Experiment No.

5
To study the simple gas turbine engine.
Objective:
The main objective of this experiment is to determine the characteristics of a
simple gas turbine engine.
Equipment:
Gas turbine Engine
Theory:
Gas turbine is heat engine which uses fuel energy to produce mechanical output
power, either as torque through a rotating shaft (industrial gas turbines) or as jet
power in the form of velocity through an exhaust nozzle (aircraft jet engines).
Gas-turbine engine, an internal-combustion engine employing a gas as the working
fluid used to turn a turbine.
Gas turbines are common power generators which are used mainly in power
generation systems and propulsion systems. Most of the gas turbines are internal
combustion machines while the rest are fired externally. The sizes of gas turbines
can vary from 500kW to 250MW according to their applications. Especially for
high power applications the gas turbines are widely used compared to conventional
reciprocating engines due to its high-power density.
Components of Gas turbine Engine:
A typical gas turbine mainly consists of three components namely compressor,
combustion chamber and turbine. The three main components of a gas turbine are
illustrated in figure 1. Atmospheric air is compressed by the compressor then
heated inside the combustion chamber and finally expanded inside the turbine. As
a result of that the turbine produces work to the surrounding. Some fraction of that
work is used by the compressor while the balance work can be considered as the
net-work.
Inlet system Collects and directs air into the gas turbine. Often, an air cleaner and
silencer are part of the inlet system. It is designated for a minimum pressure drop
while maximizing clean airflow into the gas turbine.
Compressor Provides compression, and, thus, increases the air density for the
combustion process. The higher the compression ratio, the higher the total gas
turbine efficiency. Low compressor efficiencies result in high compressor
discharge temperatures, therefore, lower gas turbine output power.
Combustor Adds heat energy to the airflow. The output power of the gas turbine
is directly proportional to the combustor firing temperature; i.e., the combustor is
designed to increase the air temperature up to the material limits of the gas turbine
while maintaining a reasonable pressure drop.
Gas Producer Turbine Expands the air and absorbs just enough energy from the
flow to drive the compressor. The higher the gas producer discharge temperature
and pressure, the more energy is available to drive the power turbine, therefore,
creating shaft work.
Power Turbine Converts the remaining flow energy from the gas producer into
useful shaft output work. The higher the temperature difference across the power
turbine, the more shaft output power is available.
Exhaust System Directs exhaust flow away from the gas turbine inlet. Often a
silencer is part of the exhaust system like the inlet system, the exhaust system is
designed for minimum pressure losses.