Ramil C.

Salundaga Propulsion Ancillary System and Gas Turbine

BSMARE- B3A Professor/ Instructor: 2/E Oliverio Padrique

WEEK 2- ACTIVITY 2
Advantages and Disadvantages of a Gas Turbine and Steam turbine, Gas Turbine
Compressor, Combustion Chamber, and Turbine

1.) Give the three major parts of a Gas turbine

Gas turbines are composed of three main parts: compressor, combustor and power
turbine.
Compressors- The compressor section of the gas turbine engine has many functions. Its
primary function is to supply air in sufficient quantity to satisfy the requirements of the
combustion burners. Specifically, to fulfill its purpose, the compressor must increase the
pressure of the mass of air received from the air inlet duct, and then, discharge it to the burners
in the quantity and at the pressures required. A secondary function of the compressor is to
supply bleed-air for various purposes in the engine. The bleed-air is taken from any of the
various pressure stages of the compressor. The exact location of the bleed ports is, of course,
dependent on the pressure or temperature required for a particular job.
The two principal types of compressors currently being used in gas turbine engines are
centrifugal flow and axial flow. The centrifugal-flow compressor achieves its purpose by
picking up the entering air and accelerating it outwardly by centrifugal action. The axial-flow
compressor compresses air while the air continues in its original direction of flow, thus
avoiding the energy loss caused by turns.

Combustors- A combustor is a component or area of a gas turbine, ramjet, or scramjet engine

where combustion takes place. It is also known as a burner, combustion chamber or flame
holder. In a gas turbine engine, the combustor or combustion chamber is fed high-pressure air
by the compression system. The combustor then heats this air at constant pressure as the fuel/air
mix burns. As it burns the fuel/air mix heats and rapidly expands. The burned mix is exhausted
from the combustor through the nozzle guide vanes to the turbine. In the case of a ramjet or
scramjet engines, the exhaust is directly fed out through the nozzle.
A combustor must contain and maintain stable combustion despite very high air flow
rates. To do so combustors are carefully designed to first mix and ignite the air and fuel, and
then mix in more air to complete the combustion process. Early gas turbine engines used a
single chamber known as a can-type combustor. Today three main configurations exist: can,
annular, and cannular (also referred to as can-annular tubo-annular). Afterburners are often
considered another type of combustor.

Power Turbine- Most modern passenger and military aircraft are powered by gas turbine
engines, which are also called jet engines. There are several different types of gas turbine
engines, but all turbine engines have some parts in common. All gas turbine engines have a
power turbine located downstream of the burner to extract energy from the hot flow and turn the
compressor. Work is done on the power turbine by the hot exhaust flow from the burner.
2.) Discuss the difference between the Gas and Steam turbine according to
what you read.
Based on my own understanding, the main distinction between the Gas Turbine and
Steam Turbine is that, the Gas turbine transforms the chemical energy of the fuel into
mechanical energy, whereas the Steam turbine transfers the high-pressure energy of the steam
into mechanical energy.

The steam turbine is a rotating device that converts the energy of the steam (by virtue of
high pressure and temperature) into the mechanical work output at the rotor shaft. The steam
turbine is used in most power plants for electricity generation in which the electrical generator
is coupled with the turbine output shaft. The turbine is consist of a ring of nozzles and ring of
fixed blades mounted on the casing and a ring of moving blades mounted on the rotor shaft.
The high-pressure steam is passed through the set of fixed blades, nozzles, and moving
blades which causes the turbine shaft to rotate. Other than power generation, the turbine is also
used to power different types of equipment and locomotives.

The gas turbine is one of the internal combustion engines that work on a Brayton cycle
and uses air as a working fluid to rotate the turbine. It converts the chemical energy of the fuel
into mechanical energy at the rotor shaft. The gas turbine mainly consists of the components
like the compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine. As shown in the above figure, the air
from the atmosphere enters the compressor where it gets compressed and sent into the
combustion chamber. The combustion chamber adds fuel to the compressed air and ignites the
air-fuel mixture. The combustion of the mixture increases its kinetic energy and temperature.
Now, these high-temperature gases are expanded into the turbine to rotate the rotor shaft. The
gas turbine uses less floor area for mounting and also has less running cost but one of its main
disadvantages is that it has lower thermal efficiency. The gas turbine is used in many
applications including power generators, aircraft, trains, etc.

Other difference of Gas Turbine and Steam Turbine

 The operation of the gas turbine is based on the Brayton cycle. The operation of the
steam turbine along with other components is based on the Rankine cycle.

 The gas turbine uses the air as a working fluid. The steam turbine uses steam as a
working fluid.

 The Gas Turbine comprises a turbine, compressor, and combustion chamber in a single
unit. A steam turbine is a separate unit and it needs to be connected to the steam
generator, condenser, etc.

 The gas turbine can fit within a less floor area. The power generation by use of steam
turbine requires more space for installing different units like boiler, condensers, turbine,
etc.

 The installation cost for the gas turbine is lower than the steam turbine power plant. The
installation cost of the steam turbine power plant is higher.