Gas Turbine Power Plants

Gas Turbine Power Plants are lighter and more compact

than vapor power plants. The favorable power-output-to-
weight ratio for gas turbines make them suitable for
transportation.

Air-standard Brayton Cycle

1
Q&
W&
CV CV
For steady-state: 0 =-+
(h -
h )
in out
m&
m&

W&
in
1 .. 2 Adiabatic compression
=
(h -
h )
21
m&

Q&
in
2 .. 3 Heat addition
=
(h -
h )
32
m&

W&
out
3 .. 4 Adiabatic expansion
=
(h -
h )
34
m&

Q&
out
4 .. 1 Heat removal
=
(h -
h )
41
m&

Cycle Thermal Efficiency:

m&
h -
h
Q&
out
41
.=
1-

=
1-
Brayton
m&
h -
h
cycleQ&
in
32
Back work ratio:

&
W

m&
h -
h
in
21
=
bwr =

m&
h -
h
W&
out
34
2
Ideal Air-standard Brayton Cycle (processes are
reversible)
1 .. 2 Isentropic compression
2 .. 3 Constant pressure heat addition
3 .. 4 Isentropic expansion
4 .. 1 Constant pressure heat removal
Qin
Qout
.
.
..
.

2
.
.
..
.

For the isentropic process 1.. 2

r
P

r
=

1
.
.
..
.
P

4
.
.
..
.

For the isentropic process 3 .. 4

r
P

r
=

3
3
Ideal Cold Air-standard Brayton Cycle
For isentropic processes 1 .. 2 and 3.. 4
k -1 k -1
T .
P .
kT .
P .
k
22 44
=. .
..
..
and =. .
..
..
TP TP
1 .
1 .
3 .
3 .

kk
PP .T .k -1 .
T .k -1 TT
232 323
Since = thus ..
..
..
=..
..
..
.
=

PPTT TT
14 .
1 ..
4 .
14
Thermal Efficiency
h -
hc (T -T )
T (T / T -1)
41 P 4 1 141
.Brayton =
1-=
1-=
1-
h -
hc (T -T )
T (T / T -1)
constk 32 P 3 2 232
TT TT
23 43
recall =.=

TT TT
14 12
T 1
.=
1-
1 =
1-
Brayton
k -1
constk2
T (P2

P1 )
k
4
Efficiency increases with increased pressure ratio across

the compressor
Back work ratio

&
&
W

m&
cP (T2 -T1) T2 -T1
m&
Wcomp
in
bwr =

==

&

&
m&
W
m&
c (T -T )
T -T
Wout
turb
P 34 34
Typical BWR for the Brayton cycle is 40 - 80% compared
to < 5% for the Rankine cycle.
Recall, reversible compressor work is given by .12 vdP
Since gas has a much larger specific volume than liquid
much more power is required to compress the gas from P1
to P2 in the Brayton cycle compared to the Rankine cycle
for which liquid is compressed.
The turbine inlet temperature is limited by metallurgical
factors, e.g., Tmax = 1700K
5
Gas Turbine Irreversibilities
In the ideal Brayton cycle all 4 processes are assumed
reversible, thus processes 2-3 and 4-1 are constant
pressure and processes1-2 and 3-4 are isentropic.
The constant pressure assumption does not normally incur
any great errors but the compressor and turbine processes
are far from isentropic
Ideal (reversible) processes:
1 - 2s and 3 - 4s
Actual (irreversible) processes:
1 - 2 and 3 - 4
These irreversiblities are taken into account by:
.W&
t ..W&
c ..
.
..
.
m&
h -
h .
m&
.
h -
h
.
34 s 2s 1
.turb =
&
=
.=
&
=

comp
.W .
h -
h .W .
h -
h
t 34sc 21
.
..
.
mm
.
&
.s .
&
.

6
Efficiency versus Power
Consider two Brayton cycles A and B with a similar
turbine inlet temperatures T3

Since

.
.
..
.

2
P

1
.
...
.
.
...
A

.
>

2
P

1
.
.
..
.

B
.

>

Since (enclosed area 1-2-3-4)B > (enclosed area 1-2-3-4)A

&

&

&

..
.

...
..
.

..
.

m&

W
cycle
W
cycle
W
cycle, A
A
B
=

>

&

m&

m&

m&

cycle,B
In order for cycle A to produce the same amount of net

power as cycle B, i.e.,

&

cycle, A
=
&

cycle,B
, need m&

>

m&

Higher mass flow rate requires larger (heavier) equipment

which is a concern in transportation applications
7
Increasing Cycle Power
The net cycle power is: W&
cycle =
W&
t -W&
c
The cycle power can be increased by either increasing the
turbine output power or decreasing the compressor input
power.
Gas Turbine with Reheat
The turbine work can be increased by using reheat, as was
shown in the Rankine cycle
32
Compressor
a b
41
The turbine is split into two stages and a second
combustor is added where additional heat can be added
8
TT
Recall: 2 =3 so, isobars on T-s diagram diverge
TT
1 4'
Q&
in,2
3
a
Q&
1,in4
Note:
T
b
hb - h4 > ha - h4
2
4
1
s
The total turbine work output without reheat is:
&
W =
[(h -
h )+(h -
h )]m&
basic 3 aa 4'
The total turbine work output with reheat is:
&
&&
Wturbine =
Wt,1 +Wt,2 =
[(h3 -
ha )+(hb -
h4 )]m&
w/ reheat
Since hb - h4 > ha - h4 W&
turbine >
W&
basic
w/ reheat
Since the compressor work h2 - h1 is unaffected by reheat
&&
W >
W
cycle cycle
w/ reheat basic
The reheat cycle efficiency is not necessarily higher since
additional heat Q&
in,2 is added between states a and b
9
Compression with Intercooling
The compressor power can be reduced by compressing in
stages with cooling between stages.

