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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 87-GT-242

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Copyright © 1987 by ASME

FT8: A High Performance Industrial and Marine Gas

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Turbine Derived from the JT8D Aircraft Engine
WILLIAM H. DAY
Director — Engineering and New Product Development
Turbo Power and Marine Systems, Inc.
Farmington, Connecticut

In 1963, the first FT4 gas turbine went

ABSTRACT
This paper describes the FT8 gas
turbine, which has been introduced by Turbo
Power and Marine Systems (TPM). The FT8 is
derived from the Pratt & Whitney JT8D
aircraft engine and the TPM FT4 industrial
gas turbine. The FT8 has been launched with
a collaboration program between TPM and the
China National Aerotechnology Import-Export
Corporation (CATIC) of the People's Republic
of China. The collaboration program includes
co-production of certain components and a
37-unit order from CATIC over a 10-year
period for marine and industrial applications.
into commercial service at the Edgemoore
Power Station of Delmarva Power & Light Co.
(Figure 1). The heart of the 15 MW plant was
a modified JT4 aircraft engine which
exhausted into a free turbine specifically
designed for industrial applications. Since
that time more than 1000 FT4 gas turbines
have been placed into service worldwide at up
to 30 MW output in power generation,
mechanical drive, and marine applications,
making the FT4 the world's most widely used
aeroderivative gas turbine.
The present paper describes the approach
being taken to produce a high performance
industrial gas turbine which utilizes this
considerable experience base.

FIGURE 1
BACKGROUND

In 1964, the first JT8D aircraft engine FIRST POWER PT.C. INST=ED, i'pa:L 1963
entered commercial service. This engine is
used on the Boeing 727 and 737, the McDonnell
Douglas DC9 series and MD-80 series, and the
Aeropatiale Caravelle aircraft. The short to
medium range service of these aircraft result
in takeoffs and landings as often as hourly,
which required a rugged design capable of
cyclic duty. Continued upratings over the
years, have retained the durable design while
improving performance considerably.

The JT8D is now the most widely used jet

engine in commercial aviation history, with
more than 13,000 engines delivered to
airlines and more than 285 million hours
flown.

Presented at the Gas Turbine Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California — May 31-June 4, 1987
 DESIGN
The gas generator is based on the JT8D
aircraft engine (Figure 2) modified for
industrial applications as shown in Figure 3.
The design philosophy in converting the JT8D
to the gas generator for the FT8, is to keep
the compressor common with the JT8D as much
as possible, as well as the bearing and shaft
system for the turbine. The turbine section
is changed substantially from the JT8D, as
required to accommodate the turbine inlet
temperature of the FT8 and to create the
highest feasible turbine efficiency to match
the cycle requirements.
The JT8D is a two-spool engine with a
fan at the compressor inlet. In the FT8
configuration, the fan is replaced with two
new compressor stages. A third compressor
stage will have the airfoils modified from
the aircraft engine. The remaining five
stages of the low pressure compressor are
unchanged from the aircraft engine. The
first three stages will have variable
stators. The 7 stage high pressure
compressor is unchanged. New structural
cases will be designed for both compressors.
The overall combustor configuration of nine
individual cans, each with a single fuel
nozzle, will be retained. The cans and fuel
system will be modified to handle dual fuel,
and in the future, low BTU gas applications.
A new structural case will be designed for
the combustor section.
FIGURE 2
JT8D
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r•-• ral 11 V re a 'fl idIrrAlatiiarT, Se:
. b
41..wim il ,;i•411,110:ill
• 1 M riWiplcirn
im PrP1 41•••• if,L .........r......
111111 011111% trriglas lo-
If'
IF,
II
Ili
2
A new single stage air-cooled high
pressure turbine, which drives the high
pressure compressor and a new two-stage low
pressure turbine, will be designed.
A new 4-stage FT8 power turbine will
be designed to operate efficiently at 3000 or
3600 RPM for power generation applications
and in the range of 2000 to 4000 RPM in
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mechanical drive applications.
A design
tradeoff study concluded that four stages
resulted in the best combination of
performance, size and weight.
In the gas generator modular design will
be utilized for convenience of maintenance,
similar to the FT4. The power turbine will
be available with both clockwise and
counterclockwise rotations for flexibility in
applications.
The overall package design will be
similar to the FT4 in the gas turbine
enclosure and ancillary systems. The
prepackaged control house will contain a
microprocessor-based digital control system
as well as the fuel control system, motor
control center, annunciator, and instrument
and control panels for the gas turbine,
auxiliaries, and customer interface controls.
ENGINE
.1 ;
I Nil lailligt
I
...
111111111

