn with compressed air
Where air and fuel mixed, ignited and burnt. Spark plugs used to ignite fuel.
Turbine
 Hot gases converted to work
 Can drive compressor and external load
Consists of one or more stages designed to develop rotational energy. Uses sets of nozzles and
blades.
The Ideal Brayton Cycle is made up of four internally reversible processes.

 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

1. Compression Isentropic Process: 1 to 2 (constant entropy process)

k k
T2 V 1 k−1 T2 P 2 k−1
P1V1 = P2V2 T1
= (V ¿ ¿
T
= (P ¿¿ k
2 1 1
In terms of pressure ratio:
V1 1 T2 k−1 P2
= (r p ¿ ¿ k = (r p ¿ ¿ k where: pressure ratio;rp =
V2 T1 P1
P3
=P
4

KJ
Compressor work; Wc = mCp (T2-T1) where Cp = 1.0 for air
kg−° K

2. Heat is added in the Combustor: 2 to 3 (at a constant pressure process P2 = P3)

Heat Added; QA = h3 - h2 = mCp (T3 - T2)

3. PV and T relations in isentropic Turbine Expansion process: 3 to 4 (Isentropic process S3=S4)

k k
T3 V T3 P3 k−1
P3V = P4V
3 4
T4
= ( 34 ¿ ¿ k−1 T4
= (P ¿¿ k
4

Turbine Work, Wt = mCp (T3-T4)

4. Net Turbine Work; Wn = Wt - Wc

Wn W t −W C
5. Cycle Efficiency; ղ = QA
= QA

1
In terms of rp: ղ = 1- k−1
k
** given the consideration from process 1-4
rp

6. Back Work Ratio, BW. The ratio of compressor work to the turbine work

CompressorWork W C
BW = =
TurbineWork WT
Performance of the Actual Brayton Cycle:

Ideal Actual
Compressor Work Wc = mCp (T2-T1) Ideal compressor work Wc
Wc’ = compressor efficiency
= ղc
Wc’= mCp (T2’-T1)
Heat Added QA  = mCp (T3 - T2) QA  = mCp (T3 - T2)
Heat supplied by Qf = mfQh = marfQh
fuel
Where: Qh = heating value of fuel
Turbine work Wt = mCp (T3-T4) Wt’= ideal turbine work x turbine efficiency
Wt’= Wt x ղ t
Net Turbine Work Wn = Wt - Wc Wn = Wt’ - Wc’
1
Thermal efficiency ղ th = 1- k−1
rp k
Compressor T '2−T 1
efficiency ղc =
T 2−T 1
Combustor Heat absorbed by air
ղ ce =
efficiency Heat absorbed by fuel
 1
C p ( T 2−T 1 ) + (V 22−V 12)
ղ ce = 2
mf Qh
Cycle efficiency Wn W n'
ղ= QA
ղ= Q
A

Problem set
1. In a gas turbine operating on the air standard cycle, the air enters the compressor
at 100KPa and 30°C at the rate of 20 m3/sec and is compressed to 500KPa. The
maximum temperature is 780°C and the exit pressure of the turbine is 100KPa.
Determine the net turbine power. Answer. 4853W
2. Air enters the compressor of a gas turbine at 100KPa and 30°C at the rate of 20
m3/sec and is compressed to 500KPa. The maximum temperature is 780°C and the
exit pressure of the turbine is 100KPa. What is the net turbine power and cycle
efficiency if the compressor efficiency is 80% and the turbine efficiency is 85%?
Answer: 2496KW. 18.94%
3. Air enters the compressor of a gas turbine at 100KPa and 25°C with a volume
flow rate of 4 m3/sec. The compressor pressure ratio is 8 and its isentropic
efficiency is 90%. At the inlet to the turbine, the pressure is 900KPa and 1127°C
temperature. The turbine has an isentropic efficiency of 85% and the exit pressure
is 100KPa. On the basis of an air- standard analysis, what is the thermal
efficiency of the cycle in percent? Answer:33.26%