TT
Recall: 2 =3 so, isobars on T-s diagram diverge
TT
1 4'
2
2
d
h2 hc > h2 hd
10
The compressor power input without intercooling is:
&
W =
[(h -
h )+(h -
h )]m&
basic 2' cc 1
The total compressor power input with intercooling is:
&
&&
Wcomp =
Wc,1 +Wc,2 =
[(hc -
h1 )+(h2 -
hd )]m&
w/ reheat
Since h2 hc > h2 hd
W&
<
W&

comp basic
w/ reheat
Since the turbine work h3 h4 is unaffected by
intercooling
&&
W >
W
cycle cycle
w/ reheat basic

11
Different approach: The reversible work per unit mass for
a steady flow device is .
vdP , so
2
&
2 c 2'
.W .
c
..
=.
vdP =.
vdP +.
vdP
Without intercooling : m&
..basic 11 c
=
area b-1-c-2'-a
&
2 c 2
.W .
c
..
=.
vdP =.
vdP +.
vdP
With intercooling : m&
..w/ int1 1 d
=
area b-1-c-d-2-a
Since area(b-1-c-2 -a) > area(b-1-c-d-2-a)
&&
.W ..W .
cc
..
>..

m&
m&
..basic ..w/int
12
Aircraft Gas Turbines
Gas turbine engines are widely used to power aircraft
because of their high power-to-weight ratio
Turbojet engines used on most large commercial and
military aircraft
Ideal air-standard jet propulsion cycle:

Nozzle Diffuser
a
2
1 4 5
3
13
Normally compression through the diffuser (a-1), and
expansion through the nozzle (4-5) are taken as isentropic
inQ&
outQ&
In the ideal jet propulsion engine the gas is not expanded
to ambient pressure Pa.
Instead the gas expands to an intermediate pressure P4
such that the power produced is just sufficient to drive the
compressor, no net cycle power produced (W&
cycle =
0),
thus
&&

Wc Wt
=

m&
m&

(h -
h )=(h -
h4 )
21 3
After the turbine the gas expands to ambient pressure P5
which is the same as Pa.
14
Apply the steady-state conservation of energy equation to
the Diffuser and Nozzle
22
CVCV in out
Q&
W&
.
V ..
V .
0 =

+
..
hin +
..
-..
hout +
..
m&
m&
22
...
.

Diffuser slows the flow to a zero velocity relative to the

engine:
22
1 a
VV
h +=
h +
1 a
22
2
V
a
Diffuser (a .. 1) h =
h +
1 a
2
2
V
a
T =
T +
for constant k
1 a
2c
P
Nozzle accelerates the gas leaving the turbine (turbine
exit velocity negligible compared to nozzle exit velocity):
22
45
VV
h +

=
h +
45
22

2(h4 -
h5 )
Nozzle (4 .. 5) V5 =

V =

2c (T -T )
for constant k
5
P 45

15
The gas velocity leaving the nozzle is much higher than
the velocity of the gas entering the diffuser, this change in
momentum produces a propulsive force, or thrust Ft
F =
m&
(V -Va )
t 5
Where V is flow velocity relative to engine
For aircraft under cruise conditions the thrust just
overcomes the drag force on the aircraft .. fly at high
altitude where the air is thinner and thus less drag
To accelerate the aircraft increase thrust by increasing V5
In military aircraft afterburners are used to get very
large thrust for short take-offs on aircraft carriers

An afterburner is simply a reheat device!

16
Other Propulsion Systems

Turboprop Turbofan
Subsonic ramjet
In turbofan bypass flow produces additional thrust for
take-off. During cruise thrust comes from turbojet
In a ramjet engine there is no compressor or turbine,
compression is achieved gasdynamically.
Ramjet engines produce no thrust when stationary thus
must be coupled with a turbojet engine to get off the
ground
17
Supersonic Ramjet Engine

The flow is decelerated to subsonic velocity before the

burner via a series of shock waves.
Combustion occurs at constant pressure
choked
Supersonic
free stream
flow
Supersonic
exhaust flow
flow
Turbojet-ramjet combination:

18
Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRAMJET) Engine
At very high Mach numbers the air temperature gets
extremely hot after deceleration through the diffuser
Va
2
T1 =
Ta +
2cP
For Mach 6 flight speed, the air temperature just before
the burner reaches about 1550K. At this temperature the
air dissociates resulting in a drop in enthalpy
At flight speeds greater than Mach 6 (hypersonic) better
to burn fuel- in supersonic air stream

19