PERFORMANCE
The guaranteed performance of the FT8
is shown in Table 1, at the base load rating.
The efficiency of almost 397 is the highest
of any simple cycle industrial gas turbine
known in the industry today.
APPLICATIONS
The FT8 is designed for applications in
electric power generation, mechanical drive,
and marine service.
The nominal 33,000 HP (33,462 metric
horsepower) size of the FT8 is expected to
fit naval applications particularly well,
considering the increasing popularity of gas

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turbines in this size range for navy ship
The compressor inlet airflow will be propulsion worldwide. Materials with
approximately 180 to 190 pounds per second coatings and materials which have high
(81.7 to 86.4 kg/sec), the overall pressure resistance to corrosion will be used in the
ratio 18-19:1, the combustor exit temperature marine environment. A marine package will be
°
2100-2150 F
° °
(1149-1177 C), and the exhaust
temperature 840-850 F (449-454°C). The
designed, separately from the industrial
package to meet requirements of ship layout
combustor exit temperature is well within the and operational requirements such as noise.
range of currently available marine and
industrial gas turbines. In electric power generation, the FT8
will be offered in the same general
configurations as the FT4 - Power Pac for
single generator drive, and Twin Pac where
both ends of a nominal 50 MW generator would
TABLE 1 be driven by an FT8. The FT4 has been shown
to have exceptionally favorable reliability
FT8 Guaranteed Performance - Base load rating in utility service (Ref.l). The FT8 will be
on liquid fuel, gas turbine only, no designed to continue this type of performance.
ancillary losses b no inlet or exhaust
°
pressure loss 15 C (59 F), sea level, 0
relative humidity.
Power Available Maximum Heat
at Free Turbine Rate at Rated Equivalent
Turbine Shaft Power Efficiency

BTU BTU
SHP-HR KWH

24.8 MW 6570 8804 38.8

FIGURE 3

FT8 INDUSTRIAL GAS TURBINE ENGINE

GAS GENERATOR CROSS SECTION

3

The nominal 25 MW size and high exhaust
temperature are expected to fit a number of
cogeneration applications. Heat recovery
steam generators and steam turbine-generators
will be offered as additional equipment to
FT8 customers.
FUELS
For marine applications, a marine
distillate fuel will be used per the U.S.
Navy fuel specifications (Spec. No. MIL
F16884) which have been used in FT4 marine
applications. Land based FT8 units will be
able to use the same liquid (distillate) and
gas fuels as the FT4 industrial unit.
Additionally, the FT8 design will accommodate
modification to handle low BTU fues such as
coal gas at 110 BTU/SCF (4.09 MJ/M ) heating
value. Compressor discharge air would be
extracted from the gas turbine to provide air
to the coal gasifier.
COLLABORATION AGREEMENT
In August of 1986, a collaboration
agreement was signed between Turbo Power &
Marine Systems (TPM) and the China National
Aerotechnology Import-Export Corporation
(CATIC), of the People's Republic of China.
Under the agreement, CATIC will purchase 37
FT8 gas turbines over a 10 year period and
will produce some parts and components of the
FT8 gas turbine system.
TPM will design the complete gas turbine
package and will provide guarantees for all
FT8 units sold worldwide. Pratt & Whitney
will design the gas generator. CATIC will
have people in the U.S. to follow the design
and development process, and make detail
drawings of the parts that CATIC will
manufacture. TPM will have people at the
CATIC facility to assist in implementing the
manufacturing and quality control process.
CATIC will manufacture some parts of the
gas generator, the complete power turbine,
and some of the package components for the
worldwide market. When CATIC has Chinese
applications for the FT8, CATIC will
manufacture the gas turbine enclosure and
assemble the package. The CATIC production
will be done at the Chengdu Engine Company,
which currently manufactures some parts for
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Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines. CATIC will
be China's FT8 project manager and
coordinator and will handle the commercial
transactions involving the purchase of FT8
units for domestic marine and industrial
applications.
SCHEDULE
The first gas generator is expected to
be ready for testing at Pratt & Whitney in
1988. The first complete FT8 gas turbine is
expected to be tested in China in 1989. The
first production units are expected in late
1989 to early 1990.
A marine acceptance test will be
conducted in China for the PRC Navy. This
testing will be done at a land-based test
facility with a waterbrake load, prior to
shipboard operation.
REFERENCES
1. EPRI Report No. AF-911, "Application
Survey/Evaluation of Gas Turbine Needs,"
November 1978.