For example, Mitsubishi Hitachi’s energy system, M501JAC, a combined cycle unit of 57 MW, showed a thermal efficiency of 64%. Similarly, the GE-9HA.02, an 826 MW combined cycle motor, also achieved a thermal efficiency of more than 64%. Siemens, another turbine seal engine manufacturer, predicts that its H-L-class gas turbine will have an efficiency of almost 65%. A gas turbine is the most common and well-known type of turbine. Gas turbines or gas engines are most commonly used worldwide for various purposes.
The compressed air is mixed with fuel injected through the nozzles. Fuel and compressed air can be premixed or compressed air can be brought directly into the combustion chamber. The fuel-air mixture ignites under conditions of constant pressure, and the hot combustion products are passed through the turbine, where it quickly expands and gives rotation to the shaft.
The steam can be used in the downstream process or in a steam turbine to generate additional electricity. Most gas turbines operate in an open cycle in which air is taken out of the atmosphere, compressed into a centrifugal or axial flow compressor, and then fed into a combustion chamber. Here, fuel is added and burned at an essentially constant pressure with some of the air. If the unit is to produce shaft power, the combustion products expand into the turbine at atmospheric pressure. Most of the turbine power is needed for the compressor to run; Only the rest is available to deliver shaft work to a generator, pump or other device. In a jet engine, the turbine is designed to provide sufficient power to drive the compressor and auxiliary devices.
However, this was not badly reflected in the concept of the ship’s propulsion gas turbine and the test was an overall success. The success of this trial paved the way for GE’s further development on the use of heavy HD gas turbines for shipping. Another way to increase efficiency is to install a steam recuperator or heat recovery generator to recover energy from turbine exhaust gases. A recuperator captures waste heat in the turbine exhaust system to preheat the compressor’s exhaust air before it enters the combustion chamber. An HRSG generates steam by capturing heat from the turbine exhaust gases. The high-pressure steam of these boilers can be used to generate additional electrical power with steam turbines, a configuration called combined cycle.
The second use of a gas turbine in an armored combat vehicle was in 1954 when a unit, PU2979, specially developed for tanks by C. A. Parsons and Company, was installed and tested in a British Conqueror tank. The Stridsvagn 103 was developed in the 1950s and was the first mass-produced main battle tank with a turbine engine, the Boeing T50. Since then, gas turbine engines have been used as auxiliary power units in some tanks and as main power plants in Soviet/Russian T-80s and American M1 Abrams tanks, among others. They’re lighter and smaller than diesel engines with the same sustained power, but the models installed so far are less fuel efficient than the equivalent diesel, especially at idle, requiring more fuel to achieve the same combat range.
The turbine also consists of stairs, each with a row of stationary blades to direct the expanding gases, followed by a row of moving blades. Asrotation drives the compressor to draw in and compress more air to maintain continuous combustion. The remaining shaft power is used to power a generator that produces electricity. About 55 to 65 percent of the energy produced by the turbine is used to power the compressor. To optimize the transfer of kinetic energy from flue gases to shaft rotation, gas turbines can have multiple compressor and turbine phases. Useful work or propulsion power can be obtained from a gas turbine engine.